The Michael Jackson Jury

The verdict in the Michael Jackson case and other high profile cases makes me wonder if our system of trial by jury is in jeopardy in the US. This is not to say I disagree with the verdicts in these cases, because I was not a juror in them, but I do wonder if juries are able to distinguish between "reasonable doubt" and "beyond a shadow of a doubt." In other words, are modern juries able to determine what is probabilistically reasonable? I think this ability is being lost.

I believe the reason people are losing their ability to determine what is reasonable and what is not can be blamed on some of the institutions that attempt to pass themselves off as the very sources of truth in society today. These institutions have been pushing the idea that the improbable is common in our world today. They are telling this to our children in school and are disseminating this to our society as a whole through the popular media.

Examples of the assertion that the improbable is common can be found in the study of the origin and formation of the universe and the origin of life. Society is lead to believe:

• The universe popped into existence all on its own out of nothing (an impossibility, probability: 0).[1]
  
• The universe just happened to have the attributes necessary for life on earth (essentially impossible, probability less than 1 chance in 10 to the 282 power).[2]
  
• Life just formed from non-life on its own (again, essentially impossible, probability less than 1 chance in 10 to the 150 power).[3] ).
  
• Life became more and more complex to become what we see today own (once again, impossible).[4]

Society is taught to believe these things happened, without question, though they are all essentially impossible. So will we be surprised in the near future when juries regularly decide defenses that might include invisible aliens and temporary reversals of the laws of physics? Why should this surprise us when we are taught daily that the improbable is common in our world today? Of course, society is also taught that the probable is impossible when it comes to the overwhelm evidence for the existence of the God of the Bible - but that's a subject for another day.

For evidence for the existence of the God of the Bible, you've come to the right place. There is a high probability that you will discover compelling arguments based on science and logic in support of this question and many others here at the WWCW.

-ed
e-mail: wwcw@wwcw.org

Notes:
1. WWCW, The Only Explanation is that God Created the Universe.
2. Hugh Ross, Probability For Life On Earth, Update, April 2004. Note that 1 chance in 10 to the 282 power is equal to one chance in a million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion.
3. William A. Dembski, "The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance Through Small Probabilities," Cambridge University Press, 1998.
4. Irreducible complexity disallows many of the elements of life to have formed independently of each other. See Examples of Irreducible Complexity by Michael Behe.

I want to learn more about how I can have a relationship with the creator of the universe.

Return to the Editor's Page