Creationist-Kootied Origin Comes to the Twin Cities

Some guy named David (but he would not give his last name) and his friends were handing around Ray Comfort's tricked-out version of Darwin's Origin of Species on the University of Minnesota Campus today. Thanks to my former student Becky for sending me these links:

Minnesota Daily: Creationists hand out Darwin's book with a twist

Huyffpo: Kirk Cameron's 'Origin Of Species' Plan: Ex-Actor To Distribute 50,000 Altered Darwin Books

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Tomorrow, the NCSE will release a response to Ray Comfort's tricked-out version of Darwin's Origin of Species. I got a sneak preview of the web site and if you are good, I can let you see it too. (a GLB exclusive!) First, you need to go here and click around and get interested in dopplegangers.…
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…
Apparently, because people had plans to counter some of Ray Comfort's Origin giveaway — which was announced to occur on the 19th — Comfort is giving them away today. I've been getting reports from various universities that his minions are at work right now, as in this photo from Oxford. Get out…
I'm sure most of my readers remember Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron's evangelistic partner in crime. He's the guy who claims that the fact that a banana fits perfectly in the hand of a monkey is proof of intelligent design (and unlike Paul Nelson, I'm not making that up). Well it turns out that he's in…

My friend that works on campus scored me one of those.

By SplendidMonkey (not verified) on 20 Nov 2009 #permalink

It really makes me sad, but at the same time, 50,000 copies is nothing; especially considering most of the people who are going to get them will simply roll their eyes at the intro and then enjoy their (abridged?) copy of "Origin." My Alma Mater had over 50k students alone. There are at least 3 other universities in my state with similar numbers. Never mind community colleges, which is probably where this sort of thing would have a better chance of getting some traction.

At a potential $0.99 each in bulk though, it might be well worth it for us heathens to get together so we can all have a copy. I can't imagine they're making any money at that price, and I've no problem with deleting or replacing the first couple pages with blank paper to take notes on.

Within seconds, starting from the NCSE's DDD page, you can have the collected works of Darwin conveniently on your computer, along with Comfort's dreck if you're so inclined. With a minute or two, you can have it all formatted to read on your phone.

Comfort and Cameron don't give a rat's ass whether anyone actually reads their introduction. It's all about being able to say "We gave away 50,000 copies of our book on college campuses!!!111!!! We could have given away another 50,000 if we'd had them! People are getting our message!"

If his minions finished the day with empty boxes, he accomplished what he set out to accomplish, even if every copy he gave away ended up lining birdcages.

Yeah, I have almost all of Darwin's and Wallace's works on my iPhone, for free. The Stanza "app" is pretty cool. I'm set if I should ever be stranded on a desert island, at least until the battery runs out. Reminds me of a _Twilight Zone_ episode I saw once.

By Bob Gotschall (not verified) on 20 Nov 2009 #permalink