The question often arises about whether mainstream media outlets are actively promoting an anti-God agenda. There can be little doubt that certain news stories “sell” better, but what about news outlets that demonstrate a clear anti-god agenda? What should be a Christian’s response be to authors and news media that clearly reveal a bias that supports error, immorality, and unrighteousness?
In the August 20 issue of USA Today, the editors used the entire back page of the “Money” section to announce what they feel are the “Top 25” discoveries from the field of science from the past twenty-five years. The feature page noted, “With help from long-time science observers, USA Today’s Dan Vergano counts down the 25 top milestones.” However, rather than an unbiased evaluation of scientific advances, Vergano did a phenomenal job of highlighting the usual atheistic tenets and evolutionary dogma—items that consistently get headlines and sell papers. One wonders if there was an agenda to leaving out medical cures, surgical advances, and health discoveries in favor of topics that were blatantly anti-God, and, in some cases, were poor scientific studies or not even science discoveries at all. The “Top 25” list included:
Big Bang Fingerprinted
Water on Mars
Oldest Hominid
Evo Devo
Hobbit Discovered
Embryonic Stem Cells
Hello Dolly
Feathered Dinosaur Found
Intelligent Design Suit
Climate Accord
Abrupt Climate Change
Accelerating Universe
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are aware that the Big Bang Theory is still a theory—a weak theory that cannot account for the initial existence of matter. One wonders if the editors were aware that no water has been found on Mars and that the alleged “evidence” for water has been hotly contested by many scholars in the field of astronomy.
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are aware that the creature they identify as “Oldest Hominid” came from bone fragments that consisted of a tooth, a piece of a tooth, a piece of bone, a mandible, and a partial postcranial skeleton? One wonders if the editors were awarethe authors described the cranial fossils as “strikingly chimpanzee-like in morphology” (Nature, 1994: 371:310, emp. added). One wonders if the editors knew this fossil find had to be renamed after further examination, and that Donald Johanson (the discoverer of “Lucy”) admitted in the March 1996 issue of National Geographic that A. ramidus possessed “many chimp-like features” and that “its position on the human family tree is in question” (189[3]:117).
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are aware that many scientists have attributed the small stature of the alleged “Hobbit” creature to encephala. Many experts recognize this creature not as some evolutionary ancestor but rather a sick human whose growth was shunted by disease—not evolution.
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are aware that adult stem cells are crushing embryonic stem cells when it comes to actual results published in peer-reviewed journals. The reality is most scientists recognize that the push for those embryonic stem cells is totally unnecessary. The current “score” is 72 to 0—meaning there are currently seventy-two conditions successfully being treated using adult stem cells (see http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm), whereas embryonic stem cells have still yet to show any benefit in treating human conditions.
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are aware of how many failed attempts it took Dr. Ian Wilmut just to create one sheep? (Answer: 277) One also wonders if they are aware of the fact that the cell used to create Dolly was taken from a six-year old sheep and that Dolly died prematurely from “old age related disorders,” with her telomeres (telomeres keep the ends of the various chromosomes in the cell from becoming attached to each other) already showing signs of deterioration.
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are aware that many paleontologists do not buy into the dinosaur-to-bird theory. One wonders if they are aware that many scientist believe that rather than feathers, the frayed fibers that have been found are collagen fibers that have nothing whatsoever to do with either feathers or birds.In discussing one of these finds in the journal Science, Ann Gibbons referred to “roughly a half-dozen Western paleontologists who have seen the specimens” admitted that “the structures are not modern feathers” (1997, 278:1229).
One wonders why the editors of USA Today consider the Intelligent Design lawsuit a “Top 25 Scientific Milestone.”
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are aware that scientists in many countries are ridiculing the United States for the widespread media attention given to Global Warming, a theory that is driven by politics more than by scientific fact.
One wonders if the editors of USA Today are awareof the logical conclusion that must be drawn regarding an “Accelerating Universe.” Vergano noted, “Exploding stars, receding at an ever-faster pace, stunned scientists by showing that an anti-gravity effect is relentlessly expanding the universe. This expansion still defies explanation.” What Vergano and the editors of USA Today forgot to mention is that an expanding Universe rules out the possibility for an eternal existence to the Universe. The only two remaining possibilities for explaining its very existence is: (1) it sprang into existence from nothing; or (2) it was created by something or someone superior to it. We know that something doesn’t come from nothing, so the very discovery of an accelerating universe helps prove the existence of an Almighty Creator.
One wonders if the editors of USA Today were honest in their evaluations of scientific achievements or if they had an agenda to promote to the American public. Then again, maybe one doesn’t have to wonder.