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The Seattle Times, which as far as I know is a regular newspaper, has published a guest editorial by Bruce Chapman in their opinion section.
Chapman has published a lot of editorials in the Seattle Times, and in sum, they make him look like (I'm just sayin') he's on the payroll of both Microsoft and the Discovery Institute
His editorial is loaded with the usual creationist crap ... claims that Darwin was forced on him in college, noting Haeckel's embryos, quote mining from Dawkins, etc.
...Darwinists have avoided debates, and in universities have stooped to denial of academic tenure, promotions and even graduate-student status to dissenters. They either ignore the case against Darwin'stheory or debunk a straw-man version of it.
The editorial is here. To send a letter to the paper, use this email address: opinion@seattletimes.com
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Comments
Posted by: Virgil Samms | April 17, 2008 10:01 AM
This is going to make it harder for the Discovery Institute to run away and pretend it wasn't involved when the Expelled! intellectual property issues hit the fan.
Posted by: Virgil Samms | April 17, 2008 10:04 AM
Posted by: Virgil Samms | April 17, 2008 10:19 AM
I'm confused. Did Micro$oft Windows evolve, or was it Intelligently Designed? Or neither?
Posted by: Jonathan Vos Post | April 17, 2008 12:50 PM
Art history was forced on me in college. But you don't here me bitching about it.
Posted by: mlf | April 17, 2008 12:57 PM
You got it backwards. Chapman isn't in the pay of the Discovery Institute, he's the founder of the Discovery Institute.
Posted by: John McKay | April 17, 2008 1:06 PM
John: I can't believe I failed to mention that, thanks for pointing it out, and he is president of the DI as the editorial points out. I should have italicized "both" ... I had not previously realized that he had written MS apologetics, which was my poorly made point.
Posted by: Greg Laden | April 17, 2008 1:15 PM
Even leaving aside the horrible misrepresentation of facts and outright lying in this article, the writing style is so poor and stilted that it's almost comical.
Also: "But instead of following such a policy, most Darwinists have avoided debates..."
Really? I've seen so-called 'Darwinists' debate IDiots far more than is really warranted. It always ends the same way...
Posted by: Etha Williams | April 17, 2008 2:28 PM
MLF - Were you in one of my classes?
I must admit, I find it humorous when scientists complain that they are forced to study science. The frau teaches at a prestigious university and her medical students complain endlessly being "forced" to take histology.
I run into the same thing. The artists complain when they are forced to study art history. I suspect it has something to do with the unwelcome revelation that their "unique" vision is/was shared by another artist 3,000 years ago.
Posted by: onkel bob | April 17, 2008 3:20 PM
Posted by: Virgil Samms | April 17, 2008 4:00 PM
This editorial makes me feel very sad. You see, I met Bruce Chapman some years back, before he became involved with the Discovery Institute. In fact it was before the DI was even b>founded! He was a decent guy then, and rather likeable. But in the intervening years, we went our separate ways, and he got a job in Washington DC under the Reagan administration. Once there, he started to drift rightward rather rapidly. He drifted so far, he actually lurched rightward. And ended up playing a prominent part in the founding of the DI, which eventually moved to Seattle. So he moved back to Seattle, too(did I mention that he was a city councilman there for some years?, and that was when I met him?). I am not sure whether the guy is being opportunistic, or whether he really, truly believes this stuff. Either way, it is a very sad "evolution", if I may use that word.
Anne G
Posted by: Anne Gilbert | April 17, 2008 7:02 PM
"devolution,", Anne, as in the 'handing down' of power to an inferior or subordinate...
Posted by: the real cmf | April 17, 2008 7:55 PM
Anne, wow, I never knew you had had that experience! That's amazing!
Posted by: Greg Laden | April 17, 2008 10:30 PM
The Seattle Times runs a brief review of Expelled
(No stars out of four)
Posted by: Virgil Samms | April 18, 2008 3:30 PM