John Haught To Testify in Dover Case

I majored in theology in college, and my two favorite professors were Langdon Gilkey and John Haught. Gilkey taught my senior seminar in religious pluralism. Haught taught my classes on theological method and systematic theology, and was also my academic advisor.

A few years after graduating I found out that Langdon Gilkey had been one of the key expert witnesses for the plaintiffs in the 1981 "Creationism Trial" in Little Rock, Arkansas. He wrote a thoughtful and entertaining book about that experience, and covers some of the same issues in this lecture (Real Media). (Judge Overton's opinion awarding judgment in favor of the plaintiffs cites Gilkey's testimony a number of times.) Professor Gilkey passed away last November.

More recently I learned that Professor Haught will provide expert testimony for the plaintiffs in the Dover, Pennsylvania, Creationism trial set to start on Monday (9/26). Cool! Statements about the case from all seven of the plaintiffs' experts can be found on this website maintained by the ACLU.

Annie Duke at Warwick's

Annie Duke's booksigning was very enjoyable. She spent about 45 minutes addressing a crowd of maybe 65 people, mostly just answering questions from the audience. I came away extremely impressed with how articulate, smart, and personable she was. Despite whatever problems she has with anxiety (which she covers in her book), she's a fantastic speaker.

She spoke about Phil Hellmuth's ego, reading an opponent's body language, giving off fake tells, Dan Harrington's books, poker as a career choice, and a bunch of other topics. I'm glad I went.

My first blog post

This blog will not have a well-focused theme. I'll probably review some books; I may review some other blogs; I'll comment on an occasional news item. The subject matter will bounce around from law to poker to economics to football to science to politics to who-knows-what.

I plan to post at least once a week, and believe I'm about even-money to follow through.

Tonight I'm heading down to a local bookstore for Annie Duke's booksigning. I haven't yet read her book, but will pick up a copy tonight. I enjoyed her sister's beautifully written second book, Poker Face, and her dad's hilarious first book, Anguished English. Her brother's website contains some of the most penetrating articles on poker strategy I've seen. (I just wish he'd add more of them.) So as an author, Annie has a lot to live up to.