Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

The Guardian Swallows Darwinian Myths About Academic Freedom Bills

Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

Today, the UK Guardian newspaper published a piece about academic freedom bills in Colorado, Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma. Readers will not be surprised to learn that the Guardian has seemingly bought into the common myth continuously recycled and promulgated by the NCSE and the Darwin lobby that the bills are “just creationism in disguise”, despite the fact that the bills do not protect the teaching of religious-based views (like creationism), nor even, for that matter, subjects which aren’t already part of the curriculum (like intelligent design). Although the Guardian apparently interviewed critics of the bills, including spokespersons from the NCSE, it seems that they failed to interview any individuals representing the other side. The article in the Guardian even opens with a picture from the Kentucky Creation Museum. Not sure what the relevance of that is. The Guardian also insists on defining intelligent design as the view that “modern life is too complex to have evolved by chance alone.” Of course, that isn’t what ID asserts, nor for that matter does any competent evolutionary biologist think that life even plausibly evolved by chance alone.

Comments
Oops, forgot to add the '-'. The ISSR statement 3 times refers to 'intelligent-design.' This continues my policy of welcoming people to use their own particular language of choice, while at the same time promoting and explaining my chosen language, which in this case is supported in the literature and slightly adopted, i.e. that IDM-ID is best called (upper-case) Big-ID (cf. Owen Gingerich, Ted Davis, Stephen Barr, and Randy Isaac, et al. and sometimes also in UD messages themselves). Jeffrey Schloss, new senior scholar at BioLogos (which actually does openly oppose 'creationism,' bravo and it's about time!) and co-author of the ISSR statement, seems not to be committed to distinguishing small-id from Big-ID, at least not in this ISSR statement.Gregory
January 31, 2013
January
01
Jan
31
31
2013
11:13 PM
11
11
13
PM
PDT
One might get the impression from this OP that 'creationism' is actually dying out in the USA or that the IDM is playing a role of some kind in promoting the end of creationism. But the IDM is in bed with creationists and with the "religious conservatives" mentioned in the article. A prominent poster here at UD suggested approximately 35% of posters at UD are themselves 'creationists.' Also, the article doesn't mention 'Darwin' at all. The 'myth,' if one is to call it that, is a commonly held view by those who actually study the movements and the propagandists involved in the debates about academic freedom regarding evolution, creationism and intelligent design/Intelligent Design. In regard to defining Big-ID, it has come to the point where no single definition of it exists. Paul Harris' Guardian definition is therefore 'in the big tent/ballpark' enough to qualify as legitimate in most peoples' eyes. The IDM has had its time in the news enough to offer their definitions; most people, including devout religious scientists, have rejected those definitions as "highly sanitized creationist code." Here's one of the top science and religion organisations in world defining Big-ID (which they write as 'intelligent design') - ISSR, so as to protect people from 'swallowing' it. One might call it 'child-proofing.' Then again, Big-ID is not supposed to have anything to do with religion or the 'supernatural' even though opposing 'naturalism' is part of its on-going Wedge agenda, right? ;)Gregory
January 31, 2013
January
01
Jan
31
31
2013
10:57 PM
10
10
57
PM
PDT
It has to to be sent now that this continued misrepresentation of Intelligent Design is no longer excusable as ignorance but deliberately agenda driven by the secular media.JoeMorreale1187
January 31, 2013
January
01
Jan
31
31
2013
10:44 PM
10
10
44
PM
PDT
I live for the day when phrases like "Darwinism in disguise" will be common. I've been practicing my superiority dance in anticipation.Mapou
January 31, 2013
January
01
Jan
31
31
2013
08:29 PM
8
08
29
PM
PDT
1 2 3 4

Leave a Reply