…and this is a 
Back in June, I reported on this new sleazy tactic by Ray Comfort: he produced an abridged edition of Darwin's Origin of Species, and then had the gall to tag on a preface that he had written himself, full of the standard creationist misconceptions. Comfort is astoundingly ignorant of basic biology; the best analogy to what he's doing here would be if I were to give a chimpanzee a few blank sheets of paper and a convenient pile of his own feces and ask him to write a theological exegesis of the book of Genesis.
Oh, wait. On second thought, the chimpanzee would probably do a smarter job of his task than Comfort did of his.
Anyway, Ray and his polyp, Kirk Cameron, have a grand plan. They are going to give away their mangled edition of the Origin on 50 college campuses on 19 November, with the intent of allowing students to see the 'alternative' view. As if no one has heard of creationism, or as if it was a valid alternative to science.
There is a strategy to address this obscenity. They're giving the books away for free: just get one or a few. Take them away and put them on a bookshelf, or rip out the introduction and donate the rest of the book to charity (which is a little impractical, I fear: these books will be very cheaply bound, and will not survive the mutilation). But anyway, let the intelligent, rational community sop up these sad mutilations of a great book and tuck them away from the gullible.
Alternatively, send copies to your favorite opponent of creationism on your campus. I know I keep a bookshelf full of creationist literature, and a Cameron/Comfort-edited version of the Origin would be a hilarious joke to have on hand. I doubt that the University of Minnesota Morris will be 'lucky' enough to get a team of these evangelical idjits on campus, though…so maybe one of you readers can get a copy for me? Get two, I'll sign one and send it back to you so that you have an extra special version. Be sure to tell the people handing it out that you want an extra copy for an evil atheist!
Comments
Posted by: jc morrison | September 17, 2009 10:24 PM
maybe you should return the favour and put out a version of the bible-->complete with a terrifying centrefold featuring a banana!
love your blog, pz [in canada you're called 'p-zed' of course].
jc
Posted by: Peter | September 17, 2009 10:24 PM
But if you took a billion chimpanzees and a sufficiently large enough piles of their own feces they could in time produce something worth reading. I'd hate to be the editor though.
Posted by: Travis | September 17, 2009 10:26 PM
I imagine my Canadian university will probably not be one of the 50 universities getting this lovely book. What a shame, I would love one. Maybe I will be lucky and the Campus for Christ group here will get a few to give out. They gave out a ton of Lee Strobel's "The Case For God" on a club day about a week ago. They might get their mits on this as well.
Posted by: Stellar Moose | September 17, 2009 10:32 PM
My university is science and engineering oriented, but I don't know if it's high profile enough to attract the attention of Comfort and Co.
I'll be checking on Nov. 19th. Maybe I'll get a chance to ask about the banana.
Posted by: Everard J | September 17, 2009 10:35 PM
Comfort and his polyp (ha-ha) personify Luther's...
What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church... a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them?
~
Posted by: Andrew | September 17, 2009 10:35 PM
"Ray and his polyp, Kirk Cameron." That's too funny.
Posted by: Mena | September 17, 2009 10:36 PM
But, but, kids will get ideas and want to go out and commit genocide!
http://www.movieguide.org/articles/1/463/book-review-darwins-racists-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
Posted by: paul Goodhew | September 17, 2009 10:39 PM
yes, that's all very nice...
BUT WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE HANDY SNAKE?!?!
Posted by: laania | September 17, 2009 10:40 PM
Oh God, hearing Ray Comfort's Kiwi accent makes my ears burn with shame.
Posted by: William | September 17, 2009 10:41 PM
I also lolled at "his polyp"
Posted by: BathTub | September 17, 2009 10:43 PM
Actually there are some plans afoot to organize a slightly more interesting response.
Posted by: jshreff | September 17, 2009 10:44 PM
I am near several campuses in the bible belt (oklahoma). Anyone know of a list of their targets?
Posted by: Jim | September 17, 2009 10:44 PM
Or put them in a box and use the postage paid envelopes you receive from various ministries in your mailbox to mail them to those groups who won't stop sending you Christian junk mail. The weight of the books will force them to expend their funds in unexpected ways and hopefully teach them a lesson about sending out such massive amounts of junk mail.
Posted by: Jimmy Johnson | September 17, 2009 10:44 PM
Damn! I NEED that book! Our humanist group would love to have something like that to ruminate over. I'm sure it could provide material for at least a quarter-year's worth of discussion. Can't someone talk these clowns into making it available to the general public for FREE? I'll even pay postage!
Think of all the cretinists [sic] who would see a copy of this and could then say they've read Dawrin's big book. Though I doubt any serious professor would put this edition on his syllibus...
Jimmy J
Posted by: Rick R | September 17, 2009 10:46 PM
I always saw Cameron as Comfort's goiter.
Posted by: SpontOrder | September 17, 2009 10:47 PM
If there is a daring college film out there, I have a project in response to this Way of the Laughter effort I am willing to finance. Contact me at the email listed or use the URL to leave me a message.
Andrew
Posted by: Abstruse | September 17, 2009 10:49 PM
Jim@13
Or put them in a box and use the postage paid envelopes you receive from various ministries in your mailbox to mail them to those groups who won't stop sending you Christian junk mail.
Would that work?
Posted by: aratina cage
|
September 17, 2009 10:49 PM
I almost died laughing at that!Posted by: SpontOrder | September 17, 2009 10:50 PM
that should read: daring college filmmaker
Posted by: Shaun | September 17, 2009 10:50 PM
Well I made it halfway through the video, but couldn't take any more.
Posted by: Phil | September 17, 2009 10:51 PM
I go to UC Berkeley, so there will probably be a group distributing the books, I'll be sure to get you one PZ.
Posted by: Jadehawk, OM | September 17, 2009 10:51 PM
does anyone know which campuses they'll be live-trolling?
Posted by: Michael | September 17, 2009 10:52 PM
Mutilate books? Even bad books shouldn't be treated so poorly.
Posted by: Martin | September 17, 2009 10:52 PM
So is there a list of the campuses Raytard is targeting yet?
Posted by: John | September 17, 2009 10:52 PM
I shred junk mail to use as bedding for my parents' cattle. I really wish I were still at university so I might get a copy.
Posted by: Phil | September 17, 2009 10:58 PM
Apparently they're going to UC Berkeley on the 24th of August, I'll try to get 2 autographed versions from them.
Posted by: Fil
|
September 17, 2009 10:58 PM
I find these moronic clowns deeply depressing. Imagine defacing the painstaking and honest work of a mind such as Darwin's with the devious, ignorant, lying shit that is creationism.
Wait, that gives me an idea.
When I take a dump tomorrow, I'm going to clean my arse with some random pages of a bible in protest...
That should wipe the smile off those idiots' faces. ;-).
Posted by: defiantskeptic
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September 17, 2009 10:58 PM
I will gladly take one or two or as many as I can carry under the pretense that they're "for my friends" and then proceed to ridicule the idiotic ideas contained within, in public, for all to see.
Also, felixmab, shut up. You're a moron.
Posted by: Bootylicious | September 17, 2009 11:04 PM
Felixmab, sending a message to the FBI was probably the best thing you've ever done.
Posted by: Bootylicious | September 17, 2009 11:07 PM
Good God you are insane.
Posted by: SpontOrder | September 17, 2009 11:09 PM
to see a list of the first 50 schools go to: http://www.originintoschools.com/
per the video there is some mention of expanding the list to the top 100 secular colleges based on fund raising targets. I suspect the fix is in and they are confident they can raise enough money to hit 100 colleges. Certainly don't want God to be embarrassed if they don't raise enough money but that won't stop them from prattling on about what a miracle it is.
I have lost the site but there was on one of their sites a copy of the additional text Comfort has written as an intro to this special edition of Origin of the Species. Anyone?
Posted by: Andy | September 17, 2009 11:09 PM
Maybe they'll talk about *the banana being the ultimate proof of god's existence* in this book.
Btw; Is there something wrong with the comments in some of the other threads or is it my browser?
Posted by: DLC | September 17, 2009 11:10 PM
Would that I had the money to go to my local college and hand out real copies of Darwin's work, instead of this Ray-Ray adulterated version.
Posted by: Bootylicious | September 17, 2009 11:11 PM
Woohoo! This means they'll be coming to my university!
Posted by: Theo Bromine | September 17, 2009 11:13 PM
If you just want to get the 50 page forward, you can download the pdf from here: http://assets.livingwaters.com/pdf/OriginofSpecies.pdf
Posted by: Tiger | September 17, 2009 11:14 PM
How will we know if our school is on the list?
Posted by: Bootylicious | September 17, 2009 11:15 PM
Tiger, see the list at #33.
Posted by: spontOrder | September 17, 2009 11:16 PM
here is a link to Comfort's written effort, on this page you will find a pdf link to Comfort's introductory effort: http://www.livingwaters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=383
enjoy
Posted by: Benjamin | September 17, 2009 11:19 PM
I'm on the leadership board of Secular Penn at the University of Pennsylvania (#5 on their list), and I think it might be worth our time to gather a heap of these books. Perhaps we should have a contest to see which of us can acquire the most books...
Posted by: Preston | September 17, 2009 11:22 PM
I realize this answer is less fun... but my experience with campus canvassers is that you should always take materials from the worst ones. If you see them four times, take four pamphlets. The secret is that when they run out of stuff, they'll go away.
