Trapped in the creationist briar patch
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1746189,00.html
It is ludicrous to suggest that promoting Darwinism helps the
intelligent design lobby, says Daniel Dennett
Tuesday April 4, 2006
The Guardian
I find it amusing that two Brits - Madeleine Bunting and Michael Ruse -
have fallen for a version of one of the most famous scams in American
folklore (Why the intelligent design lobby thanks God for Richard
Dawkins, March 27). When Brer Rabbit gets caught by the fox, he pleads
with him: "Oh, please, please, Brer Fox, whatever you do, don't throw
me in that awful briar patch!" - where he ends up safe and sound after
the fox does just that. When the American propagandist William Dembski
writes tauntingly to Richard Dawkins, telling him to keep up the good
work on behalf of intelligent design, Bunting and Ruse fall for it! "Oh
golly, Brer Fox, your forthright assertion - that evolutionary biology
disproves the idea of a creator God - jeopardises the teaching of
biology in science class, since teaching that would violate the
separation of church and state!" Right.
You also ought to soft-pedal physiology, since it declares virgin birth
impossible, contrary to what many devout people believe. And you'd
better start censoring the more inconvenient parts of geology, since
they might be seen to disprove the widespread religious belief in the
US that the world was created about 6,000 years ago. In America we have
never banned teaching science that conflicts with benighted religious
views and we never will, I solemnly hope.
.
|
