creationism
laelaps | November 11, 2008
Lately I have been a bit fixated on the arguments over evolution & creationism in America during the beginning of the 20th century (see here and here). As a result of further digging, I came across a few more resources that raise some interesting questions.
First is a short article from the Theological Monthly published in 1922. Entitled "Is Darwinism Still Popular?" the piece attacked scientists and members of the media who ridiculed folks like William Jennings Bryan for their belief in creationism. Much of it would sound awfully familiar to anyone acquainted with the present creation…
pharyngula | November 10, 2008Here's a fun account of a four-way debate on Intelligent Design in Fort Worth, Texas. Actually, it sounds like it was more of a two-way, with Lawrence Krauss, who is very, very good, speaking on the side of science, against David Berlinski, who is very, very supercilious (that word always comes up when Berlinski's name is mentioned) speaking on the side of … well, it's not clear. He doesn't really have any pro-ID arguments, but mainly seems to be on the side of cashing checks from the Discovery Institute.
You know the debate went well when creationists have temper tantrums afterwards.
gregladen | November 8, 2008Earlier, I reported a poll indicating that "one third of British Teachers" support teaching creationism in the classroom. I thought this was vaguely interesting, which is why I mentioned it briefly on this blog, but I put the idea of pursuing this off for a later time.
Well, I have subsequently looked into it a little more and discovered that the poll is bogus. All of the links trace back to an entity known as "teacher's tv" and it is claimed that this entity conducted the poll. The only information provided by "teacher's tv" about this poll is a news item that looks kinda like a blog…
gregladen | November 8, 2008According to the survey of 1,200 teachers, 53 per cent thought that creationism should not be taught in science lessons, while 29 per cent thought it should, reports Timesonline.
However, 88 per cent said that if students raised the issue in a science lesson, they should be allowed to discuss it.
details
UPDATE: see THIS important note.
gregladen | November 8, 2008Watch it to the end.
The money-shot is at five minutes and five seconds.
MSNBC seems reluctant to put this video up, but someone on YouTube comes to the rescue.
pharyngula | November 8, 2008She'll be back: watch this mob of blinkered Republicans gush over Sarah Palin, especially Pat Buchanan, who makes up 'facts' as he goes along. The Republicans are accused of being a party that celebrates ignorance, Buchanan is asked if he accepts evolution, and he blithely confirms the accusation by repeating the notorious query of Soapy Sam Wilberforce.
I've heard a few times now the idea that the Republican Party has become the Know-Nothing Party. It's entirely true.
pharyngula | November 7, 2008I just got some email that surprised me. It was from Kate Fisher, the marketing director of KKMS radio, a Christian talk radio station I've dealt with before. They had a request.
I am with AM980 KKMS, a Christian Teaching & Talk radio station in the Twin Cities. We would like to do a creation debate in mid-January. I am writing today to check on your interest level in participating in something like this and if you are, what your availability and honorarium is.
I didn't have any problem making a decision on that, and immediately sent my reply.
You know, I had a debate on your station…
laelaps | November 7, 2008With the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States, many science-savvy folks have breathed a (tentative) sigh of relief. Perhaps we can finally put all this creationism in the classroom nonsense to rest now that a progressive Democrat is next up for the presidency. I'm not so sure, and there was a time when the loudest defense of Creation came from progressive Democrats.
The brand of young-earth creationism we are familiar with today is not so much rooted in Victorian responses to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, but the fundamentalist fervor prevalent in…
sa smith | November 6, 2008WONT SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CREATIONISTS!!!
No more will they have Captain IDiot in the White House.
Tina Fey Sarah Palins dinosaur-human porno fantasies are a fading dream.
What do they have left? WHAT DO THEY HAVE LEFT??
Look at this!
LOOK AT IT!
Creationists, reduced to recycling ancient claims into 'brand new' articles. YECs and IDCs banding together just to survive:
Both biblical creationists and ID proponents predicted that transposable elements, such as 'endogenous retroviruses', would have a function. In 2000, creationist molecular biologist Linda Walkup proposed that God…
evolvingthoughts | November 5, 2008
Hmmm... cool name for a song. Anyway, here are a few things that caught my eye while I was trying to ignore some politics.
The Internet filtering debacle has reached the pages of Nature. With luck this will blow up in Conroy's face. It really does look like this was pandering to the religious right here in Australia.
Siris has one of his usual erudite and evocative pieces, this time on herbs (i.e., drugs) making people beasts in classical sources. I wonder if the notion that drugs take us upward rather than downward was an invention of the moderns?