Posted by: Supercorgi | September 17, 2009 11:22 PM
Oh Wow. Is there anyway I can get a batch of about 100 and say I'll distribute them to local high school libraries and then rip out the Comfort crap (or write my own rebuttal)? Ah, actually I don't trust that they wouldn't edit Darwin's actual words. I'd have to do an exhaustive page by page comparison between Darwin's book and their version of it.
Posted by: Religion™ Brand Brain Staples | September 17, 2009 11:23 PM
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, what they've done with this book is sneaky and dishonest, but the countermeasure sounds uncomfortable close in it's effect to censorship. :-/
Posted by: Shinobi | September 17, 2009 11:23 PM
That's some impressive hate spam you've got there PZ. Grammatically bizarre and everything.
Would burning these books be hypocritical? Not that I want to Burn Darwin's work. Looks like they are passint it out at the university near my home and my alma mater.
Perhaps I will try to get a few copies use the introductions for fire starters this winter. If I coat them with wax and tie them with ribbon it could be a hilarious stocking stuffer for my creationist hating friends. Nothing like starting fires with sheer stupidity.
Posted by: Meat Robot | September 17, 2009 11:24 PM
If I may speak on behalf of the downtrodden polyp. . .
They're not *all* malignant, you know, and they don't lurk in shit-filled colons by choice. It was all part of an intelligent design.
Posted by: Yubal
|
September 17, 2009 11:25 PM
# 12 jshreff
Not quite, but you can try to track this site
Someone is sponsoring the area around UK Lexington with a big box Origin of Species. :D
Posted by: Insightful Ape | September 17, 2009 11:26 PM
Too many troll droppings.
Ugh.
Posted by: Thedepressingstatistician | September 17, 2009 11:29 PM
My school has quite the psychology program. Not sure if its in the top 50, but if so, I'd be glad to grab some copies.
My "A" pin just came in today. Hopefully I'll be able to put it to good use on Nov. 19th.
Posted by: Kostoglotov | September 17, 2009 11:31 PM
@56
What's on November 19th?
Posted by: Chris Stevenson | September 17, 2009 11:31 PM
Maybe we should respond by distributing copies of Thomas Jefferson's Bible: http://www.angelfire.com/co/JeffersonBible/. If you don't know of it, it is Thomas Jefferson's excised version of the New Testament, with all the supernatural bits removed.
Posted by: Yubal
|
September 17, 2009 11:31 PM
Why not? Paper is a grade A fire starter, and it is just paper, just a frakin' book, nothing else!
Nothing wrong about burning Darwin's work, besides the fact that you can't read it anymore. One the other hand, some people are handing them out for free, as we've been told.
Posted by: steve | September 17, 2009 11:34 PM
I noticed they mentioned the page count of their version as somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pages. That's well under the page count of a typical copy of [i]Origin.[/i]
Posted by: NickDLP | September 17, 2009 11:35 PM
We should distribute Bibles and Korans. Write a forward, PZ.
Posted by: AlanWCan | September 17, 2009 11:35 PM
You have a stronger constitution than I. Couldn't stomach the I'm-so-hip-I'm-sitting-on-the-chair-backwards-wish-I-had-a-part-on-Hill-Street-Blues pose so I skipped in and got a full view of that little perineum-tickler 'tache and bailed.Can someone tell me how to go about getting these walking skidmarks to send me a copy of their book?
Oh, and I see Mr. off-his-meds is at it again:
organisation: Used Computer Shop
person: Dennis Markuze
address: 2872 Werbrouck
zipcode: H4R 2J3
city: Montreal
state: Quebec
country: Canada
phone: 1-514-923-8293
fax: 1-603-215-0400
Posted by: vhutchison | September 17, 2009 11:36 PM
#5. Pious lies are nothing new to the creationists.
Posted by: Fil
|
September 17, 2009 11:37 PM
Book burning has too many nasty connotations. Using a box cutter to excise the drivel in the preface is a form of censorship, as Religion™ Brand Brain Staples suggests. It also horrifies my librarian wife, who sadly comes across that sort of theft quite often on the shelves...(it's always law students btw ;-)
Perhaps a better alternative would be for PZ or someone similar, to write a counter argument to their preface and ADD that to the book before once again handing it out, or giving it to charity?
Posted by: Thedepressingstatistician | September 17, 2009 11:37 PM
@57.
Isn't that the day they are handing these things out?
Posted by: truebutnotuseful | September 17, 2009 11:37 PM
BathTub wrote:
I suggest dressing up like crocoduck and passing out bananas.
Posted by: rcv | September 17, 2009 11:38 PM
Yes!
They'll be here at the University of Illinois at Urbana!
I'll be waiting!
Posted by: Lykeros | September 17, 2009 11:42 PM
I have a copy of this!
One of our local loonies was passing them out on Mill Ave (the local weekend night scene around campus, it's where all the bars are.) My roommate and I both took a copy because we thought it was just too amusing not to. I recognized what the book was from hearing about it a few months ago and knew that I had to take one.
I hope they pass this garbage out on my campus. They'll be in for a big surprise if they do.
Posted by: mikecbraun | September 17, 2009 11:47 PM
This pisses me off even more than Fred Durst thinking he was good enough to add a new verse onto "Behind Blue Eyes." I love the description of Kirk Cameron as Comfort's "polyp." That's excellent. If I drank coffee, it surely would have been sprayed on the screen.
Posted by: Jeffrey E. | September 17, 2009 11:48 PM
Subject: Markuze is a blah-spammer
I know I shouldn't feed the troll, but one has to try to make light of these things. I can't believe he is actually contacting law enforcement to directly inform them of his illegal threatening behavior!
Posted by: Eamon Knight | September 17, 2009 11:50 PM
First: People, please do not feed the obviously insane (and, alas, Canadian) troll.
Back to the real topic: I note that in the list of "liberties" Cameron says have been lost, all are either lies, or cases where Christians have been prevented from forcing their religion on others (eg. the Gideons getting kicked out of schools). Remember: people like this are the ones Frank Schaeffer is means when he talks about "America's Village Idiot".
Posted by: BathTub | September 17, 2009 11:51 PM
Yes Ray's Origin is edited, he cut out Darwins intro and a bunch of chapters from the second half.
You can download what he cut out here http://www.originextra.com/
Yes Ray created a website for the chapters he cut out of the book, I know it's strange.
Now Ray's 2nd sidekick Tony The Lawman Miano is saying that due to complaints SOME of the copies they give away won't be abridged. But I don't have any reason to believe him.
Posted by: PZ Myers
|
September 17, 2009 11:56 PM
They aren't going to be at UMM. They aren't even going to be at UMTC. I guess they fear me and the awesome power of the UMTC atheist group.
Posted by: Thedepressingstatistician | September 17, 2009 11:58 PM
@58
Did you find a list at where they are going?
Posted by: Egaeus | September 18, 2009 12:00 AM
Blasphemy is a victimless crime, Markuze.
Does anyone know where to get a list of the universities? I can't seem to find on on their website.
Posted by: Ashley | September 18, 2009 12:00 AM
Oh, sure, Northwestern, University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but University of Illinois at Chicago gets the SHAFT.
However, I have minions. Er, friends. It's on.
Posted by: Ally | September 18, 2009 12:01 AM
We could sabotage this by figuring out a way to replace all those books with a copy of The God Delusion, but keep the book jacket from the mangled edition of Origin on it. The gullible might get schooled. :)
Posted by: gypsytag | September 18, 2009 12:02 AM
i'm not really into defacing books but I think a better idea would be to set up a TV beside the people giving out the books, and on it have Ray Comfort's banana video running nonstop.
Posted by: PZ Myers
|
September 18, 2009 12:04 AM
Here's the list of 50 schools.
Posted by: Helly | September 18, 2009 12:05 AM
I think it's such an outrage for those two idiots to misrepresent science in this way. Fortunately, there's a lot of people who already trying to figure out ways to stop the nonsense by making a statement. On Richard Dawkins website I saw a link to this facebook group that is working on going tot he schools where the books will be distribute and pretty much clear up all the lies by talking tot he people who get the books.
Here's the link to the group if any of you guys wants to join and support them. It's called "Kirk Cameron has gone too far! But we can stop him"
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=155609217391
Posted by: PZ Myers
|
September 18, 2009 12:06 AM
And in front of the video, have a banana, a dildo, and an anal plug on display. Make 'em think.
Posted by: Thedepressingstatistician | September 18, 2009 12:07 AM
Not at my school, but I have a number of friends at one of them.
I'll let them know and see if they can't snag a couple.
Posted by: Yubal
|
September 18, 2009 12:09 AM
Hey!! Cool!
I will be in Vanderbilt that week!
Posted by: Lykeros | September 18, 2009 12:13 AM
Damn! They won't be at Arizona State!
Oh well! I suppose I'll still prepare for it anyways. I know a lot of the local loonies follow Way of the Master drivel. I couldn't tell you how many times I've been handed one of those tracts containing the banana argument. We also have a huge Campus Crusade for Christ group on campus...
Yes, prepare I will.
Posted by: BathTub | September 18, 2009 12:17 AM
Yes even if your school isn't on the list, unofficial groups could very likely be around.
Ray is selling the book in bulk for 1$ a copy so people can get it out.
Posted by: ER Doc | September 18, 2009 12:20 AM
My son's a Biochem major at UW-Madison (#38 on the list). He's going to look for them on Nov 19 and see what he can get.
