Mike the Mad Biologist

The Templeton Foundation: Lie Down with Templetons and End Up with Lawsuits Against ‘Climate Hawk’ Politicians

Posted by Mike on November 17, 2010
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Or something. By way of Howie Klein, we discover that Blue America PAC, which supports candidates, who among other things, are not global warming denialists, is faced with a nuisance lawsuit. This attack is led by ‘Let Freedom Ring, Inc.’, a conservative faith-tank. And who funds Let Freedom Ring? Well (italics mine):

‘Let Freedom Ring, Inc.’ is a Conservative think-tank that was set up in 2004 in the USA thanks to a $1 million donation from Dr John Templeton, Jr., President of the John Templeton Foundation. The organization seeks to promote the neo-conservative agenda led by President George W. Bush, and campaigns actively in favor of keeping troops in Iraq as part of the ‘war on terror’. It claims that the war in Iraq was caused by Al Qaeda. “LFR” also claims to be a group standing against political attack ads, while at the same time maintaining that conservatives need to not be fazed by “‘mud-slinging’ coming from the left.”

Let Freedom Ring was also involved in organizing the nationwide “Tea Party” protests on April 15 2009, in part by sending out robocalls to potential participants the day before.

Yes, that Templeton Foundation–the one that for so long attempted to defend intelligent design creationism.

I find it ironic that some rather famous science journalists (ok, one in particular) who are very passionate about global warming are willing to accept funding from a donor who also attacks those candidates who might actually do something about the problem.

Seriously, don’t trust the Templeton Foundation.

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Comments

  1. #1 william e emba
    November 17, 2010

    Yes, that Templeton Foundation–the one that for so long attempted to defend intelligent design creationism.

    I missed this. I recall they back-pedaled as fast as possible, explicitly denying anything scientific about ID, after being criticized for their early involvement with ID.

  2. #2 Ryan
    November 17, 2010

    Note the difference between the Foundation started by Templeton Sr. and the individual that currently runs it (Templeton Jr., who made the donation to LFR on his own dime). While there are arguments for and against this being relevant, it should at least be noted.

  3. #3 anthrosciguy
    November 17, 2010

    When this sort of thing happens, as it does so often, the “acomodationists” should see the essential problem with their position: the people who attack them most fiercely, and who attack liberal and science-accepting religionists most fiercely, are fundamentalist religionists, not atheists. This should cause them to stop and think about who their enemies really are, but so far it hasn’t.

  4. #4 Sigmund
    November 18, 2010

    This would be a great story to be covered by a young science journalist looking to make a name for him/herself. Unfortunately, to really get to grips with this story you would need to have a background in writing about both climate change and the right wing war on science, with particular emphasis on the intersection of science and politics. You would also need to have a keen interest in promoting good public understanding of science. Finally, you would need to have a good working knowledge of the Templeton Foundation.
    Where on earth are we going to find someone with all those attributes?

  5. #5 PZ Myers
    November 18, 2010

    Yeah, Templeton has scrupulously avoided getting entangled with ID. Theistic evolution, which is ID that is unashamed of calling the “designer” god, is more their flavor of folly.