Anti-Creationism

The Reports of the National Center for Science Education has just posted a new review of my book Among the Creationists. The reviewer is Taner Edis, professor of physics at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Since Edis's own books on science and religion, The Ghost in the Machine and Science and Nonbelief are among my favorites on this subject, his opinion means a lot to me. So, did he like the book? Jason Rosenhouse, who teaches mathematics at James Madison University, might at first seem an unlikely person to be interested in the creationism/evolution wars. Creationism isa…

In the course of a generally favorable review of Among the Creationists over at The Panda's Thumb blog, Matt Young wrote the following: Nevertheless, he takes a dim view of, for example, an argument that reinterprets original sin as the selfishness that drives evolution. I will not go into detail, but this kind of thinking ultimately leads Rosenhouse to conclude that the creationists are essentially correct and that evolution and Christianity are not compatible. In this sense, he has the same narrow view of religion as the creationists – that it is all or nothing – and he risks alienating…

Another day, another review of of the Big Evolution/Creation Book. This time it's Matt Young over at The Panda's Thumb. His verdict? Among the Creationists is well written, well formatted, and well organized (though I thought that most of the content of the endnotes should have been incorporated into the text). It has a good list of references and a good index. It is barely 230 pages long, and it is a pleasure to read. May I recommend that anyone with an interest in creationism go straight to your local independent book dealer, buy a copy, and read it through? Score! As with yesterday's…

The BECB (that's the The Big Evolution/Creationism Book, for those not up on the local slang) has now been reviewed in the academic journal Evolution and Development. The reviewer is Rudolf Raff, a prominent biologist at Indiana University. The review is available here, though I think you need a subscription to the journal to access the PDF. His verdict? All in all I enjoyed reading Among the Creationists. It represents a unique attempt of a secular scholar to engage creationist communities on their own home ground and report his experiences. Rosenhouse has provided an immense service…

You know that long-running Gallup poll about evolution and creationism, the one that has consistently shown that support for creationism has been in the mid forties for the last thirty years or so? Well, the latest numbers are out, and they are not good news. The creationism number, which was at an all-time low of 40% two years ago, is now all the way up to 46%. Theistic evolution is down from 38% to 32%, while atheism went from 16% to 15%. That six percentage point jump for creationism and corresponding drop for theistic evolution could well be a blip in the data, but it is significant…

I had a pleasant trip down to Richmond on Wednesday. I spoke to a small crowd of twenty people about evolution and creationism and all that jazz. I think most of the audience was to the left of me on these issue. Whenever I said something about evolution challenging religion it was all smiles and encouragement. When I said something about how many religious folks have made their peace with evolution, suddenly everyone was sucking on lemons. At any rate, I felt a little cheated that I did not have any frothing creationists giving me grief during the question period. The talk itself, alas, will…

More precisely, if we say that theistic evolution is a form of intelligent design, then we have to stop saying that intelligent design is a form of creationism. Over at HuffPo, Victor Stenger writes: But when surveys ask moderate Christians what they really believe, they all say that evolution is God-guided. Well that's not Darwinian evolution. That's intelligent design. There's no guidance in Darwinian evolution. It's all accident and natural selection. In particular, and this is what is unacceptable to all Christians and just about every other religion: humanity is an accident. Start up…

Sometimes I wonder what the mailman thinks of me. One day he's delivering the new issue of Free Inquiry, the next he's leaving something from Creation Ministries International. The latest missive from CMI contains a lengthy pamphlet advertising their forthcoming Creation Superconference. Of course, having been to the Creation Megaconference at Liberty University back in 2005 (as described in the first section of the BECB), a Creation Superconference doesn't seem so impressive. Still, just browsing through the pamphlet made me feel that old familiar itch. Is it worth a visit? After all,…

I'm planning to do a follow-up to Tuesday's post about Elliott Sober's recent talk. That is likely to be a long post, so ti may be a day or two before I can get to it. In the meantime, go have a look at my new post over at The Huffington Post. I suggest that on the subject of evolution and creationism, Americans would benefit from a bit more cynicism. Let me know what you think!