Posted by: Gyeong Hwa Pak | September 18, 2009 12:34 AM
Oh, you just given me the sudden urge to get these books from them and out the intro in front time. Then give them a smile and say thanks. How. . .vile of me. :)
They won't be at my school though. I guess they can't compete with the looney folks who come to say that all moderate and non-Christian women are going to hell in our courtyard.
Posted by: JD Middleton
|
September 18, 2009 12:50 AM
Ordinarily I would think of something pithy to say about how lame Ray Comfort is and I would discredit Mike Seaver, I mean, Kirk Cameron. In this case however, I only have one word...ASSHOLES!
Are you kidding me? Anybody who believes these two buffoons deserves to be home schooled, not vaccinated, indoctrinated into their parents' crazy superstitions, and dropped off at a truck stop in a county that is full of religious fundamentalists NOT of their particular persuasion.
Posted by: Chris R | September 18, 2009 12:52 AM
I hope none of my students are helping to hand this out. That would be sad.
And @79: Blasphemy is a crime? I'd better change my dinner plans tomorrow!
Posted by: Capital Dan
|
September 18, 2009 12:52 AM
Wow. I too could only make it through half that video. Ray's Polyp ejects a odious stream of lies and wild histrionics, and from there it just turns into a stomach-churning yammer-fest about their delusion that the Bible is relevant to anyone but themselves.
Posted by: JD Middleton
|
September 18, 2009 12:54 AM
Sorry, should have been country, not county.
Posted by: Green Onion | September 18, 2009 12:55 AM
I like the bit where he stands up abruptly. Kirk ain't shittin' us anymore.
Posted by: Monkeyman8 | September 18, 2009 12:55 AM
God I love this thing, when he heard that it's the 150th birthday, and it's public domain!!!! like, holy fuck I can mutilate it as much as I wish and I don't have to worry about jail time.
Posted by: Me | September 18, 2009 1:00 AM
The Team Canada Comment thingy was all screwed up so I am entering my advice here. Speak with your friend in the local DA's office. His daughter worked for you one summer not long ago. He should be a veritable fountain of information on how to deal with this International issue.
Posted by: Green Onion | September 18, 2009 1:00 AM
*snicker*
Posted by: Travis Bickle | September 18, 2009 1:03 AM
Exerpt from this..."work" after speaking of hellfire and damnation:
"In the midst of these frightening thoughts, remember to
let fear work for you. The fear of God is the healthiest fear
you can have. The Bible calls it “the beginning of wisdom..."
Charming.
It's pretty bad, even for what can be expected from this lot. It starts with straw-man arguments and a total misunderstanding of evolution, and then pretty quickly starts the hellfire rant. I was surprised at how unpersuasive that part of it is - god is not a happy father like figure, "[h]e is not a benevolent Father-figure, who is happily smiling upon sinful humanity..."
I especially like how the youtube video presentation is very friendly, with an attempt to be cool in its tone. But then the guts of the work is all hellfire and damnation.
Posted by: Fil
|
September 18, 2009 1:08 AM
On a positive note, I just spent some quality time at the Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online...what a delightful resource it is for an old miser like myself. And what a quiet respite away from the bastage of the two clowns whose antics induced me to read some more of Chuckie's words. Pigeons...I quite like pigeons; at least the shit they produce is honest shit.
http://darwin-online.org.uk/
Posted by: JD Middleton
|
September 18, 2009 1:09 AM
You know, I'll give Ray this, he sure knows how to ruffle some feathers. When I decided that I was an atheist, that was it. I decided that there probably was no god or gods. Every time I here him say that atheist believe that nothing created everything it just pisses me off. I don't ever recall claiming that nothing created everything. In fact I don't recall claiming that anything created anything. The whole idea of creationism rests upon his crazy idea that if a painting has a painter, a building has a builder, and a watch has a watchmaker, presupposes the ridiculous assertion that everything was created by something else; all the while ignoring the possibility that some things do not have a "creator." Turtles all the way down.
Posted by: Capital Dan
|
September 18, 2009 1:09 AM
blah blah blah... blasphemy... yammer yammer.
On the plus side, the crazy person's posts do get a lot more fun if you imagine the cops kicking in his door and catching him narrating them with squeaky finger-puppets.
Posted by: Norman Doering | September 18, 2009 1:15 AM
I understand that they're not just putting the introduction in the book -- they are abridging and editing Darwin's book.
That would mean part of the strategy would be to get a copy of the book and compare it to Darwin's original and point out how they changed it on a website.
It also means you can't just dump the introduction.
Here again, "No More Gods on this Earth":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3-3Lzwz6K4
Posted by: whydowebelieve | September 18, 2009 1:16 AM
It looks like they'll be at my campus too.
PZ, People going to these universities I think deserve a little more credit. If anything, I think that what Comfort and Co. are doing will actually backfire on them. It seems that the creationists are baring their teeth because they sense a corner they're being driven in to.
For as long as I can recall, people have been on campus almost every day giving out free Bibles. It will be clear to the reader upon opening their desecrated version of Darwin's book, that it is a bunch of hogwash.
Perhaps, instead of taking all the books, or tearing out the pages, the concerned should confront those giving out the books? Hassle them, and show our outrage, let people know what the scam is all about? Follow the book-peddlers around campus and call them out every time they try to hand out a book? But be prepared; perhaps have a 'track' that gives crucial information about the disinformation-peddling that the authors have previously been known to do.
-Jordan
Posted by: Yubal
|
September 18, 2009 1:19 AM
Norman Doering, There is a Tool out there that could be really handy for that purpose.
Posted by: may | September 18, 2009 1:23 AM
they are given out free?
get as many as poss and stick on pithy label.
then distribute to the converted.
what goes round comes round.
oh and pidgeon shit is the best of the best when it comes to fertilizer for your garden.
rabbit shit is next best.
(straight out of an old book called "Fertilisers and Manures").no shit.
Posted by: mcbender | September 18, 2009 1:25 AM
Looks like my school (Carnegie Mellon University) is on the list.
Does anybody know how I can find out when they will be showing up to do this? The site just says they're coming; it doesn't offer any kind of schedule.
Writing a nonsensical, falsehood-ridden introduction to the book is one thing, but bowdlerizing Darwin is an utter travesty and these people need to be called out on it.
I'd ask for suggestions via email, but this is Pharyngula so I suspect my inbox would be flooded, so I'll just ask you to mention them here instead. Should I get involved, and if so, any ideas?
Posted by: jsclary | September 18, 2009 1:31 AM
Does this make anyone else really really want a copy of the Jefferson Bible with a preface by PZ?
Posted by: DagoRed | September 18, 2009 1:31 AM
Dang. I puked out at 39 seconds. I must be gettin' too old for this shit.
Posted by: Capital Dan
|
September 18, 2009 1:31 AM
Pigeon shit for fertilizer?!?
No thanks. I saw that episode of House. Did you see what it did to Foreman?
Posted by: holomorph | September 18, 2009 1:32 AM
The idea of an "introduction" doesn't scare me nearly as much as the possibility that the parts of "Origin" that are usually quote-mined will be printed with the clarifying context entirely excised. Who wants to bet that Darwin's "absurd in the highest degree" paragraph about the eye will appear, but the immediately following paragraph will be lost to the memory hole?
Posted by: Yubal
|
September 18, 2009 1:33 AM
#95
Get a crowd of fellow students with Coke's and Bananas ready and mock the creators of the chimeric book in front of their acolytes!
Posted by: Yubal
|
September 18, 2009 1:36 AM
(after you got your free copy)
Posted by: may | September 18, 2009 1:44 AM
who is foreman and what house?
hie thee back to thy garden.
pidgeon shit is tha best.
a hand full scattered per square yard (metre)
and for the delicate and flowerlike,don't forget face mask,gloves,full anti-glub suit and piped oxygen.you will survive.
you are athiests fer crine out loud. you are allowed into the garden.there was no one to heave you out in the first place.
Posted by: Krystalline Apostate | September 18, 2009 1:46 AM
Andy @ 32:
I sent an email off too the Professor - he responded back w/there being something wrong w/the comments.
Also, I was able to open @ least 1 w/the Chrome browser (I'm using Firefox 3.5.3).
So it might be a combo.
Posted by: MadScientist | September 18, 2009 1:52 AM
That retard Comfort even puts on a nice cover, claims to be the "150th anniversay edition" and so on. In Australia the monstrosity has been put into the "non-fiction" section. In the Borders shop I walked into on the weekend there were also prints of the original (much thicker), but how is someone who is ignorant of the subject and wishing to find a book to learn something to know the difference between Darwin and Raytard Comfort?
Posted by: formosus
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September 18, 2009 1:56 AM
Wow. I guess I'm the first one who noticed that the explosion graphic was the same one used in the MacGyver intro.
I also love how these "moral" godbotherers straight out lie in the first few sentences. You are allowed to pray in school. Just not force others to do so. You can read a bible in school. Just not during instructional time.
Posted by: Fil
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September 18, 2009 1:56 AM
I have the free pigeon shit on my car thanks to a whole mess of them nesting in my yard (is the collective noun for pigeons a "mess"? It sure should be).
Anyways the one thing apart from the free poo on the car (and it was a BIG pigeon) that upsets me about them is their cooing at dawn. I can filter out the dawn chorus of imported English songbirds using ear-plugs, but there is something about pigeon cooing that is impossible to block.
But they are friendly chaps, pigeons, we even call them "The Fellas".
