The Chicago Reader, a publication I used to read when living in Chicago, reports on my recent blog post at UD about Jerry Coyne, comparing him to Herman Munster (for the comparison, go here):
Meanwhile, in what seems like an odd move, creationists have chosen to play on Coyne’s home court by claiming to be scientists themselves, and presenting “intelligent design†as an alternative scientific hypothesis to Darwinian evolution (though its advocates put forth no testable predictions). Last year in the case Kitzmiller v. Dover, Pennsylvania federal judge John E. Jones III ruled against that claim after a lengthy trial, but the efforts continue. Coyne’s latest New Republic article (June 18) takes on the new book by intelligent-design advocate Michael Behe, The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism. “IDers never produce their own ‘scientific’ explanation of life,†Coyne concludes. “They just carp about evolution. And as evolutionists explain one thing after another, IDers simply ignore these successes and move on to the ever-dwindling set of unsolved problems in which they continue to see the hand of God.†IDer William Dembski’s response at his blog uncommondescent.com followed this pattern precisely, but also offered his readers specific evidence: that Coyne bears a passing resemblance to Herman Munster!
Three-part reality check:
- The problems facing Darwinian evolution are increasing, not dwindling.
- ID proponents do have a positive program (e.g., www.evolutionaryinformatics.org).
- I wasn’t comparing Jerry Coyne to Herman Munster based merely physical similarity but on the Munsteresque dopeyness of his arguments.
If Coyne wants to be taken seriously, then he needs to behave himself seriously. All I’ve seen from him of late is Darwinian boilerplate — what informed individuals could believe his fatuous defense of Saint Charles. By the way, the Reader article is titled “The Shocking Truth: Jerry Coyne Spreads the Gospel of Evolution.” Don’t these secularists have a clue about how they are shooting themselves in the foot?