[asa] Laminin

Did a little research on laminin, and found a few things.

http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5992/

http://myworldatlarge.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/why-i-love-laminin/ (see
comment #8 for an interesting point. And then there's the strange comment
in #11: "I love laminin?" How weird is that?)

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/laminin.asp
On the other hand, there is
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/l/laminin.htm

I sort of have mixed feelings on this. In some ways, I can see it used as a
parable of sorts, using a physical illustration to point to a greater
spiritual reality. If that's where it stops, and if the subject matter and
devotional aspect are immediately shifted to Christ and the cross, then it
could be a valuable, faith-affirming illustration. In fact, this
illustration holds even WITHOUT the emblematic cross shape of the molecule.
I.e., even without its shape, we can give a "preacher analogy" of "Just like
laminin is a fundamental part of the connective tissue throughout our
bodies, so Christ holds us and all Creation together." Like all parables
though, it has its limits.

Once we take it further and say that this "cross shape" with its biological
properties are actually testimonies of Christ that were "built in" to the
biological molecules, and so on, then the case become weaker, the stronger
we try to make it. This is a prime example where we may be set up for a
fall of faith, once it's shown the person that the actual molecules aren't
necessarily cross-shaped in practice, and other scientific questions. I
haven't searched far enough to find anything like this, but what if (for
instance) laminin or other cross-shaped molecules help in the spread of
cancer as well as sustaining life? Would it hold such a special place in
Christian apologetics, if it turns out to be partially responsible for death
as well as life? Biology, like life itself, is a messy business unlike the
sanitized textbook versions.

And then there's the question of, why laminin? What about all the other
amazing parts of our bodies that hold us together, and "bear witness" of a
Creator? It seems an inordinate elevation of one particular molecule,
simply because textbooks describe it with a cross shape. Shall we look for
molecules that have a dove shape (representative of the Holy Spirit), or
molecules that have the outline of the land of Israel, or are in the shape
of the letter 'C' (for Christ) or 'X' (for Christ in Greek), ad infinitum?
Shall we give these structures special relevance, just because of a presumed
likeness? I've seen cloud formations that looked like certain things, but
that doesn't mean they were "designed as a testimony" of anything. The
physical analogy is in my perception -- I may see the face of Christ in a
cloud, and the next guy may see a bowl of oatmeal. It seems a losing
proposition, and in fact a fallacy of associating two things that look
similar and calling them related.

Not only are there questions biologically and logically, but there is the
question of placing an inordinate affection on biology to "hold us together"
-- but what about Christ? Is it Christ that holds us together, or is it
laminin? Well, at least Christians would be happey to say, "both". But for
those who want a nice, neat testimony of Christ, the statement "Christ and
laminin hold us together" sounds remarkably un-Christ-centric (kind of like
"faith plus works" for many Protestants). But if the real answer is given
as, "Christ holds us together spiritually, and laminin (plus 100,000 other
quarks, atoms, enzymes, proteins, ligaments, skin cells, etc., etc.) hold us
together physically," then laminin quickly loses its primacy and returns to
its original place as one small piece of a large biological puzzle. Again,
why the special emphasis on one component? I go back to the "parable"
argument as the only reason to talk about it at all.

Jon Tandy

-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of Iain Strachan
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 2:03 AM
To: Dehler, Bernie
Cc: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: [asa] Is Science an enemy of faith? (Laminin too)

On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 4:52 AM, Dehler, Bernie <bernie.dehler@intel.com>
wrote:
>
> We were going to watch the famous laminen video. Have you seen it?
> The "cross in the molecules" . holding everything together just as
> the Bible says (Col. 1:17). The video wasn't available, so we'll
> watch it next time likely. Sorry to say, I have a lot of rebuttals for
it.
>
>
Bernie,

I'd be interested if you could point me to a web-site with a clear rebuttal
of this claim. I've a colleague who describes himself as a "diehard
Creationist" who keeps passing me material from his church.
One of these was the laminin claim, but I didn't at the time have a clear
rebuttal to make a response, and to say "you must be incredibly gullible to
believe that" seemed not to be a charitable response, so I left it with a
"hmm".

Iain

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