So, the Foreman at this House likes pigeons but not the mess (even if it is terrific for the garden). ;-)
Posted by: Arguendo | September 18, 2009 2:00 AM
Just a thought, but I noticed that they are taking donations to buy additional books. I wonder if Ray would appreciate a small donation from everyone. I'm thinking a shiny penny would be an adequate donation. Let's see; they get a penny and pay another 29 - 49 cents to process the transaction. Anyone know how all that works?
I know from experience handling charge-backs, that most credit card companies will automatically honor a dispute of less than $10.00 so if these transactions looked odd when they hit your card, I'm sure the CC agency would side with you as well.
I'm not suggesting this to anyone but just thinking out loud.
Posted by: may | September 18, 2009 2:06 AM
awlright.
but i still think pidgeons(even noisy,shitty ones) are better than over-intense godbotherers and i suspect, so do you.
Posted by: Timothy | September 18, 2009 2:12 AM
Those guys need to be locked up. For their own safety as much as ours.
Posted by: JohnnieCanuck
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September 18, 2009 2:17 AM
So how much do you suppose these will go for on eBay? First edition, limited run? Biologists, teachers, atheists, all are going to want one as an example and a teaching opportunity, or maybe just as a darkly humourous souvenir.
There may even be a few religious types interested in acquiring it as well. Some might even find the introduction to be heretical.
Posted by: Evolving Squid | September 18, 2009 2:27 AM
Ray Comfort missed his chance... that book should have been made banana-shaped.
Posted by: Traveler | September 18, 2009 2:28 AM
If book burning doesn't sit well with you, then may I suggest adding this book to a compost heap. Maybe some microbe will evolve that can stomach Ray Comfort.
Posted by: Jeff S | September 18, 2009 2:37 AM
I think I might get an extra copy of the Greatest Show on Earth and offer it to the person handing them out. Ill try to get a few extra copies (for friends) first, so I can share the hilarity.
Posted by: Barry Pearson | September 18, 2009 2:54 AM
I downloaded the PDF of the bits of "Origin of Species" that have been cut out, from:
http://www.originextra.com/
I notice from the "Properties" that the author of the PDF was "Banana 562-213-7668".
Hm! A sense of humour?
Posted by: 964pinocchio | September 18, 2009 2:57 AM
Green Onion @ 83: I thought about that too, the histrionics, the 'seriousness'...I was worried KC was gonna shove a banana up my backside if I disagreed...
Only made it about a minute into the video before I had to wipe the hurl off my screen...
Posted by: DonRocko | September 18, 2009 2:59 AM
Dang, they won't be in MN... A PZ-signed creationist version of Darwin belongs on any godless collector's shelf. I guess at least one positive thing to keep in mind is that they are spending money to print these books. I suspect it will be abridged or altered somehow beyond the absurd intro though.
Posted by: StarScream | September 18, 2009 3:02 AM
I’m just glad they are targeting the top 50 uni’s. If they were going for the bottom 50 they might have a higher chance of persuasion.
Posted by: Cliff | September 18, 2009 3:13 AM
Looks like they'll be at both UNC and Duke so hopefully I can get some folks together down here to scoop them up!
Posted by: Aquaria | September 18, 2009 3:16 AM
Or put them in a box and use the postage paid envelopes you receive from various ministries in your mailbox to mail them to those groups who won't stop sending you Christian junk mail. The weight of the books will force them to expend their funds in unexpected ways and hopefully teach them a lesson about sending out such massive amounts of junk mail.
For the millionth time, don't be such a tit.
We in the USPS don't automatically accept BRM (as this is properly known) mail that is obviously being used fraudulently. A BRM envelope or card pasted to a box or other large item must specify that it can be attached that way (and we know what to look for}. Contrary to what numbskulls like you think, we do look; each package large enough to be bulky is processed by hand, and all BRM mail ends up in a clerk's hands, again processed manually. Someone along the line will see it. Usually, it's the person pulling the mail from the collection box. By the way, people dropping off bricks with BRM attached has hurt quite few postal workers when they're emptying the boxes. I'm one of them.
If I ever catch one of you fuckers putting something like that in the mail stream (most of you shits are too cowardly to pull this stunt when someone will see), I'll report your sorry ass to the Postal Inspectors. It's mail fraud, and you will not beat the rap going up against the USPS in court. As it is, even when shitheads drop this shit off anonymously in our mailboxes, it goes about as far as the clerk who retrieves the mail from it. Know what happens to the package then? The clerk collecting that mail reports it to a supervisor, and it promptly gets thrown away. So what good has it done you--seriously?
There are nothing but negatives from pulling this shit. Grow the fuck up and find a more productive way to protest an organization.
Posted by: Xenithrys | September 18, 2009 3:22 AM
Yes, it seems to be Firefox that's not displaying the comments on some previous posts. They work OK with Safari.
Posted by: WTF | September 18, 2009 3:25 AM
Hey Aquaria: I'll worry about that when I stop getting so much junk in my mailbox. Shit that goes straight into the trash.
Posted by: Tristan | September 18, 2009 3:42 AM
PZ, your mailbox is going to be flooded with copies of the trash. You shouldn't have left the invitation so open.
Posted by: maw501 | September 18, 2009 3:45 AM
"But anyway, let the intelligent, rational community sop up these sad mutilations of a great book and tuck them away from the gullible."
Disagree with the last part.
Posted by: murci3lag0 | September 18, 2009 4:09 AM
I'm against the destruction of the book for two reasons:
1. It will give these kooks the sense of censorship, and indeed it is! come on people, destroying books? that is not cool.
2. It WILL give acces to the real thing to a religious audience that would have never read the book in the first place: imagine to compare the babbling and propaganda of the first 50 pages with the reasoning and enlightenment of the remaining ones.
So don't worry people, there will always be baaaaaad books. That does not imply that we must suppress them (well unless they are promoting really dangerous ideas based on unscientific claims as for example Trudeau's books)
Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2009 4:18 AM
"Yo Ray, I like your book and Ima let you finish, but Darwin had one of the best Origin of Spieces of all time. Of all time." Kanye West
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 4:20 AM
This is a quote from the introduction:
And since bananas and humans share a common ancestor, we would expect to find something that is half banana/half man.
There is so much blatant stupidity, dishonesty, slander and misinformation in this introduction that you could call it evidence for Malignant Design.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | September 18, 2009 4:37 AM
Just read Comfort's introduction. It's appalling. And the fact that he dared attach his awful, ignorant prose to the clear writings and reasonings of Darwin shocks me (I won't call it blasphemy, but it's not that far... !). Of course, no science student would buy his incoherent heap of refuted and plain absurd arguments, peppered with factual errors.
A few things are noteworthy, still:
- Comfort insists on how serious a sin lying is. So he sincerely believes all this???
- There are banana jokes! Does he have a sense of humor or is it just an accident?
- Darwin's bio is not bad (he must have lifted it from somewhere else)
- The typesetting and illustrations are nice
Posted by: Geaf | September 18, 2009 5:00 AM
This is unbelievable.
I get a little comfort (no pun intended) from the knowledge that one day, those two chimps will be caught with their pants down, literally, no doubt snorting cocaine from a bible whilst fitting bananas up each others baggy arsehole.
That day will be a fine one.
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 5:04 AM
More evidence for Malignant Design from Ray Comfort’s introduction:
So to all of you stupid moderate Christians who think that there is no Hell and that your god is loving and merciful: he is a figment of your imagination. You will not enter Heaven, you hear? Only righteous people, like me, Ray Comfort, who have absolutely no imagination, will not fall in the abyss of Hell.
Er, sorry Ray, but did I read ‘lying’ there? Oh dear. I see a little problem with that. You see, you have been lying in your introduction. And not just a little bit, not just through oversight, but deliberately so. Massively. You are an evil, lying son of a bitch. And now you will go to Hell, stupid motherfucker, because God is good by nature, and his goodness is so great that he can’t stand the sight of you, he can’t bear the smell of you, he will cast you aside like the filthy, useless worm that you are.
Ah, what a pity that there is no god.
Posted by: Gordy | September 18, 2009 5:15 AM
I downloaded the PDF and went looking for the usual lies. I didn't even get as far as page 1 before spotting this beauty:
"All rights reserved. Under International Copyright Law, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means— electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopy), recording, or otherwise— without written permission from the Publisher."
Public domain means what exactly..?
I think this might be a new record! :)
Posted by: Whippa | September 18, 2009 5:15 AM
Rofl.
I love the idea that having one of these on the bookshelves could do a giggle. It'd be like hiding a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in the dust jacket of the earlier version.
Posted by: Simon | September 18, 2009 5:15 AM
As a NZer, I wish we could disown Ray. I'm am really glad he doesn't live here anymore though. He wouldn't get very far in NZ.
Posted by: Rorschach | September 18, 2009 5:20 AM
Dude posted this vid of himself debating banana man on some beach not long ago on some other thread, it's worth reposting, just for the shorts alone :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZyo1-AgF8A
Posted by: rufustfirefly | September 18, 2009 5:32 AM
Comfort's latest post from his blog;
http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2009/09/origin-of-species-give-away-is-getting.html
What trickery is this?
Posted by: Kel, OM | September 18, 2009 5:33 AM
lol, that's both simultaneously awesome and really pathetic. Though that's not too dissimilar from the same crap we see on a regular basis. Hell, we've had the "cannot measure love" nonsense twice in two days on here.Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 5:34 AM
Rorschach,
Heh. Are you sure that wasn't Michael Palin pretending to be Ray Comfort?
