Recall that Richard Sternberg, former editor of the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, permitted the publication of an essay by Stephen Meyer arguing that intelligent design was the best explanation for the Cambrian Explosion of animal forms. When it appeared, major science journals and media outlets launched a smear campaign against Sternberg, questioning his motives and claiming he violated the journal’s procedures. Sternberg, a man with two Ph.D.s in evolutionary biology and a distinguished record of scientific publication and achievement, eventually felt so much heat that he hired an attorney. Happily, one major media outlet, The Wall Street Journal, broke ranks by publishing an op-ed last week laying out Sternberg’s side of the story. In it, Sternberg’s supervisor, Read More ›

Darrow-Mencken Syndrome: closely associated with delusions of grandeur, this pathology infects many in the media and the advocacy profession by convincing them that they can be as great as Darwinist attorney Clarence Darrow or as brilliant as journalist and religious skeptic H.L. Mencken if they merely cast intelligent design arguments as a recapitulation of the Scopes Monkey Trial. Signs & Symptoms Darrow-Mencken Syndrome most often manifests itself in attorneys and reporters and usually prevents them from actually investigating the evidence and arguments of design theorists. One tell-tale symptom of Darrow-Mencken syndrome is the chronic use of simplistic or inaccurate definitions of intelligent design. Many aren’t consciously trying to misrepresent intelligent design. They have just been disabled by the delirium often Read More ›

In her recent LA Times column, Patt Morrison spent half her essay pummeling a strawman: creationists who think the Smithsonian is hiding Noah’s ark. The other half she spent fear mongering: The creationist “brain snatchers,” the essay warns, “could be in anybody’s backyard tomorrow.” Like an aging boxer, Darwinism has taken to dodging the real challenger, intelligent design–according to which, certain features of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process like natural selection. Morrison eventually mentions intelligent design, but only to erect another strawman. “ID is a canny tactic,” she explains, ” . . . in which the Bible is an encoded science text.” Her column attacked the creationist museum but also the ID Read More ›

Instapundit is featuring a joke equating the Cobb County evolution sticker with belief in a flat earth. Glenn Reynolds doesn’t fit neatly into the Republican or Democrat camp. For that reason I’m optimistic he will soon move past the simplistic binary opposition of idiot-Darwinism-doubters-who-only-grudgingly-concede-the-earth-is-round vs. enlightened-secularists-who-understand-that-Darwinism-is-a-given-and-doesn’t-threaten-religion.

Albuquerque Tribune columnist Jeffry Gardner is not amused by PBS affiliate KNME’s decision to cancel the intelligent design documentary “Unlocking the Mystery of Life.” His title is the first clue: “The BS in PBS”: We’re shelling out more than $300 million annually in state and federal tax dollars for shows like “Charlie Rose” (name the last conservative you’ve seen yucking it up with Chuck), “Frontline,” “American Experience” and “Nova” – all agenda-less programs, I’m sure. I think that’s why the blatant religious discrimination KNME proudly practices is all the more galling. We’re a nation rooted in religious freedom. Tolerance in the public forum is required. The entire piece is here.