Month: February 2009
Dramatic Increase in Support for Teaching Scientific Evidence Both For and Against Darwinian Evolution
From the new Zogby poll this week: QUESTION: I am going to read you two statements about Biology teachers teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Please tell me which statement comes closest to your own point of view–Statement A or Statement B? Statement A: Biology teachers should teach only Darwin’s theory of evolution and the scientific evidence that supports it. Statement B: Biology teachers should teach Darwin’s theory of evolution, but also the scientific evidence against it. Statement A 14% Statement B 78% Neither 5% Other/Not sure 2% A large majority (78%) say Statement B, “Biology teachers should teach Darwin’s theory of evolution, but also the scientific evidence against it,” comes closest to their point of view, while 14% say Statement Read More ›
Darwin Day Poll Elicits Response From Richard Dawkins
This morning the Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog picked up the news about the national Darwin Day poll making waves for teaching evolution, even paying us a nice compliment or two while re-imagining history (for the record, DI’s ed policy has always been to teach the controversy). But the really interesting thing is that they wanted an “expert” opinion on the poll (besides the professionals at Zogby) and so they turned to — who else? — Richard Dawkins:
Discovery Institute Responses to PBS/NOVA’s “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” Movie
As their birthday gift to Charles Darwin, yesterday many PBS stations apparently re-aired the “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” movie that they first released in November, 2007. The “documentary” purports to re-tell the story of the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, but it portrays an extremely inaccurate, biased, and one-sided view of the case. In this regard, below are some links to responses to the “Judgment Day” that Discovery Institute produced when it first came out in 2007: Darwin’s Failed Predictions A Response to Selected Online Materials of PBS-NOVA’s “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” Documentary PBS Airs False Facts in its “Inherit the Wind” Version of the Kitzmiller Trial PBS, Darwin and Dover: an Interview with Phillip Johnson Read More ›
Reviewing Jerry Coyne, Part 2: Faith and Science.
Darwinist Dr. Jerry Coyne, in his New Republic article Seeing and Believing; The never-ending attempt to reconcile science and religion, and why it is doomed to fail”, asks if religion and science can be reconciled. He notes: …[T]here are religious scientists and Darwinian churchgoers. But this does not mean that faith and science are compatible, except in the trivial sense that both attitudes can be simultaneously embraced by a single human mind. (It is like saying that marriage and adultery are compatible because some married people are adulterers. ) It is also true that some of the tensions disappear when the literal reading of the Bible is renounced, as it is by all but the most primitive of JudeoChristian sensibilities. Read More ›
Zogby Poll Shows Dramatic Jump in Number of Americans Who Favor Teaching Both Sides of Evolution
Surprisingly Strong Support Seen Among Democrats and Liberals A new Zogby poll on the eve of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday shows a dramatic rise in the number of Americans who agree that when biology teachers teach the scientific evidence for Darwin’s theory of evolution, they also should teach the scientific evidence against it. Surprisingly, the poll also shows overwhelming support among self-identified Democrats and liberals for academic freedom to discuss the “strengths and weaknesses” evolution. Over 78% of likely voters agree with teaching both the evidence for and against Darwin’s theory, according to the new national poll. “This represents a dramatic 9-point jump from 2006, when only 69% of respondents in a similar poll favored teaching both sides,” said Discovery Read More ›