The guy is a living self-parody.
Posted by: Jeff S | September 18, 2009 5:34 AM
The video is hilarious. I was watching it as if it was done intentionally to be so ridiculous and hilarious. I'm too high to be able to comprehend that people are that crazy.
Posted by: Rorschach | September 18, 2009 5:39 AM
Drosera,
Jordan posted that himself on some way back Ray thread and I picked up on it by chance, so Im sure it's authentic lol....
I just love those shorts Ray is wearing,they're totally awesome.
:D
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 5:41 AM
Yeah, shorts for the Great Outdoors.
Posted by: JThompson | September 18, 2009 5:51 AM
While I realize many people grow dizzy at the mere thought of censorship, it should be pointed out that destroying a book you own is *not* censorship. If we were trying to get his book made illegal or trying to destroy every copy to prevent anyone from having one, then we'd be guilty of censorship. Just because they're delusional enough to think everything but drooling agreement is censorship doesn't mean we have to reinforce their idiocy.
You keep using that word...
Posted by: Rorschach | September 18, 2009 5:52 AM
Not sure those shorts please the lord, however.
Posted by: Rorschach | September 18, 2009 5:57 AM
@ 127,
FTW !!
Posted by: Dave Kahn
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September 18, 2009 6:00 AM
I'm uncomfortable about tearing out the introduction, however obnoxious and scientifically illiterate it may be; it is too close to book burning. It is also flawed simply as a tactic as it will allow the creationists to point at us and say, "Look, the Darwinists are censoring us. Ben Stein is right."
This edition may well become a collector's item of stupidity. Get as many as you can and tuck them away safely. One day they may be worth actual money (though probably not much) as a curiosity. They could also be a useful tool for illustrating how creationists operate.
If you want to protest at the campus giveaways prepare your own leaflets explaining in simple terms what is wrong with Comfort's edition and with links to sound sources of information: the campus' own biology department for a start.
Defacing books, even Mein Kampf, is just wrong. And Comfort's nasty little exercise is no Mein Kampf. If you really can't bear the thought of leaving the book intact, get a single page printed up that you can glue permanently inside the front cover. Perhaps it could be along these lines: "This book is an example of what happens when a man with no understanding of his subject has the temerity to think he is qualified to write an introduction to one of the most important works in the history of mankind, and further to bowdlerise that work. Keep it safely as it may become a collector's item of stupidity and ignorance."
Posted by: Rorschach | September 18, 2009 6:12 AM
False equivalence champ @ 151,
how you can compare burning books to ripping out a deliberately for the purpose of misrepresentation added, insane and incompetent review of a science classic by some semi-retarded fringe loon is frankly beyond me.
Posted by: BathTub | September 18, 2009 6:12 AM
Yeah Ray has already printed up tons of these books, I have no idea what his new blog post is about.
But the page count doesn't add up.
Posted by: Kel, OM | September 18, 2009 6:18 AM
Yeah, it would be like as if someone took the new updated versions of star wars and cut out all the shitty scenes that were added to the original. Han didn't shoot first.Posted by: Dave Kahn
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September 18, 2009 6:39 AM
@151. A book is a book and destroying a book is, uh, destroying a book. The fact that it's a book you don't like does not excuse it. Besides, tearing out the introduction will only play into Comfort's hands. He will feign outrage but in reality he will be beside himself with joy. Comfort's edition of Darwin, undefaced, is its own worst enemy.
Posted by: No Bs | September 18, 2009 6:50 AM
What I want to know is where are they getting the money to do this?
And I mean specifically.
Posted by: Walton | September 18, 2009 7:01 AM
Assuming the copy of the book is your own property, then I don't see anything wrong with destroying it to make a statement, if you want to do so.
Yes, mass book-burnings have historically tended to be a hallmark of violent authoritarian governments. But there's a crucial distinction that many people here are missing; the Nazis and the Communists and the Taliban forcibly confiscated books they didn't like and destroyed them, en masse, so that no one could read them. There's a rather big difference between that, and destroying your own copy of a book in order to make a point. The first is authoritarian censorship; the latter is simply an exercise of free speech.
If Professor Myers were advocating breaking into bookshops and libraries and destroying every copy of Ray Comfort's work, then I would agree that this would be highly unethical. But if the creationists are stupid enough to send him a copy for free, then he's entitled to do whatever he likes with it.
Posted by: Rorschach | September 18, 2009 7:03 AM
As if anyone cared what "played into Comfort's hands".
When I said semi-retarded, I was being charitable.
Dude, it's the Origin with an addendum by some deluded insane creationist, which part of that do you not get?
Posted by: Fred The Hun | September 18, 2009 7:32 AM
Isn't this so called "strategy" just another special case of rearranging the village to suit the village idiot?
As Frank Schaeffer so aptly put it:
"Those are minds that are lost, and we have to move past them."
Posted by: Denise | September 18, 2009 7:35 AM
As a mother of a young woman beginning to look at colleges, I can't help but wonder why Comfort/Polyp would choose all the ones on our "Not a Chance in Hell" list? Wouldn't they have more success at the Fourth Tier Universities? (Skipping, of course, Liberty, where all the students already own their own copies.) Seriously, the egos of these clowns...
Posted by: ajbjasus | September 18, 2009 7:48 AM
I have encountered some of Ray Comforts stuff.
He surely cannot genuinely believe the stuff he comes out with? I truly thought it was a joke when I first encountered it. It must be wilful ignorance, or mischief ? Please tell me it is, or a little bit more faith (whoops) in the human condition subsides !
Posted by: Benjamin Geiger | September 18, 2009 8:04 AM
Anonymous @ #125:
You, sir, win over 9,000 internets.
Posted by: charley | September 18, 2009 8:04 AM
I just read the part of intro comparing evolution to letters dropping randomly from the sky to form a coherent book. Do they really think college students will find this convincing?
A high profile effort showcasing the stupidity of Christians on top college campuses seems like a good thing to me. I hope they do get funding for 100.
Posted by: Eidolon | September 18, 2009 8:05 AM
Kel@ 146
Han did so shoot first! Lucas cleaned up the scene in later editions. BTW - how many times can the same movie be released anyway?
Dave Kahn @143: Do you object to burning Chick Tracts? They are, after all, very thin books of a sort.
Posted by: Optimus Primate | September 18, 2009 8:09 AM
Oh, wouldn't it be heavenly if a pack of pastafarians showed up in pirate regalia to preach the word in the vicinity of Comfort and Cameron?
Posted by: a_ray_in_dilbert_space
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September 18, 2009 8:10 AM
"This is not a book to be laid aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."--Dorothy Parker
Actually, back in grad school, I found great relief in tossing the occasional book against a handy nearby wall. I believe I began with my quantum mechanics text--an execrable tome of impenetrable, rambling discourse on what should be a beautiful subject. However, this volume was large and heavy, bringing complaints from those in the neighboring apartment. It being the Reagan era, one could pick up lots of "New Right" screeds from the campus Repugnithugs--and of course, the scientologists were always good for books that could be dashed against a wall without diminishing their information content. I have to say that there is a certain satisfaction to seeing the scattering pages from an absolute pile of crap as its binding breaks against a good brick wall.
An alternative use for the book is that suggested by Max Reger when he got a scathing review from a critic:
"I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me."
Tip: Remember to crumple, roll, spindle and rub the paper repeatedly so as to avoid paper cuts where you really don't want them!
Posted by: Richard Eis | September 18, 2009 8:36 AM
Won't this factually crappy introduction make the book very much a limited edition? Sort of like those bibles with typo's and stuff. Could be worth a few bob.
Posted by: Sili
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September 18, 2009 8:49 AM
Thank you for using "alternative" rather than "alternate" - I know this is the way language has flown, but I still don't like it.
Posted by: Michael Dickens | September 18, 2009 8:50 AM
I love Kirk's posture in that video. It reminds me of that episode of Family Guy: "Hey, he's sitting with his chair backwards! He understands us!" It's like he's trying to parody himself.
Posted by: dNorrisM | September 18, 2009 8:51 AM
Has anyone come up with a list as to what was abridged from TOS? I expect Darwin's "complexity of the eye" sentence is there but no the rest of the paragraph.
Posted by: Baudi | September 18, 2009 8:56 AM
We've got to shed some light on this. The media needs to report on the actions of Comfort and Cameron. Whether one of the mass media channels or even The Daily Show or the Colbert Report, this needs to be mentioned and the public must do whatever we can to stop this kind of bullshit.
Posted by: Olaf | September 18, 2009 9:05 AM
Just skimmed the introduction over at richarddawkins.net, and it's vile. In one part he presents a Darwin quote (mined of course) with a Hitler quote in such a way that it looks like Darwin said both, which is pretty bad.
The highlight is near the end where he compares Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism and concludes that only Christianity can save you from hell because only Christianity... agrees with Christianity! Turns out my logic lecturer was right and P does imply P.
Posted by: Angie80
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September 18, 2009 9:13 AM
They're coming to Syracuse, we're #50!
I didn't dare to hope, that's right near where I work...I would love to go and grab some of these books.
Posted by: iMature | September 18, 2009 9:15 AM
What a great event! These clowns spend money spreading the gospel of Darwin. It surely will backfire on them. Remember that if you have the opportunity to get an excised copy into the hands of a high-school student or to your local/municipal library.
