A recent scientific paper, published in the high-profile journal PLOS ONE, made three separate references to the amazing design of the human hand…and rightly attributed them to the Creator.1 Evolutionists cried foul and raised such an uproar that the journal retracted the paper.
Evolutionary scientists often claim they are objective in their work as researchers and educators. They also claim that creationist research isn't valid because creationists don't publish in secular journals. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The reality is that evolutionists are seldom objective in their pursuit of truth, but instead often abuse their power as gatekeepers and suppress anything that points to a Master Creator as the source of design and complexity in living systems. The irony is obvious: Secular scientists censor creation research, then they mock creation scientists for not publishing in secular journals.
A glaring illustration of this worldwide scientific tyranny is depicted in the recent academic drama that garnered many headlines in the press. The events were put into play by a PLOS ONE research paper that sought to biomechanically analyze the human hand. The purpose was to acquire information that would aid in the production of advanced robotic systems.
The authors of the paper state that "the functional link between biomechanical architecture and hand coordination was drawn by establishing the clear corresponding causality between the tendinous connective characteristics of the human hand and the coordinated characteristics during daily grasping activities." They conclude, "The explicit functional link indicates that the biomechanical characteristic of tendinous connective architecture between muscles and articulations is the proper design by the Creator to perform a multitude of daily tasks in a comfortable way." The study authors also attribute the amazing design and engineering of the human hand to the "Creator" in several other places in the paper.
In an attempt to cover for the Chinese authors, it was put forth that the use of "Creator" in the article was a mistranslation of something like "mother nature." However, one of the four authors worked at a university in the USA and they submitted the paper in English—it wasn't translated—and the editor of the paper wasn't Chinese. Clearly the principal characters involved knew the modern implications of the word "Creator."
Nevertheless, the evolutionary community would have none of this. They brought immense peer pressure down on the journal. The end result was the paper's official published retraction.2 In their explanation for the retraction, the journal editors state, "Following publication, readers raised concerns about language in the article that makes references to a 'Creator', and about the overall rationale and findings of the study," and "Consequently, the PLOS ONE editors consider that the work cannot be relied upon and retract this publication." Amazingly, they go on, "The editors apologize to readers for the inappropriate language in the article and the errors during the evaluation process."
The editors directly equate the use of the word "Creator" with "inappropriate language." They also attribute the paper's conclusion of design to "errors during the evaluation process," despite the fact that the biomechanical and statistical data clearly reveal the hand of an Omnipotent Divine Engineer as the only logical conclusion. In fact, ICR scientist and medical doctor Randy Guliuzza uses the human hand as a stellar example of the engineering genius of the Creator.3
The events of this recent academic drama clearly show that evolutionary dogma dominates secular science in a ruthless gatekeeping tyranny. It seems evolutionists are offended by any evidence that doesn't match their narrow and tattered worldview.
References
- Liu M-J, Xiong C-H, Xiong L, Huang X-L. 2016. Biomechanical Characteristics of Hand Coordination in Grasping Activities of Daily Living. PLoS ONE 11 (1): e0146193.
- The PLOS ONE Staff. Retraction: Biomechanical Characteristics of Hand Coordination in Grasping Activities of Daily Living.
- Guliuzza, R. 2009. Made in His Image: The Connecting Power of Hands. Acts & Facts. 38 (10): 10-11.
*Dr. Tomkins is Director of Life Sciences at the Institute for Creation Research and received his Ph.D. in genetics from Clemson University.
Article posted on March 21, 2016.
