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Another ID-friendly scientist, Peter Korevaar, given airtime in prestigious scientific journal Nature

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From Anti-evolutionists raise their profile in Europe in the November 23, 2006 issue of the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

The teaching of alternative theories to evolution in schools is not just an issue in the United States. Almut Graebsch and Quirin Schiermeier assess whether creationism is threatening science in Europe.

Being a trained biologist doesn’t stop Maciej Giertych from insisting that evolution is a falsified hypothesis1. The 70-year-old Polish member of the European parliament, who has a PhD in tree physiology, also wants to spread the word. In October, he organized a workshop for parliamentarians entitled “Teaching evolution theory in Europe: is your child being indoctrinated in the classroom?”

Although the teaching of evolution has become a highly politicized and hotly discussed matter in the United States, such moves are rare in Europe, and Giertych’s activities have so far met with little response in Strasbourg or Brussels. But a number of similar incidents over the past couple of years, in various countries, are raising fears among the scientific community that creationism may be on the rise in Europe.

Last month, for example, it emerged that creationism is being taught at two schools in the German state of Hesse. The incident, albeit minor, has provoked debate in the country. The Christian view of creation should at least be discussed in science classes, argues Karin Wolf, Hesse’s Christian Democrat education minister. But the Association of German Biologists warns of the dangers of blurring the division between science and religion.

And in Britain in September, the prominent creationist group Truth in Science sent information packs to every UK secondary school. The material suggests intelligent design should be taught as an alternative to the theory of evolution, although the UK government’s education department was quick to say that it does not endorse its use in science classes.

In response, a group called the British Centre for Science Education has been formed to campaign against the teaching of creationism in schools. Meanwhile, British school leavers’ knowledge about evolution is considered so poor, and creationist ideas so widespread, that the universities of Leeds and Leicester are planning to introduce remedial courses next year for first-year science students.
….
A recent study by Observa Science in Society, a Vicenza-based body that promotes informed debate on scientific issues, shows that only 11% of Italians support the exclusion of darwinism from curricula. But almost two-thirds would prefer lessons to cover both evolutionary theory and the creationist view. “Italy is no longer a completely secular country,” says Telmo Pievani, a philosopher of science at the University of Milan II in Italy. “We are facing a dramatic and worrying cultural and political regression.”

Creationism is a major issue in Turkish politics; the debate is much more tense than in the United States.
In Russia, meanwhile, creationist societies are receiving strong support from the Protestant minority. Besides translating the writings of European and US creationists, Russian groups conduct their own ‘creation research’. In Moscow, for example, the ARCTUR Research Geological Lab is looking for geological and geochemical proof of creationism. The society collaborates with creationists in the West and promotes its findings in several Russian and English-language creationist journals.

Such examples illustrate the complexity of the issue in Europe compared with the United States. Whereas the US drive towards creationism comes mainly from Protestant fundamentalist groups, the European movement has diverse roots. “There is an aggressive anti-darwinism inspired by radical Islamic minorities in immigrant communities in Britain and France; there is a Catholic creationism growing in Poland; there is Protestant creationism in some schools in England,” says Pievani.

In addition to Maciej Giertych, yet another ID-friendly scientist was interviewed and presented in a respectful manner. See: Q&A with Peter Korevaar

Peter Korevaar is head of the physics and cosmology working group of Germany’s Studiengemeinschaft Wort und Wissen, one of the largest creationist groups in Europe. He holds a PhD in astrophysics and now works at IBM in Mannheim. Quirin Schiermeier asks him about his group’s aims.

What are your main goals?

We are a Protestant group. We want to do accurate and honest scientific work under the premise that God has created the world. Scientific naturalism as we know it doesn’t allow for a creator who can interfere with the physical world. Evolution should be taught in schools, and creation discussed along with it.

….
Do you advocate intelligent design?

There’s an open question about how the many complex structures observed in the Universe came into being. Intelligent design gives an alternative answer to this question. We can subscribe to most of its arguments.

PS
Some of our ideas for discussion topics come from our readers, like “idnet.com.au”. I’d like to thank him for the suggestion of highlighting this issue of Nature.