Posted by: bbgunn | September 18, 2009 9:20 AM
Anatomically speaking, I don't see Kirk Cameron as a Ray Comfort's polyp. He has no way to squeeze himself into Mr. Comfort's rectum, much less the colon, with Mr. Comfort's head embedded all the way up there.
Posted by: AlgaeGirl | September 18, 2009 9:20 AM
PZ, PLEASE keep us updated as to when they're coming. They're not coming to my school (I go to a Jesuit U, so I think we're safe from them) but Columbia is a short subway ride away from me and I'll go stomp around there to get me some free Origin!
Posted by: AlgaeGirl | September 18, 2009 9:24 AM
On when they're coming...just looked at the info for the FB group I joined about this:
"Check your campus on November 19th, and if you see a group distributing copies of the book, then get as many as you can. Get a copy for yourself, ask if you can have extra copies for your friends, ask your friends to go ask for copies, and ask other people you see carrying the book if you can have their copy."
November 19th. I don't think it's set in stone, but it's a good place to start keeping an eye out for it. Hope this helps!
Posted by: Epikt | September 18, 2009 9:26 AM
a_ray_in_dilbert_space:
On the day after he passed his qualifiers, one guy I knew in grad school took his copy of Jackson's "Classical Electrodynamics" out to his father's farm and shot it with a high-powered rifle.
Posted by: Kemist | September 18, 2009 9:43 AM
Of course not. It can still be useful. I've got this uneven table for which it would do nicely. The bible is a tad too thick for it.
Posted by: JB | September 18, 2009 9:47 AM
Geebus! I just threw up in my mouth a little...
Posted by: MP | September 18, 2009 9:50 AM
Won't this just backfire on Comfort? What will happen if college kids go and read the rest of the book?! It's pretty readable, not a dense science text. They'll easily see that Comfort is wrong.
This trick will only work on those too dense or willfully ignorant to understand the rest of the text. Same as his other tricks, basically.
Posted by: a_ray_in_dilbert_space
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September 18, 2009 9:53 AM
Epikt @,
Damn! Jackson was and still is a treasure. I still occasionally consult it. There's a reason why it's a standard--it's as good an E&M text as there is. There are, OTOH, no standard texts for Quantum or Stat Mech precisely because most of them suck to one degree or another.
My criterion was always whether I could destroy a book without decreasing its information content. In the case of the scientologists or New Right types, the information content actually increased.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | September 18, 2009 9:58 AM
There's also this part where he (very seriously) states that, because of his infinite goodness, God is ready to punish you for a lot of things.
Comfort seems to see the world upside down. Perhaps he's a bat. That would explain lots of things.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | September 18, 2009 10:22 AM
Prof. Myers - I beg you, please consider that you might be utterly wrong here!
What if the actual case is that the designs are dastardly and the duo is depraved?
Posted by: BlueIndependent | September 18, 2009 10:22 AM
"...Anyway, Ray and his polyp, Kirk Cameron..."
LMAO
Posted by: http://boucheron.org/brian/
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September 18, 2009 10:23 AM
A suggestion, if I may, to those attending some of these schools: set up a booth nearby to distribute sheets of errata to accompany this wonderful anniversary edition. Something about ignoring the first fifty pages due to some terrible mishap at the printers.
"Our apologies. pages 1-50 should read as follows: NULL"
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 10:23 AM
To prove that Ray Comfort is truly a despicable piece of scum, consider this.
In his introduction he has six quotes by Adolf Hitler, from Mein Kampf, in an English translation. Five of these contain the word 'evolution,' and Comfort even italicizes the parts of the quotes that contain this word.
Now, I took the trouble to find a pdf of the original German, and what do you know? The word Evolution, which is the German equivalent of evolution, does not occur anywhere in the German version. Instead, in the quotes selected by Comfort we find the word Entwicklung, which means development.
Here is one example:
"Organization is a thing that derives its existence from organic life, organic evolution. [Hitler/Comfort]"
The German reads: "Denn Organisation ist etwas, das dem organischen Leben, der organischen Entwicklung sein Bestehen zu verdanken hat."
Which translates as:
"For organisation is something that owes its existence to organic life, organic development. [my translation]"
I can confirm that the name Darwin does not occur in Mein Kampf. However, Gott and related words infest Mein Kampf like maggots
Guilt by association, you're doing it wrong.
Posted by: Stephen P | September 18, 2009 10:27 AM
For goodness sake folks, book-burning is no worse than burning a pile of blank paper, provided you own the book. It's burning other people's books (and forbidding them to reprint them) that is appalling.
Posted by: george.w | September 18, 2009 10:46 AM
Damn, my university is not on the first-50 list.
Every semester, I take Gideon New Testaments, write URLs of secularist websites in them, and leave them laying around. It's easy to get a stack of them because the campus is littered with them; I just re-litter, with annotation.
Maybe the best thing to do with these editions is write the TalkOrigins URL in the Ray Comfort section, and re-distribute them.
Posted by: Rolan le Gargéac | September 18, 2009 10:47 AM
Jimmy Johnson #14
If he did, it would be a very sillybus (very very sic) indeed !
Posted by: Kane148 | September 18, 2009 10:52 AM
Anyone else at Yale that wants to help me cart off a couple dozen of these? lol
Posted by: Victor | September 18, 2009 11:03 AM
They're going to Tufts. Perhaps Dan Dennett can organize a one for one exchange. We'll take your Origin if you take a copy of the Age of Reason.
Posted by: Deborah | September 18, 2009 11:05 AM
"polyp"!! Loved it!
Posted by: trudaba | September 18, 2009 11:07 AM
I noticed that on the website's store you can order copies of this evil book. What's funny is that it has a 1-star average rating, but the site still ONLY displays favorable user reviews of the book. Glad to see that they really like to show both sides of an issue!
Their You Tube channel is the same way. I noticed when I went to comment on the above video that all the comments were favorable. Then when I commented I realized why: "comment pending approval." Censorship ftw! But wait, I thought that THEY were the ones being censored? Does that mean that we're the creationists now? :O
Posted by: Christophe Thill | September 18, 2009 11:18 AM
After all, Comfort's idea is not that bad. On the contrary, it's great. I mean, provided some competent science guys do the same thing he did. Wouldn't it be great to have a cheap, popular edition of the "Origin of Species", with a big (but easy to read) foreword by competent scientists explaining why Darwin still matters, where he got wrong, and what we know today?
Posted by: The Thomas Society | September 18, 2009 11:34 AM
I hate, HATE dishonest evangelism. They got an Attie over at the Thomas Society for this one.
Posted by: Seraphiel | September 18, 2009 11:44 AM
I also think the best response to this would be to produce an annotated bible. Not necessarily starting with Jefferson's version (though that is a good option) but instead leaving in all the absurd supernatural and violent, misogynistic bullshit and carefully annotating it.
For example, in the scene describing Abraham's attempted murder of his own child, solely on the demands from a voice in his head: We could tack a large footnote on the bottom of that page (or in the middle of the page, just to make sure nobody misses it) explaining how this is the behavior of someone suffering from severe psychosis.
Posted by: Eric | September 18, 2009 11:44 AM
Woah, I've got to get a copy of this!
Does anyone know if the U of M twin cities is having this group? Please tell me yes!! Oh please, please. I want a free book
Posted by: Hypatia's Daughter | September 18, 2009 11:50 AM
Gees, people. Please think!
Yeah, it would be great to give away "The God Delusion" to everyone who gets the Comfort Lie, but 50,000 copies!! Even at $10 apiece, that's 1/2 million dollars (plus all the shipping costs, etc). Would that we could, but it is not practical. (Good question as to where he is getting the money to fund this.)
Rip out the pages? You can't do it before they get passed into the hands of the students. No library would want a mutilated and abridged (by Comfort, no less) book. And all you are doing is making people ask "Hmm, what was in those pages that were ripped out?" which makes them suspicious of the motives of the atheists and sends them to Comfort's website to read for them selves.
University students pride them selves that they are logical and their opinions are informed, whether it is about science or religion. So, if you really want to counter this blitz, I suggest you print up fliers to hand out to people who stop by the tables. You can print up copies for pennies apiece, making it quick & affordable for a campus group to actually do this.
On the fliers state:
Posted by: Tim | September 18, 2009 11:53 AM
I'm disappointed they won't be at UMTC... or my undergrad school, Iowa State. We "expelled" Guillermo Gonzalez after all. And we have one of the largest LGBT groups in the country. What else does it take to be considered one of the most secular universities?!
Posted by: Chemgirl | September 18, 2009 11:56 AM
Top 50 universities, eh? I'd say U of Chicago'll safely make that list. Hee hee hee, I definitely will send one to you, PZ, if only to sign and send back. I wonder if I could get Jerry Coyne to sign it too...
Posted by: ShaunOTD | September 18, 2009 11:59 AM
@Holomorph #99
Not sure - Comfort actually quotes the "absurd" paragraph in his foreword, and admits that Darwin answered himself straight afterwards. He handwaves it away, of course, but I don't know his style well enough to know whether he'd leave a rebuttal of his garbage in plain view...
@Drosera #179
Although Comfort is a despicable piece of scum, the error in translation isn't his.
He used James Murphy's (d.1946) english translation at http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200601.txt, which uses the word 'evolution' at the points cited by Comfort.
Given the rigour of his usual 'research' it's not surprising that he didn't bother to check the original.
Eugh. I'm not sure which makes me feel more soiled - reading Hitler, or (sort of) apologising for Bananaman. I'm off to soak myself in bleach now.
