3 Questions to Slifkin

In a recent article in the Jerusalem Post, R' Nosson Slifkin declares ID to be against Judaism:

But there are also significant theological problems [with ID]. If God's existence is being demonstrated in phenomena for which there is argued to be no scientific explanation, then what about all those phenomena for which there is a scientific explanation?

...and a few papagraphs later:

So where does that leave the rest of the universe? What about all those structures that do not, even by the admission of the ID camp, present irreducible complexity? The unstated implication of their position is that these things do not attest to a Creator. Don't have a grasp of cellular biology? Sorry, you won't be able to perceive that the universe was created by God.

Either God is everywhere or He is nowhere. But He is certainly not limiting His appearance in the universe to the bacterial flagellum and the blood-clotting system.

When I wrote about this issue a while ago*, what Slifkin calls a rejection of ID I called "ID - natural process?" I explained such a view:
"They basically feel G-d could have done it with just one ma’amar so surely he did. Why ‘bother’ with 10 ma’amoros?" Slifkin is now also claiming that the ten ma'amaros would mean G-d's design can't be observed in anything else. While I understand why he wouldn't like a theory that sounds like "G-d of the gaps", I have some questions for him:

1. How is Slifkin so sure G-d wouldn't want to show directly His continued involvment in the world? How does that minimize evidence of G-d? What does slifkin believe about miracles such as yetzias mitzrayim?
2. How does Slifkin explain the Mishna and pesukim about ma'amaros that say G-d created the universe with many steps ?
3. Darwinism's primary purpose is to explain how the great complexity of the universe could have happened randomly, taking away the need to believe in a G-d. Eventually, it will have its place in history with theories such as Freudinism and Marxism. Why does Slifkin have so much faith in it?

Maybe I'll post his response.


*(See "Ma'amaros and Miracles". Of some relevence is "G-d and Design".)

The Internet

Due to the various problems the internet pose, the haredi community has called for a full ban on its use. This approach will not work. We're already in the internet 2.0 age and the internet is becoming more and more essential. Look at the growth of the internet over the last ten years to get an idea of how big it will be in another ten years. Eventually everything will be on the internet and it will be unavoidable.
Even now, its a necessary or helpful for almost anything. You can get instant information on any topic, you can buy or sell anything, communicate with people, get torah shiurim, etc., etc. The internet is as ubiquitous as the automobile.
It's also like a car in that its dangerous, although in a spiritual way. But no one is calling for cars to be banned just because they can crash. Just like you buckle your seatbelt and drive carefully, you can do the same thing with the internet; in fact you can take stronger precautions. Depending on how much protection you want, you can put use adblock, image blockers, parental controls, web-tracking, or whitelisting. This is the correct way to deal with the problems the internet pose.
Some people think the internet is less like a car and more like the Television. The haredim have gotten along fine without TV. But the comparasion is flawed. Unlike the internet, the TV has barely any useful purpose besides killing time. In addition, a person can use the internet carefully and never see anything bad, while the television is filled with bad shows and ads.
The internet can best be compared to the printing press - it allows the proliferation of information, both good and bad, in a way never thought possible before. Just imagine how much less torah we would have if the printing press had been banned.