May 2007

Cornell University professor William Provine gleefully told a crowd in Tennessee on "Darwin Day," "Darwinism is the greatest engine for atheism ever invented." And although many Christians and other theists in the sciences accept the idea of common descent among living forms, there is no doubt that many proponents of undirected, materialistic Darwinism believe it is a powerful force for atheism, and should be used with the young for this purpose.

Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, has famously bragged, "Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist." On Dawkins' website, you can find this appalling campaign:

The Rational Response Squad has launched a $25,000 campaign to entice young people to publicly renounce any belief in the sky God of Christianity. [This is called] 'the Blasphemy Challenge,' this campaign encourages participants to commit what Christian doctrine calls the only unforgivable sin - 'blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.' 'The Blasphemy Challenge' Rewards Participants for Demonstrating Non-Belief on YouTube.

Now there's a good, strong appeal to reason! The "Blasphemy Challenge" is yet further evidence that scholarly criticism of Darwinism and the competition of intelligent design are definitely, if gradually, draining the "intellectual fulfillment" from atheism. Your participation has been helping make this possible. In our March newsletter, we asked for your prayers for two upcoming, consecutive events: the Dallas Christian Leadership luncheon on April 12 at Southern Methodist University featuring Dr. William Dembski, coauthor and Academic Editor of The Design of Life, and a community-wide conference, Darwin Vs. Design, on April 13 and 14, also at SMU, headlined by the well-known author, Lee Strobel, and featuring three outstanding speakers from Discovery Institute.

These gifted speakers were Dr. Stephen C. Meyer, Director of Discovery's Center for Science and Culture, Dr. Jay Richards, co-author of The Privileged Planet, and Dr. Michael Behe, Lehigh Univ. Biochemistry prof and author of Darwin's Black Box. (Discovery Institute Senior Fellows all.) Thank you for praying. Those were three extraordinary days packed with revolutionary information! FTE aggressively promoted Darwin Vs. Design, provided some scholarships, and filled seven tables at the luncheon.

The Dallas Christian Leadership luncheon on Thursday was one of a series provided each school year under the leadership of DCL Director Steven Sternberg and the DCL Directors and Advisors, featuring such speakers as Os Guinness, Dallas Willard, Marvin O'Lasky and other leading thinkers on issues of faith and culture.

• Bill Dembski's luncheon address, The Intelligent Design Controversy, could not have been better timed. For two to three weeks, a controversy raged in the Dallas Morning News, sparked by a letter it published from 23 SMU professors demanding that SMU's President R. Gerald Turner ban the Discovery Institute and its conference from campus! Interestingly, the editorial staff of DMN saw the obvious, and in editorial comments that echoed most of the letters the paper had published, scolded the 23 professors, calling them "prissy profs," and stating that "the group had every right to be on campus." President Turner apparently agreed.

• No wonder this particular luncheon broke attendance records. Such free publicity as this doesn't come along every day, and the longer Bill spoke, the clearer it became why Darwinists demand the microphone without competition! Numerous people who attended one or more events have told us they understand now what is at stake in this fight, and are newly energized for it.

• The luncheon was also the venue for an important announcement: The Design of Life will be released this coming August, and will retail for $35. We are determined to keep this commitment, one that will demand that every hour possible between now and publication day be protected and dedicated to this important goal.

Having Michael Behe in town reminded us of his comment about the ACLU suit of the Dover, PA School Board after the trial. He said, "Isn't it ironic that the ACLU sued the Dover School Board to keep a few kids from hearing about intelligent design, and as a result, millions of people have heard about it who wouldn't have otherwise!" Of course, the next step is to explain intelligent design to the millions without the spin of the court or the media.

That is exactly what The Design of Life will do, articulating intelligent design as a major, compelling presence. We told you in March that our goal was to raise $250,000 to $275,000 to publish it. We are more than half way there.

That is why, dear friends, what you do this month is going to have a major impact to propel that global growth! May 31st is the deadline for a matching challenge pledge period, our last chance to raise contributions matching the pledge offer of $50,000 from a generous donor and give The Design of Life the powerful launch that may eventually impact hundreds of thousands. Or more. We still need $22,000 to meet the matching challenge opportunity, and beyond that $60,000 more to give The Design of Life the powerful launch it needs. So we're not that far away!

So we appeal to you again. We are on the cusp of a major expansion in our culture of the worldview you and I share. We hope you'll join with the many who have so generously pooled their resources to this point to produce something of great and lasting value.

Thank you for partnering with us in this critical and exciting work!

Sincerely,

Jon Buell