Comments
Watch for spammers :) Patrick. I wouldn't want to be the person that connects to that email account. Maybe we could open a section or a thread where only off topic topics could be posted and where main authors could just pick out the interesting topics. There could be a static link on the main page that directly links to the off topic topics and all users could just post there as anybody would on a normal thread. No hassel no new feature and everybody would be happy :) The discussion then should happen elsewhere, otherwise this would get messy! This would almost amount to a Forum yet I think we don't want that! My 2 centstb
November 29, 2006
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Hopefully some of the administrators reading this thread can come up with a good idea to provide a flow of alerts to us.
Create a public submit_news@ email address that all UD contributers have access to?Patrick
November 28, 2006
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Being a trained biologist doesn’t stop Maciej Giertych from insisting that evolution is a falsified hypothesis
Perhaps Dr Maciej Giertych insists that evolution is a falsified hypothesis because he is a trained scientist?
But a number of similar incidents over the past couple of years, in various countries, are raising fears among the scientific community that creationism may be on the rise in Europe.
"Scientific community" = Darwinian totalists
Meanwhile, British school leavers’ knowledge about evolution is considered so poor, and creationist ideas so widespread, that the universities of Leeds and Leicester are planning to introduce remedial courses next year for first-year science students.
When I first read this part, I couldn't help but laughing. Just imagine the schock of atheist Darwinist Richard Dawkins upon realizing this. Seems like England is filled with "ignorant, stupid, supersticious and possible wicked" people. It doesn't seem to dawn on the Darwinian priesthood that not everyone shares their philosophical presupositions.
A recent study by Observa Science in Society, a Vicenza-based body that promotes informed debate on scientific issues, shows that only 11% of Italians support the exclusion of darwinism from curricula. But almost two-thirds would prefer lessons to cover both evolutionary theory and the creationist view.
Seems like that the "Only An American Phenomena" has been exported to the world. The "creationist" virus has evolved.
“Italy is no longer a completely secular country,” says Telmo Pievani, a philosopher of science at the University of Milan II in Italy. “We are facing a dramatic and worrying cultural and political regression.”
No. We are facing normal people putting in question a theory that claims to be scientific. Nothing extraordinary in that. A theory that doesn't want to be under scrutiny is a theory that has something to hide.
Such examples illustrate the complexity of the issue in Europe compared with the United States. Whereas the US drive towards creationism comes mainly from Protestant fundamentalist groups,
That's right. We have Protestant fundamentalist Dr Michael Behe, Protestant fundamentalist Dr Steven Meyer, Protestant fundamentalist Dr Michael Denton (even though he is not an american), and Protestant fundamentalist Dr Guillermo Gonzalez. No, it's not only the "Protestant fundamentalists" who are skeptical of unguided evolutionism.
the European movement has diverse roots. “There is an aggressive anti-darwinism inspired by radical Islamic minorities in immigrant communities in Britain and France; there is a Catholic creationism growing in Poland; there is Protestant creationism in some schools in England,” says Pievani. the European movement has diverse roots. “There is an aggressive anti-darwinism inspired by radical
Notice that Dr Telmo Pievani lists only religious people as the ones skeptical of Darwinism. Funny how Darwinism is "neutral" on the existence of God, but "only the religious people " seem disturbed by it.Mats
November 28, 2006
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You could get the impression that Christians are out there trying to make money while the atheists are doing it for free. You should look at this site for free content in low quality. They have lots of great material and full DVDs. http://www.theapologiaproject.org/video_library.htmRobo
November 28, 2006
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Atom, That's a good point. Hopefully some of the administrators reading this thread can come up with a good idea to provide a flow of alerts to us. In the meantime, if it's a thread I start, you may alert me in the old fashioned manner with an [off topic] Alert message. I can't speak for the others however, but if you think it something of interest to our readers, feel free to alert me, with proper discretion, of course. Salscordova
November 28, 2006
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Good point Robo. I agree fully. I'd much prefer to donate to a web site so they can continue to fund "free" access than buy the content first and have to wait for it to arrive in the post. Then I find it hard to get even my family to view it. ID should be out there for free. We have plenty of donors. Even if the content was only available free in low resolution and for sale in high resolution, that would be a major step forward. I hope Ilustra Media and the Discovery institute are listenning.idnet.com.au
November 28, 2006
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Sorry, posted on the wrong Firefox tab :-(Robo
November 28, 2006
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What irks me is that these guys had their "apologetics" sessions videoed and made available on the internet for free but the Christian Apologetics groups who have similar conferences do not. Come on you Christian apologists - we don't all live in prosperous America. (e.g. http://www.apologeticsconference.com/index.htm)Robo
November 28, 2006
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Hey Sal, is there a method of alerting you to news and such without having to post it as a comment in an unrelated thread? I have in the past wanted to highlight things, but didn't feel comfortable posting about them in unrelated threads.Atom
November 28, 2006
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