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Second verse, same as the first

The Washington Post published a lead editorial yesterday that seems to steal a page right out of The New York Times playbook (Darwinian end-run around scientific evidence, on three!).

The Post’s first paragraph is shockingly similar to the Times’ opening from just the day before:

“With their slick web sites, pseudo-academic conferences and savvy public relations, the proponents of “intelligent design” — a “theory” that challenges the validity of Darwinian evolution — are far more sophisticated than the creationists of yore. Rather than attempt to prove that the world was created in six days, they operate simply by casting doubt on evolution, largely using the time-honored argument that intelligent life could not have come about by a random natural process and must have been the work of a single creator. They do no experiments and do not publish in recognized scientific journals. Nevertheless, this new generation of anti-evolutionists, arguing that children have a “right to question” scientific truths, has had widespread success in undermining evolutionary theory.”

The second paragraph sounds familiar as they opine about Dover, Cobb Co., ID is just religion, and so on. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, the Sunday Times.

They even echo the Times’ effort to tear down the wall between church and state by calling for design theory — which they believe (mistakenly) to be tantamount to religion — to be inserted into public school curriculum:

“Discussion of religion in a history or philosophy class is legitimate and appropriate.”

In their reiteration of the Times’ position the Post writes:

“In fact, the breadth and extent of the anti-evolutionary movement that has spread almost unnoticed across the country, …”

Unnoticed? Apparently the editors at the Post don’t read mainstream news magazines, don’t read other newspapers, don’t watch network news programs, don’t browse the internet, or even watch Boston Legal. How could they have missed the national debate over how to teach evolution?

For my other thoughts on this piece just read my comments on the Times’ editorial below.

Robert Crowther, II

Robert Crowther holds a BA in Journalism with an emphasis in public affairs and 20 years experience as a journalist, publisher, and brand marketing and media relations specialist. From 1994-2000 he was the Director of Public and Media Relations for Discovery Institute overseeing most aspects of communications for each of the Institute's major programs. In addition to handling public and media relations he managed the Institute's first three books to press, Justice Matters by Roberta Katz, Speaking of George Gilder edited by Frank Gregorsky, and The End of Money by Richard Rahn.

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