Culture Wars in Kenya

Transcript of today's show:

The National Museum of Kenya is home to the bones of the famous Homo erectus man, discovered by anthropologist Richard Leaky. But the bones may soon become banned from public display, if the Pentecostal church gets its way. The church is leading an intense campaign to remove the exhibit, which they believe discredits creation theory. Leakey and other scientists are outraged and promise a bold fight to keep the exhibit intact. source: Bill Redeker/ABC

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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
I am unceasingly amazed how fundamentalist thinking can so directly interfere with science. As an American travelling to international scientific gatherings, I am constantly embarassed by the "American Problem" of Christian fundamentalism and it encroachment on scientific education. Here now in Africa, we see this same Problem, in the very backyard where the story began. The cord of terror this story raises is the epidemic-level spread of religious fundamentalism in the world, and its interest in dominating the cultural, social, and political landscape along the way.

The people of Africa, in my experience of them, are proud of the fact that their land is the birthplace of the human race. Many African people believe in their homo sapien ancestry and feel deeply connected to it. The Penecostal Church and its intractable rejection of the homo sapien bones, is confusing these people, just as Creation theory and intelligent design advocates seek to confuse the young people in America. More disturbing still is the danger that this culture war become fodder for yet another civil war in the ravaged Africa. Why must religion, again and again, sarifice the innocent in order to convince and conquer the non-believing and independent-minded?

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
If there ever was a more legitimate reason to listen to other points of view, certainly this controversy in Kenya is a most lucid example. Just as some scientists do not want to "allow" a single book with an alternate version of the creation of the Grand Canyon in it's bookstore, now First World countries are trying to tell Africans what to believe. Many Christians are offended that their beliefs are not acknowledged -- whether in national park bookstores or history museums. If the great majority of Kenyans are offended by the Leakey bones, then they need to be listened to. The Kenyan Christian conversion happened on their own soil. We did not make them slaves in their own country by telling them they must adopt the "White Man's Religion." Their position comes from their own faith and the strength of their belief. Please, let's just try and respect that and mind our own business!

A popular creationist links Darwin to racism

Transcript of today's show:

Ken Ham, evangelical creationist and founder of the very popular Creation Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, has just come out with a new book entitled Darwin’s Plantation: Evolution’s Racist Roots. Ken Ham and co-author Dr. Charles Ware reveal a compelling history of the effect of an evolution-based belief system on the history of the United States, touching on abortion, slavery, and the civil rights movement.

[source: Answers in Genesis]

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Sound Off: What is being said about this story from around the blogging and opinion world.

from The Associated Press:

In the new book, Ham says that Darwin's theory - that natural selection caused gradual biological changes over time - puts some races ''higher on the evolutionary scale'' and others ''closer to the apes.''

''Although racism did not begin with Darwinism, Darwin did more than any person to popularize it,'' Ham writes. He further contends that the theory fanned the flames of ''ethnic superiority.''

''Stalin, Hitler and Mao were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions - and it can be shown they did this because of the influence of Darwinian naturalism,'' Ham writes.

Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a California group that defends teaching evolution in public schools, said Hitler rarely mentioned evolution.

''Darwinian evolution is based on natural selection, which means that any population can adapt to its environment,'' Scott said. ''The ironic thing for the creationists is that Hitler grounded Aryan superiority as a God-given quality.'' [read full story]

from the blog The Darwin Report:

Historically speaking, Charles Darwin came from a family of abolitionists. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, strongly disapproved of slavery. And Charles Darwin wrote negatively about the slavery he witnessed on his travels in his book, The Voyage Of The Beagle. Darwin’s The Descent Of Man is also an argument against racism, since one of the points in it is the common ancestry of all the humans races. And simply using the word “savage”, as Darwin did, in its 19th century context doesn’t make a man a racist. Political correctness and cultural sensitivity were more than a century away. [read full blog post]

from a report by WDC Media, a Christian Media relations firm:

Ham and Ware show that although racism certainly did not begin with Darwin, his beliefs did more to fuel racism than the ideas of any other single individual. "Racism is a consequence of sin in a fallen world infused with evolutionary thinking," Ham writes.

The subtitle of Darwin's "Origin of Species" is "The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life." Darwin himself writes in "The Descent of Man" that he would rather be descended from a monkey than a "savage."

"As soon as one believes that human beings have evolved from creatures of lesser intelligence, it is an easy corollary to assume that some people groups are more evolved than others," the book says. [read complete article]



from PZ Myers' blog Pharyngula:

Just when you think these guys can't get any more dishonest, here comes Darwin's Plantation: Evolution's Racist Roots. The tag line on the book is a quote from Ham: "Although racism did not begin with Darwinism, Darwin did more than any person to popularize it."