I recently had a conversation with Greg Gorey of Think Atheist Radio about my book Among the Creationists. We discussed the history and cultures of creationism, the problem of evil, methodological naturalism, my experiences socializing with creationists and several other things besides. From my end I can honestly say it was one of the most interesting conversations I have had on these topics, so I hope you enjoy it. The discussion is fifty minutes long. So go have a listen and let me know what you think! At the bottom of the web page linked above, there is a crawl at the bottom showing…

As part of my one-man media blitz for my new book Among the Creationists: Dispatches From the Anti-Evolutionist Frontline, let me call your attention to a few posts. P. Z. Myers has posted a nice review.: What do you do on airplanes? I usually devour a book or two, usually something popcorny and light, sometimes something I need to get read for work. On my trip home from Washington DC, I lucked out: I was handed a book the day I took off, and it turned out to be a damned good read. Glad you liked it, P.Z! On the other hand, I do feel I must respond to his one criticism: Jason Rosenhouse…

The official publication date for the BECB (that's the big evolution/creationism book for those not up on the local slang) was April 10. Alas, as the tenth drew near I was dismayed to find that the book was only available for pre-order. My previous two books were both available two to three weeks prior to their official release date, you see. Then the tenth arrived, and I found that Amazon had the book listed as out of stock, with an estimated delivery time of one to three weeks. Drat. I sent an e-mail to my publisher, but, alas, have not yet received a reply. Today, however, I see…

Truly my career has reached the next phase of its evolution. I have been published at The Huffington Post. Go have a look and let me know what you think!

I have a general policy of not blogging when I'm on the road, but I couldn't resist poking my head up to call your attention to this article, by Paul Wallace, over at HuffPo. Follow the link to see why...

I just spent the last week working out of my New Jersey office, which is to say I was visiting the family for Thanksgiving. Before that I was spending a lot of time going over the page proofs and compiling the index for the BECB (the big evolution/creationism book, for those not up on the local slang). So it's nice to see that particular project work its way down the home stretch. It was probably sometime during 2006 when I first started thinking seriously about writing a book about my experiences at creationist conferences. When I first started mentally outlining the book I honestly…

Forthcoming from Oxford University Press: The book is partly a memoir of my experiences at various creationist conferences, partly an exploration of creationist thought and argumentation, and partly a broader discussion of issues related to science and religion. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, so hopefully readers will enjoy it.

Discovery Institute flak David Klinghoffer is getting all misty-eyed about the tenth anniversary of Jonathan Wells' book Icons of Evolution. Doubtless you recall the book, which contained very little that was true. What struck me, though, was this statement from Klinghoffer: When I say the book is sweetly reasoned, I don't only mean that it's well reasoned but that there's an appealing geniality, a sweetness, to the man's writing ... Geniality? Somehow that was not the word that came to my mind. Here's Wells: As we saw in Kevin Padian's “cracked kettle” approach to biology, dogmatic…

Jerry Coyne and P. Z. Myers, those little scamps, are kvetching about the NCSE again. It seems that the NCSE posted a link to this series of videos defending the compatibility of evolution and Christianity. Here is the NCSE's post: Interested in exploring the issues raised by science and faith? A free webcast series promises to assemble “thirty of today's most inspiring Christian leaders and esteemed scientists for a groundbreaking dialogue on how an evolutionary worldview can enrich your life, deepen your faith, and bless our world.” To be broadcast throughout December 2010 and January…

Over at HuffPo, John Farrell has an interesting post up about the dissatisfacton with ID expressed by many Catholics. He writes: The Discovery Institute has from its beginning claimed it would in short order get actual scientists to consider intelligent design as a viable scientific theory, by publishing peer-reviewed articles in the leading science journals. But they've failed. And no matter how much cheering the Institute Fellows get from friendly audiences at Bible schools and church socials, the reality is: this was not the way things were supposed to turn out. And now, they're losing…

It used to be that Kentucky was known primarily for bourbon and horse racing. But now they seem determined to add creationism to that list: Gov. Steve Beshear said Wednesday that a creationism theme park, expected to open in Northern Kentucky in 2014, would have a $250 million annual impact on the state's economy. Ark Encounter, which will feature a 500-foot-long wooden replica of Noah's Ark containing live animals such as juvenile giraffes, is projected to cost $150 million and create 900 jobs, Beshear announced at a Capitol press conference. “Make no mistake about it, this is a huge deal…