Posted by: Greg Peterson | September 18, 2009 12:00 PM
I confess I used to think Comfort merely stupid, which is unfortunate but forgiveable. I just read those fifty pages and can now only include that he is not merely stupid, but stupid and a liar. That's good. Smart liars are usually far more effective. Comfort is probably doing science a real favor here: If this is the actual defense of creationism that they can muster, then clearly there is less than nothing to what they're saying. Oh, and nice try with the effort to make the difference in chromosome pair numbers between chimps and humans look like an argument for design when in fact the story is an excellent evidence for evolution (a point put forcefully forward by Catholic biologist Ken Miller in "Only a Theory"). WTF? Can't even be bothered to read a popular book by a fellow believer on a topic you presume to use in "introducing" one of the greatest scientific tomes ever produced? Contempt level set for zero degrees Kelvin.
Posted by: jj | September 18, 2009 12:03 PM
Meh, He'd be wasting his time here at UCSC, he's probably too afraid of all the neo-hippes here. Would make good starter for beach bon fire...
Posted by: Will | September 18, 2009 12:14 PM
I remember an old Role playing game that had something to say about book burning. The game delt with supernatural themes, think X-Files and you won't be far wrong.
This was in the '80s during the whole Role Playing = Satanism scare and the author of the book edded the book with a wonderful note to the effect that readers were free to buy and burn as many copies of this book as they wanted. He even gave a direct address so folks could order in bulk.
In other words so long as you own the copy in question you can do with it what you will. The only time the ethics might get a tad grey is when there are not that many copies of the work in existance. For example it's kosher to torch a bible but not a bible that was annotated by Martin Luther. Course one could always scan, print and bind a copy of that bible to cosign to the fire but keep the unique origional somewhere safe.
My .02
Will
Posted by: Eamon Knight | September 18, 2009 12:25 PM
As a bibliphile, son of a librarian, and owner of the Library That Ate The House, I am squeamish about defacing or destroying a book. However, I recognize that this fixation on the physical object is bit of a fetish, since an individual copy has in itself no particular significance -- destroying it is not equivalent to destroying all copies in existence.
The essence of censorship is not in destroying a few physical books, but in actively preventing other people from reading literature you disagree with. Someone please explain to me why this doesn't include the practice of glomming as many copies of Comfort's "edition" as you can and hoarding them some place. You are trying to keep them out of public hands, on the grounds that the public is "gullible". No doubt they are -- but it's not up to you to "protect" their little minds for them. I submit that a more appropriate response is a counter-info campaign: write up a rebuttal to Comfort's lies and publish it in the campus paper. Print it up as a hand-out, and follow the book-distributors around, giving one to every person who gets a copy of Comfort's book. Get a bunch of Comfort's books, paste your handout in the front, and pass them back out at the Freethought booth -- beat the Raytard at his own game.
Posted by: arrakis
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September 18, 2009 12:42 PM
My school is too small to make the list, so I'll probably make the half-hour trek to downtown St. Louis and help stifle the efforts at Washington University. They have a pretty sizable and intelligent skeptic crowd there, so things should be interesting.
I agree with several other posters - I think that Ray Comfort and Co. are in for a surprise.
Posted by: Rolan le Gargéac | September 18, 2009 12:47 PM
whydowebelieve #92
And thanks to the support of those ayatollahs of olden times, aah Golden Times - when the world was still young and all was fresh -, Islam is now the pinnacle of knowledge and research. We are blessèd indeed that Allah gave us the Cure !
Posted by: MikeTheInfidel | September 18, 2009 12:48 PM
steve said:
It's likely the original version - the one that excludes the chapter where Darwin rebutted a bunch of objections to his idea, and is missing lots of newer evidence.
By the way, people, the word is FOREWORD, as in a WORD AT THE FORE, not FORWARD! Blargh.
Posted by: overburden | September 18, 2009 1:03 PM
It appears you must buy the book to give it away and the best deal is 40 texts for $.99 each, excluding shipping and handling of course.
So, being from the SF Bay area, I can't for the life of me, imagine who would buy these abominations and march onto UC and plop them out... then again, I cam think of a few, so, as MJ sang, "I'll Be There!"
Posted by: Chester Burton Brown | September 18, 2009 1:09 PM
I think there's something deeply disingenuous about what Comfort and his hetero life-partner are trying to do here. I wonder how they might react if some freethinking organization offer a redacted version of Augustine's "Confessions" with all the epiphanic bits cut out and an introduction from PZ about theistic hallucinations.
I can tell you: they'd pass a stone.* (Or, at least, that's what the expression on their faces would look like.)
I know it's a rhetorical question that's been asked before, but it stands repeating: if the position of the Creationists is so sound, why are they obliged to resort to dishonesty to peddle their perspective?
_______
* Later, in order not to be wasteful, they'd likely put the stone to good use by throwing it at an adulterer or a scientist or someone else similarly disreputable.
Posted by: Eamon Knight | September 18, 2009 1:20 PM
I think there's something deeply disingenuous about what Comfort and his hetero life-partner are trying to do here.
That has to be the Understatement Of The Year, referring as it does to this pair. Change "deeply disingenuous" to "utterly devoid of any concern for truth and lying their fool heads off for propaganda purposes" and "here" to "continuously", and you're in the ballpark.
Posted by: Gerry | September 18, 2009 1:22 PM
The idea of ordering faith material that is offered free is a great one. I will go out of my way to do this so as to increase their costs and keep a little bit of that garbage from reaching innocent minds. If all atheists did this, it would make it impossible for them to continue passing out their BS.
Posted by: Thomas Winwood | September 18, 2009 1:26 PM
I always preferred preface, myself.
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 1:27 PM
ShaunOTD @194,
Before he started citing Hitler as 'His [Darwin's] Famous Student' he should have checked. Besides, in the quotes that Comfort reproduced the word 'evolution' could hardly have the meaning in which biologists use it, which should have made him suspicious.
It remains slanderous, even if you give Comfort the benefit of the doubt.
However, he doesn't deserve this benefit when it comes to plagiary. A commenter at RichardDawkins.net noticed that some sentences in Comfort's biography of Darwin were literally copied from an article by Dr. Stan Guffey. The article is called A brief history of Charles Darwin.
It is quite a bit more than a few sentences.
Comfort:
Guffey:
A striking resemblance, isn't it? No wonder that the biography appeared surprisingly well-written for a product of the banana man.
Hey, Mr. Comfort, didn't you write that your god is so good that he will severely punish those who commit theft? You just got yourself a one-way ticket to Hell, if you ask me.
Posted by: Heidi | September 18, 2009 2:00 PM
I wonder what the largely Jewish population at Brandeis will have to say about a Christian propaganda invasion.
Posted by: Irene Delse | September 18, 2009 2:30 PM
This is where I'm happy to live in a country where an author's moral rights on his books are inalienable and recognized by law, even if the copyright is expired. That way, the family or heirs can sue if editions that manifestly misrepresent the author's ideas are published...
Posted by: Siamang | September 18, 2009 2:35 PM
"I wonder what the largely Jewish population at Brandeis will have to say about a Christian propaganda invasion. "
Hell, CalTECH is on the list too. Home of the Skeptic's Society.
I'm sure a suitable welcome party has been planned, yes?
Wearing these?
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/43/76281979_3851b6923a.jpg
Posted by: Kraid | September 18, 2009 3:04 PM
Eamon Knight @198:
Seconded. Bad ideas should be fought with better ideas. Hoarding copies of this book or chopping out the intro amounts to censorship, and we don't want to sink to their level.
Personally, I'll be picking up a copy of their book so I can see what parts of Origin they've abridged (could be an arduous but informative task). Also, I'm going to download and make my best critique of their intro over the weekend. If anyone wants to do the same and compare notes, that'd be swell. Finally, I'm going to see about getting in touch with my local SSA chapter. If I can assemble a good enough rebuttal/critique of the 50 page intro, it may be possible to get volunteers who will distribute it where the books are being distributed.
That kind of strategy seems much more proactive than ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away, and it's much more ethical than censorship.
Posted by: ShaunOTD | September 18, 2009 3:14 PM
@ Drosera #207
I'm not about to disagree with a single thing you've said here.
Posted by: Rolan le Gargéac | September 18, 2009 3:25 PM
Drosera #129
Are you nucking futs or still recovering ?
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 3:25 PM
No problem Shaun.
Posted by: Rolan le Gargéac | September 18, 2009 3:32 PM
Actually, the probability that I are stupid, drunk, comp per leetlee missing in er, wossname staggers to mind, so, er, sorry Maggot, pioused again ! Everytime I get pioused I say (or dooo) summink stupid.Many alopogies. Much sorrinessss.
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 3:32 PM
Rolan le Gargéac,
Should I explain the meaning of the word sarcasm to you?
Posted by: Monado, FCD | September 18, 2009 3:35 PM
Cutting out the new intro is not censorship; rather, adding a new intro full of lies and distortions is vandalism, needed as much as graffiti on the Parthenon. Removing it is akin to washing the walls.
I'd take a very close look at what distortions have been included in the abridged version by creative editing before handing it on.
Posted by: Rolan le Gargéac | September 18, 2009 3:37 PM
Posted by: Dave Kahn
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September 18, 2009 3:37 PM
@Drosera #207
Good catch. I hadn't realised Comfort was that stupid. What's the likehood of a copyright action do you think? That could be rather fun.
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 3:42 PM
Okay Rolan, I get the picture. Cheers!
