Category: Culture
Busting Another Darwinist Myth: Skeptics of Evolution Do Exist Outside the United States!
A common Darwinist myth is that the only people who are skeptical of evolution are Americans. A recent article in the Virginia Informer stated, “John Swaddler, UK native and associate professor of biology at the College [of William and Mary], noted that the media phenomenon of creationism/ID vs. evolution doesn’t happen in countries besides America.” Saddler is promoting a common Darwinist claim which is simply untrue: As we’ve noted recently, there has been a push to teach intelligent design in the United Kingdom. This summer an article in the London Guardian noted that over 30% of British students support non-evolutionary accounts of the history of life. Such skepticism extends far beyond the U.K. Nature reported that Poland is experiencing an Read More ›
Update: Were All UCSD Freshmen Required to Attend Pennock Lecture?
(Editors Note: This Post Was Revised and Updated on November 28, 2006): Some people have contacted me insisting that not all freshmen were required to attend the lecture by Robert Pennock at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) (first discussed here). In this regard, consider the following points: On a related matter, it seems that I misunderstood Ed Brayton’s recent report on his experience with Robert Pennock, where I thought Brayton provided further corroboration that the UCSD lecture was required of all first-quarter freshmen. Brayton has responded that he has no independent information that the UCSD lecture required all freshman to attend other than my original post. So I have retracted my prior post here on Brayton. It’s interesting Read More ›
Scientists Gather at Salk Institute to Bash Religion
Both Uncommon Descent and Telic Thoughts are discussing how less than 1 mile up the road from UCSD, scientists gathered last week at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies to bash religion. The New York Times‘ science section covered the conference, but failed to recognize that many ID-proponents accept Big Bang cosmology and even find it is evidence indicating cosmic design. Nonetheless, the vitriol and hatred coming from these scientists against religion is striking. Consider these excerpts from the article: [O]ne speaker after another called on their colleagues to be less timid in challenging teachings about nature based only on scripture and belief . . . With a rough consensus that the grand stories of evolution by natural selection and Read More ›
Evangelical Atheists
A small group of evangelicals is making waves in America, writing inflammatory best-sellers and going on a media crusade to spread their message of fear and intolerance. As CSC’s Logan Gage explains in this article from The Examiner, while it may seem counter-intuitive, these rabble-rousers defy the usual caricature of pitchfork-waving fundamentalists by virtue of their atheism.
The Strange Case of Dr. Darwinist and Mr. Creationist–or Inspector Clouseau in a Lab Coat?
Meet Mark A. Farmer, Ph.D., of Winterville, Georgia.Dr. Farmer is a Professor and Head of the Department of Cellular Biology at the University of Georgia. His research is on the “origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells.” Until recently, Dr. Farmer also held the position of Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, with the National Science Foundation, with responsibility for soliciting grants for the NSF’s “Assembling the Tree of Life” project.