Wow. More than Martin Luther, who helped make anti-semitism a favorite German pastime? More than Nathan Bedford Forrest, who helped the Ku Klux Klan grow to half a million members? More than Hitler? More than our Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision? More than Richard Butler, founder of the Aryan Nations? More than Lester Maddox and Strom Thurmond? More than King Leopold II of Belgium? [read full blog post]

It’s Darwin’s Birthday and a creationist candidate declares he will fight on for his party’s nomination

Transcript of today's show:

Last year at this time, we reported on Evolution Sunday -- an annual event that coincides with Darwin’s birthday that celebrates the compatibility of Evolution with Christianity. This year on Darwin‘s Birthday the presidential primaries are in full swing, and despite John McCain’s impressive delegate lead, Mike Huckabee is not giving up his fight to become the first confirmed Christian Creationist President.

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MSNBC.com reporting on the McCain - Huckabee race:

Huckabee told reporters in Little Rock, Ark., that his close showing in Virginia proved that “there’s still a real sense in the Republican Party of a desire to have a choice.”

“We feel like if we’d had a few more days, maybe we could have closed the gap all the way,” he said.

Huckabee said he was the only “solid conservative, absolutely pro-life candidate” still in the race, and exit interviews in Virginia suggested that his message resonated. Huckabee got strong support from self-described conservatives, who made up nearly 7 in 10 voters in the Republican primary. Huckabee won half their votes.

In a surprising showing of weakness for McCain, independents, a group he has dominated, were about evenly divided. People calling themselves loyal Republicans, who have previously given McCain a slight edge, were also split down the middle.

White born-again and evangelical Christians, the keystone of Huckabee’s support all year, were favoring him by more than a 2-to-1 ration. McCain led heavily among the 6 in 10 Virginia voters who were not white born-again and evangelicals. Polls taken last week showed McCain with a double-digit lead over Huckabee, a Baptist minister, but Huckabee drew strong support in rural western Virginia, the state’s Bible belt. He appealed to Christian conservatives in Virginia, where he had the endorsement of Jerry Falwell Jr., the namesake son of the late television evangelist.
[read full story]

Darwin under fire in Poland

Transcript of today's show:

In a public outburst last fall, Poland's deputy education minister criticized evolution theory as a lie that science has cleverly sought to legitimize. Miroslaw Orzechowski has called for a debate on removing Darwin's theory from schools. To date, there has been no debate, but Polish teachers have grown fearful of repercussions from teaching evolution. Meanwhile, the deputy minister continues to criticize Darwin, whose theory, he says, was merely the ramblings of an old, feeble-minded vegetarian. [source: International Herald Tribune]

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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
What an irony that the former communist regime of Poland has chosen to attack science. It appears to be the irreversible swing of the pendulum — from an atheistic country that used the Catholic Church and the then Polish papacy as the primary vehicle of social change, to now throwing out the baby with bathwater. I applaud the Polish pope and the Catholic Church for helping Poland separate from the domination of the old Soviet Union. But what does that have to do with abandoning science?

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
Having thrown off the chains of faithless communist dogma, the people of Poland are finally given a choice and an opportunity to discuss the Darwin controversy. Despite decades of atheist communist domination, the Catholic Church of Poland remained strong and vital in Polish society. I find it so encouraging to see the Deputy Minister of Education speaking up for the religious beliefs of his overwhelmingly majority constituency.

Poll figures on the American view of creation

Today's show:

In a June 2007 Gallup poll of American adults:

48% said they believe that God, in a single act, created human beings in their present form, sometime within the last 10,000 years

30% of the respondents believe in a divinely guided evolution, in which man evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life

13% believe that God played no part in the evolution of human beings.

[source: USA Today]

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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
These polls reveal a dual disaster of diminished science (and excellence) standards in our schools and the strengthening tide of Christian fundamentalism in the US. Polls on this issue have been taken in America for over 2 decades. Here are what a few earlier polls have shown:

Gallup poll November 2004

34% of respondents regarded the Bible as to be taken literally
48% regarded it as divinely inspired but not always to be taken literally
15% regarded it as a collection of fables, etc., and
3% expressed no opinion.


Channel One News poll Jan 2002
Which theory should be taught in schools?

31% creationism only
17% evolution only
52% both

Gallup poll August 1999
Should creationism and evolution be taught in US schools?

68% yes
29% no
3% no opinion

Should creationism be taught instead of evolution?

40% yes
55% no
5% no opinion

Excuse me while I cry in my coffee.