David White argues that intelligent…
pharyngula | November 5, 2008We didn't have to wait long for right wing brains to explode into loopy, tangled strands of conspiracy theory nonsense. Creationist brains, already in a state of disarray, are already predisposed to this kind of inanity, so don't be too shocked at what Cynthia Dunbar, creationist, Christian, and member of the Texas State Board of Education has to say:
So we can imagine the blatant disregard for our Constitution, but what other threats does an Obama administration pose? We have been clearly warned by his running mate, Joe Biden, that America will suffer some form of attack within the first 6…
pharyngula | November 3, 2008Poor little Ken Ham gets no respect. He sets up this fancy museum, he keeps pushing his silly ideas, and what happens? Smart people like Daniel Phelps, president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society, calls him a moron. Deservedly.
I don't need to say much, though. The scathing excoriation of Ham has already been done:
You said that unicorns are real. You claim that the Beowulf story is evidence of human cohabitation with dinosaurs. You say that sometimes religious genocide is OK. You think that the government is training people to talk to aliens. You believe that evolution is a random…
pharyngula | November 3, 2008One of my students picked up this flyer in Minneapolis this weekend. It looks like the creationists are visiting the University of Minnesota this Wednesday and Friday!
They do love to book that auditorium in the Physics building — don't be fooled, though. None of the science departments on campus endorse this nonsense, and I know from talking to some of them that the faculty cringe at this use of their facilities…and you know the creationists do this for the faux-sciencey illusion that they're actually presenting their work in the heart of academia.
This talk is being presented by Dave…
pharyngula | November 3, 2008It's true. While I was in Guelph, a sneaky-looking fellow handed me a disc, and told me it was just for me — and that it included the lie-correcting subtitles.
I appreciate it. I still haven't bothered to watch it, but someday, maybe while I'm dying of some gruesome disease, I'll want some horrible external pain to distract me, and then I'll play it. Or maybe I'll show it as a test of machismo — how long can I bear the stupidity before growling and mauling the machine into silence?
evolvingthoughts | November 1, 2008
I used to think that Jews in general were able to avoid the confusion of biblical literalism with their rich tradition of allegorical and other forms of interpretation and commentary, but it seems that there are some - haredim - who follow the example of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and dismiss evolution as far-fetched and anti-biblical. The link is to an anonymous essay by a rabbi at the Jerusalem Post. In it he argues that the tradition of Orthodox Judaism permits a looseness of interpretation that means that science can rule out bad interpretations, which is very unlike the Christian literalist…
pharyngula | October 31, 2008
I knew there was a creationist connection to Halloween. Glenn Branch figured it out:
When the distinguished philosopher Philip Kitcher recently addressed the creationist movement in his Living With Darwin, he judiciously assessed creationism in its latest incarnation as historically respectable but currently bankrupt, and proposed to describe it as "dead" science. "In light of its shambling tenacity," I replied, "'zombie science' is perhaps a preferable label."
Read the rest for the real horror story — the zombies have taken over the Texas educational system.
pharyngula | October 29, 2008Steven Schafersman of Texas Citizens for Science has put up an investigative report on the swift-boating of Christine Comer, the former Texas Education Agency employee who was forced to resign after she recommended a lecture by Barbara Forrest. The creationists have been trying to claim that Comer had a long history of insubordination and misconduct, and that that is why she was fired — none of which is true. Instead, there's a pattern emerging that when the faction of creationist dentist Don McLeroy took over, there were changes in the administration that look more like harassment to drive…
tfk | October 28, 2008Disco. DJ Rob Crowther is upset.
A few days ago, I pointed out that his underling, Casey Luskin, has repeatedly misrepresented the Texas science standards revisions, in particular alleging conflicts of interest which do not exist while ignoring the profound conflicts of interest affecting expert reviewers Stephen Meyer (of the Discovery Institute) and Ralph Seelke.
In response to my post, Crowther writes:
Josh Rosenau has a post up yesterday attacking Casey Luskin that has a number of errors.
After a bit of whining about how the evil MSM have treated him cruelly, Crowther contrasts my claim…
pharyngula | October 28, 2008Gordy Slack is going to be doing a reading from his book on the Dover trial today, at 4:00, on the Western Washington University campus.
If you want more drama, there will also be a panel discussion tomorrow, Wednesday, at 6pm. Slack, will be there, as will Josh Rosenau of the NCSE and TfK, and for hilarious comedy relief…Casey Luskin, mindless attack mouse of the Discovery Institute. Don't miss it for the laughs.
I just got word that you get a third shot at Slack. He's speaking in 234 Biology at 4pm on 29 October on "Do Neo-Creationists get anything right?" I'm guessing the answer will be "…
pharyngula | October 27, 2008Imagine that you are running for the State Board of Education, and you receive a questionnaire from a science organization trying to get a feel for your positions on issues important to them. Here's the first question:
1. As a State Board of Education member, which of the following organizations would you trust to inform your decision-making in regards to science? Check all that apply.
American Association for the Advancement of Science _____
The Intelligent Design Network ____
The National Academies of Science _____
The Discovery Institute ____
The American Institute of…