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 3:51 PM
Dave @219,
I think the orginal author, Dr. Stan Guffey, should be alerted. He is a lecturer in the Division of Biology, Univ. TN, Knoxville. Maybe PZ, or one of the commenters here know how to contact him.
Dr. Guffey could very well demand that the books are withdrawn from circulation — or else...
Posted by: Irene Delse | September 18, 2009 3:54 PM
Kraid @211 and Eamon Knight @198 are right that ideally, we should fight bad ideas with better ideas... But I think they miss an important point: the plan Dawkins and PZ are promoting aims also at making as large a splash as possible about the crude dishonesty at the heart of creationnist tactics. This, in itself, is often critical to help people with little or no education in science to recognize what is going on.
Posted by: Rolan le Gargéac | September 18, 2009 3:54 PM
Drosera #220
No worries. She'll be bute.
More OxO !
Fly'll be seeinuuuu..
Posted by: Eamon Knight | September 18, 2009 4:06 PM
Monado @217: Cutting out the new intro is not censorship; rather, adding a new intro full of lies and distortions is vandalism, needed as much as graffiti on the Parthenon. Removing it is akin to washing the walls.
Meh. While I appreciate the point about "vandalism", it's not like Comfort scribbled in a rare first edition. I'm standing by my contention that Comfort's intro (whether stand-alone, or bound with the text of Origin) enjoys the protection of free-speech ethics.
I'd take a very close look at what distortions have been included in the abridged version by creative editing before handing it on.
I was wondering about that too. While abridgement is a legitimate process, it should be done by someone who possesses a sympathetic comprehension of the text. Comfort is disqualified on both counts.
Posted by: Siamang | September 18, 2009 4:07 PM
I love the part 2:20 into the video where Cameron starts listing the scientists who thought that God created the universe.
After Einstein (which is a lie), the launch into a bunch of folks wearing Renaissance garb! AH YES, those eminent rocket scientists on the cutting edge of modern knowing!
Seriously CAM/COM, take my advice. When name-checking scientists from four centuries ago, it hurts your case to actually show them. Here’s a hint: any scientist where you have to show them in a painting DOESN’T help you! This is the twenty-first century, you stooges.
The frilly collar on Johannes Kepler though, is choice.
Posted by: Monado, FCD | September 18, 2009 4:10 PM
Guys, if you do run across bible-thumpers handing out adulterated Darwin and they give you the banana argument, remind them that there's something much closer to hand that fits as if designed.... and your arms are just long enough to reach it.
Posted by: Drosera
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September 18, 2009 4:16 PM
Here is the original link to Guffey's paper:
http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/darwin/images/Handout_History_Darwin.pdf
This one makes it easier for me to copy-and-paste.
Look at this —
Comfort:
Guffey:
Comfort:
Guffey:
Posted by: MrFire | September 18, 2009 4:33 PM
Drosera FTW!
It's official: Ray Comfort, Plagiarist.
Posted by: Arguendo | September 18, 2009 4:39 PM
I watched Jordan's discussion with Ray and hadn't realized how incredibly short Ray is. He's only 5'5". Nothing wrong with short people in general but wow!
Posted by: Eamon Knight | September 18, 2009 4:58 PM
I watched Jordan's discussion with Ray and hadn't realized how incredibly short Ray is. He's only 5'5". Nothing wrong with short people in general but wow!
*ahem* It's nice to know you've got nothing against people like me, but I had no idea that at 5'5" I was in the "wow!" category. (Not that I'm exactly proud to have anything in common with the Raydiot -- height, gender, species, morphological symmetry, planet of origin....).
Posted by: MikeTheInfidel | September 18, 2009 5:05 PM
In case anyone missed this in Drosera's post, #207:
The second clause of this sentence, which Ray tacked onto the plagiarized paragraph, is a sneaky attack on both Britain and intellectualism. To a YEC who buys Comfort's nonsense, tying Darwin to "London's intellectuals" in a positive light is equivalent to saying that being an intellectual is on par with being a Nazi and an atheist. It's also an attack on the increasing secularism of Great Britain.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | September 18, 2009 5:27 PM
I knew it was too good to have been written by Ray.
Hey, Ray, taking someone else's work without giving credit is called plagiarism. It's akin to lying. So it's official now: according to your own criteria, you're going to hell! I hope you like your bananas toasted.
Posted by: Quine | September 18, 2009 5:35 PM
Catch Richard Dawkins' comments about Ray starting circa 00:01:40 into this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4dBus3QJUo
Posted by: Kraid | September 18, 2009 6:13 PM
Did anyone think to back up the list of schools being targeted? I noticed the link doesn't work anymore.
Perhaps he noticed all the traffic from Pharyngula and got a'scared of godless damage control efforts.
Posted by: SpontOrder | September 18, 2009 6:27 PM
I wonder if Guffey has an actionable claim of plagiarism to STOP DISTRIBUTION?
Posted by: Jamie | September 18, 2009 7:38 PM
@Kraid:
The link http://www.originintoschools.com/ still works for me. I've now backed up the list, so if you would like to see it (if the link still doesn't work for you)I can post it here.
Posted by: wrpd | September 18, 2009 10:23 PM
I'm still laughing at polyp.
I was once banned from a fundie website because I said I coveten polyp's ass when he was on Growing Pains. One of the low points of my life.
Posted by: wrpd | September 18, 2009 10:29 PM
"coveted"
Posted by: Noether | September 18, 2009 10:36 PM
@Jamie: It's redirecting me to livingwaters.com; there's an "Origin into schools" page, but I can't find a list anywhere.
Posted by: Gordy | September 18, 2009 10:48 PM
I mentioned the copyright thing in #130, but didn't realise the intro was plagiarised...
The following copyright warning appears on the second page of the PDF:
"All rights reserved. Under International Copyright Law, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means— electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopy), recording, or otherwise— without written permission from the Publisher."
Since Darwin's text is public domain and Comfort knows it, "no part of this publication" is an flat out untrue. If, in addition, the intro is partly plagiarised, surely Comfort must be breaking the law by claiming copyright?
Posted by: Gordy | September 18, 2009 10:51 PM
Forgive the wayward indefinite article in #240. I originally wrote "an outright lie" :)
Posted by: Drosera
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September 19, 2009 6:50 AM
Contact information for Dr. Stanley Guffey can be found here:
http://web.bio.utk.edu/guffey/
Maybe someone on his side of the Atlantic can alert him about the situation.
Posted by: Polyester Mather DD | September 19, 2009 8:23 AM
Let's look into this Idolatry thing.
The recently discovered Dust Cover Of The Book Of Moroni reads in part
"I am the Lord thy Charles,
Thou shalt have no false prefaces before Me.
Go though instead unto the campus of the Jebusites, past the rollers which art holy , and take unto thy hands the Book of the Comfortites, whose copies are legion, and smash them unto pulp upon the horns of the altar, and put them in the wash pot of Moab and smite them with the bananas of the Comfortites until they are void and without form.
Fifty times fifty score of the Book shalt thou make unto pulp, and trod upon until they are as mash , and thereof shall ye take a hundred talents, and mold it in my image
Twenty cubits shall be the height of My countenance, and two cubits and a span the breadth of My beard and ye shall dry it with a pillar of fire. and carry it upon an ark of gopher wood unto the mu-se-um of the Jebusites,
There shalt thou raise it up astride the saddled tri-cer-a-tops, or the ass of Balaam ,if that's out for repair, and ye shall see that it is good .
Here endeth the Dust Cover.
Posted by: tiny | September 19, 2009 10:54 AM
We should make sure though, that this abbridged version isn't cut to form one giant quote mine, before we hand it out to charity.
Posted by: Kraid | September 19, 2009 2:10 PM
@Jamie #236
That link redirects to the Living Waters site for me. Would you mind reproducing the list?
Thanks.
Posted by: Polyester Mather DD | September 19, 2009 9:05 PM
Instead of recycling the Origin Of Comfort into a giant paper mache’ Darwin piñata, we might get Arkham House to commission a preface by a deeper metaphysical Authority.
That august publisher's list includes the oldest living teller of tales of the evils of evolution, and it can call on that paladin of Islamic creationism, Abdul Alhazard, to awaken his ancient colleague from his slumber to address Ray's transgression.
It's never too early to commission next year's beach books. Combined with a tasteful account of what he saw Teddy do underwater at Chappasquidink, Cthulu’s take on the _Origin of Species_ could outsell _ Jaws_ for as long as the supplies of human skin at the Arkham bindery hold out.
How much does PZ want to write the intro and do the Rose show?
Posted by: Ibis3 | September 20, 2009 1:10 AM
If anyone is interested in reading the real Origin of Species (without the piece of excrement at the beginning), I'm doing a 10 week 'readalong' with discussion beginning Oct 4th. I just put details on my blog (my name is a link to the post).
Posted by: Heidi Anderson | September 20, 2009 9:33 AM
I think this idea of destroying his introduction makes the case FOR creationists that Comfort's ideas are so dangerous that they need to be hidden. It also strikes me as just gross.
Here is my suggestion:
The local campus skeptic groups organize a Rocky Horror inspired event where Comfort's youtube videos are played on a big screen, everyone is given bananas (banana necklaces instead of crosses?) and there is a dramatic reading of Comfort's introduction while the TRUE facts of evolution are displayed on screen.
We need to up our game and creativity. This would be a massively fun event, and show that skeptics/evolutionists are not humorless dicks.