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
American is, and I do hope always will be, a nation of faith. Godlessness should not be wished upon any adversary, let alone our own country. A people of faith do not have to reject science in order to embrace their beliefs. Let's be clear that looking at this issue from a black and white standpoint will only be culturally divisive and cause needless confusion in the educational system. We can make room for both. I ask the scientists to make room for faith; I ask believers to make room for science.

These poll results tell me that we are not a country yet divided in a 'culture war'. We have a heritage of pride in our diversity, and I believe we are managing to find a healthy middle ground.

The US Department of Education makes a quick come back

Transcript of today's show:

Here is a follow-up to a recent story we aired. After being accused of discriminating against evolutionary biology students by excluding them from a science grant program, the Department of Education quickly back-pedaled. They claimed that the omission was an inadvertent typographic error and immediately issued a revised list. The new list now includes evolutionary biology, which once again, takes its place as a legitimate subfield of science. source: US Department of Education

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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
It's been said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Even though the Department of Ed. quickly made a correction, I still suspect a testing of the “creationist waters” with this kind of foolishness. I remain convinced that the omission was intentional, and the Department of Ed tried to sneak it by under the radar. Fortunately, we do have functional radar systems, paying attention to potential shenanigans. Gotta watch these guys. This is an Administration, after all, that saw fit to arm the hero of Desert Storm with hand-drawn representations of Iraqi WMD installations to the United Nations to make the case for war. Why the drawings when satellite surveillance is so good I can see my house and mailbox in Weather.com's satellite imagery?

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
This speculative blame of the Department of Education' motives in this matter is as politically motivated as the purported wrongdoing itself. I sense a degree of desperation on the part of those who are so eager to exaggerate and possibly, completely fabricate, the intentions of the Department and administration. The error has been corrected, promptly and with grace. Let us be appreciative and let lie the need to blame.

Creationists' Periodic Table of the Elements

Hi y'all, it's Shelley.

Just ran across an old copy of Skeptical Inquirer (May 2005), which features an interesting exposé titled, Getting the Monkey off Darwin's Back: Four Common Myths About Evolution. The authors present a well-researched and thoughtful commentary on various misconceptions that belie the disparate perspectives various groups and individuals have of evolution theory.

And, a lighthearted aside: the back cover of this issue of Skeptical Inquirer sports a tongue-in-cheek illustration by Dr. Loren Williams of the Georgia Institute of Technology, which needs no explanation from me. Thank you, Loren, for letting me share it here:



Click here to see an enlarged version.

Darwin’s drawings under suspicion

Transcript of today's show:

Darwin’s chief illustrator has been accused of producing fraudulent drawings in order to provide better evidence for Darwin’s arguments. Ernst Haeckel deliberately fudged his drawings to reveal similarities in embryonic development among species. An international team of experts recently compared Haeckel's drawings with actual embryos and have concluded that Haeckel's work is one of the most famous fakes in biology. In spite of this widespread discrediting, Haeckel's drawings still appear in many textbooks and are presented as fact. [source: Science magazine, Talk Origins]

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Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.

The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
All textbooks containing Ernst Haeckel’s questionable drawings should be pulled from use and revised or replaced. I believe in a zero tolerance rule regarding fraudulent presentation of material. Haeckel’s frauds must be fully brought to light and expunged from all teaching materials.

Now, what about Darwin? We do well to remember that Haeckel’s drawings were a post factum addition to Darwin’s published work. Haeckel’s embryo drawings did not appear until 1874, almost two decades after Darwin published the “Origin of the Species.” Haekel’s exaggerated drawings never influenced Darwin’s thinking nor formed a basis for his theories of natural selection and adaptation. Creationists and ID proponents rightly assail Haeckel’s utter lack of professional ethics, however, they go to far when they pin this on Darwin with the purpose of discounting his work altogether. The transgressions of Haeckel do not belong to Darwin.

The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
This travesty of scientific integrity points to a little-known political campaign that was waged in the years following Darwin’s publication of his controversial “Origin of the Species.” Colleagues of Darwin undertook a decades-long disinformation campaign to trump support for his bizarre and heretical theories (which were quite unpopular among the people of his day). Haeckel played a significant role in this political machine. He was a great embellisher of his observations, he had a comfortable genius for creating false proofs, and he expounded many outlandish theories of his own, which he often devised from thin air. And there are other Darwinists who, like Haekel, would do anything to make their theory seem believable to the public. This unethical approach of disinformation is exactly why state legislators are introducing bills that would allow other theories to be taught along side evolution. Darwin’s theory of natural selection is not gospel. There has been much sleight of hand and underhanded deception from the Darwinists. They must be questioned vigorously and unapologetically.