[Vision2020] Intelligent Falling

[Nick Gier]

As the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools continues, a 
new controversy over the science curriculum arose Monday in this embattled 
Midwestern state. Scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based 
Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held "theory of gravity" is 
flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling.

"Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, 
but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them 
down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied 
Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University.

Burdett added: "Gravitywhich is taught to our children as a lawis founded 
on great gaps in understanding. The laws predict the mutual force between 
all bodies of mass, but they cannot explain that force. Isaac Newton 
himself said, 'I suspect that my theories may all depend upon a force for 
which philosophers have searched all of nature in vain.' Of course, he is 
alluding to a higher power."

Founded in 1987, the ECFR is the world's leading institution of evangelical 
physics, a branch of physics based on literal interpretation of the Bible. 
According to the ECFR paper published simultaneously this week in the 
International Journal Of Science and the adolescent magazine God's Word For 
Teens!, there are many phenomena that cannot be explained by secular 
gravity alone, including such mysteries as how angels fly, how Jesus 
ascended into Heaven, and how Satan fell when cast out of Paradise.

The ECFR, in conjunction with the Christian Coalition and other Christian 
conservative action groups, is calling for public-school curriculums to 
give equal time to the Intelligent Falling theory. They insist they are not 
asking that the theory of gravity be banned from schools, but only that 
students be offered both sides of the issue "so they can make an informed 
decision."

"We just want the best possible education for Kansas' kids," Burdett said.

Proponents of Intelligent Falling assert that the different theories used 
by secular physicists to explain gravity are not internally consistent. 
Even critics of Intelligent Falling admit that Einstein's ideas about 
gravity are mathematically irreconcilable with quantum mechanics. This 
fact, Intelligent Falling proponents say, proves that gravity is a theory 
in crisis.

"Let's take a look at the evidence," said ECFR senior fellow Gregory 
Lunsden."In Matthew 15:14, Jesus says, 'And if the blind lead the blind, 
both shall fall into the ditch.' He says nothing about some gravity making 
them falljust that they will fall. Then, in Job 5:7, we read, 'But mankind 
is born to trouble, as surely as sparks fly upwards.' If gravity is pulling 
everything down, why do the sparks fly upwards with great surety? This 
clearly indicates that a conscious intelligence governs all falling."

Critics of Intelligent Falling point out that gravity is a provable law 
based on empirical observations of natural phenomena. Evangelical 
physicists, however, insist that there is no conflict between Newton's 
mathematics and Holy Scripture.

"Closed-minded gravitists cannot find a way to make Einstein's general 
relativity match up with the subatomic quantum world," said Dr. Ellen 
Carson, a leading Intelligent Falling expert known for her work with the 
Kansan Youth Ministry. "They've been trying to do it for the better part of 
a century now, and despite all their empirical observation and carefully 
compiled data, they still don't know how."

"Traditional scientists admit that they cannot explain how gravitation is 
supposed to work," Carson said. "What the gravity-agenda scientists need to 
realize is that 'gravity waves' and 'gravitons' are just secular words for 
'God can do whatever He wants.'"

Some evangelical physicists propose that Intelligent Falling provides an 
elegant solution to the central problem of modern physics.

"Anti-falling physicists have been theorizing for decades about the 
'electromagnetic force,' the 'weak nuclear force,' the 'strong nuclear 
force,' and so-called 'force of gravity,'" Burdett said. "And they tilt 
their findings toward trying to unite them into one force. But readers of 
the Bible have already known for millennia what this one, unified force is: 
His name is Jesus."



"The god you worship is the god you deserve."
~~ Joseph Campbell

"Abstract truth has no value unless it incarnates in human beings who 
represent it, by proving their readiness to die for it."
  --Mohandas Gandhi

"Modern physics has taught us that the nature of any system cannot be 
discovered by dividing it into its component parts and studying each part 
by itself. . . .We must keep our attention fixed on the whole and on the 
interconnection between the parts. The same is true of our intellectual 
life. It is impossible to make a clear cut between science, religion, and 
art. The whole is never equal simply to the sum of its various parts." 
--Max Planck

Nicholas F. Gier
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Idaho
1037 Colt Rd., Moscow, ID 83843
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/home.htm
208-882-9212/FAX 885-8950
President, Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
http://users.adelphia.net/~nickgier/ift.htm

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