Robert Crowther

Gary Rhoades at AAUP responded to my original post. My own response is below the fold.

Dear Mr. Crowther,

Apparently patience is not one of your stronger virtues, at least not in this case. If you were really interested in my response, or in the position of the AAUP, you might have had the courtesy to give me a reasonable amount of time to respond to your letter below (which came to me at 3:33p.m. EST today, whereas your posting below was 1:24 p.m today, though the time zone is not posted).

Upon returning to my emails late this afternoon, after addressing some other pressing matters earlier in the afternoon, I come to find that you have already posted the following on your organization’s website:

He pastes in this blog post.

[Note: For a more comprehensive defense of Ben Stein’s documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, please see: NCSE Exposed at NCSEExposed.org] Where was the American Association of University Professors when Richard Dawkins led an unruly internet mob to get Ben Stein’s invitation to speak at the University of Vermont rescinded? They were stone cold silent as Stein was kicked to the curb by UV president Daniel Fogel, at the behest of Dawkins and other intolerant Darwinsts. Now the AAUP has the nerve to issue a statement warning schools not to rescind invitations to outside speakers. General Secretary Gary Rhoades writes: The opportunity to be confronted with diverse opinions is at the core of academic freedom, which is vital to a free Read More ›

[Note: For a more comprehensive rebuttal to critics of Ben Stein’s documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, please see: NCSE Exposed at NCSEExposed.org]

Dr. Caroline Crocker, whose story was told in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, sent me the following report on a recent lecture by Michael Shermer, who also appeared briefly in Expelled to say that scientists who doubt Darwin are not discriminated against in academia. Dr. Crocker and others of course are proof that he is wrong.

I recently attended a lecture by Michael Shermer at the UCSD Biological Science Symposium (4/2/09). His title was, “Why Darwin Matters,” but his topic was mostly religion. He started by defining science as looking for natural explanations for natural phenomena and said that his purpose was to “debunk the junk and expose sloppy thinking.” So, I must go on to the content of the lecture–or lack of it.

What a disappointment! I was hoping to hear some reasoned thoughts, maybe even something to challenge my way of thinking. Instead we were subjected to

There’s an interesting column in today’s Vancouver Sun, “‘Scientism’ infects Darwinian debates An unflinching belief that science can explain everything about evolution becomes its own ideology”. Interesting because it is rare to see sceintism called out and criticized, especially by someone who shows his own high level of faith in evolution. According to the author, Douglas Todd: There are two major obstacles to a rich public discussion on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and what it means to all of us. The most obvious obstacle is religious literalism, which leads to Creationism. It’s the belief the Bible or other ancient sacred texts offer the first and last word on how humans came into existence. The second major barrier to a Read More ›

In a huge victory for those who favor teaching the scientific evidence for and against evolution, Texas today moved to the head of the class by requiring students to “critique” and examine “all sides of scientific evidence” and specifically requiring students to “analyze and evaluate” the evidence for major evolutionary concepts such as common ancestry, natural selection, and mutations. “Texas has sent a clear message that evolution should be taught as a scientific theory open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can’t be questioned,” said Dr. John West, Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute. “Contrary to the claims of the evolution lobby, absolutely nothing the Board did promotes ‘creationism’ or religion in the classroom. Groups that assert otherwise Read More ›

Later this week the Texas State Board of Education will vote to adopt standards overseeing the state’s science education curriculum for the next ten years. Monday, Stephanie Simon of the Wall Street Journal highlighted the importance of this week’s vote and how there’s more at stake than just the “strengths and weaknesses” language usually discussed. Simon stereotypically boils things down to a point that isn’t accurate: The proposed curriculum change would prompt teachers to raise doubts that all life on Earth is descended from common ancestry. No, actually teachers wouldn’t be raising “doubts,” they would be presenting to students not just a one-sided, dogmatic lesson that only discusses evidence for evolution, but also the scientific evidence that challenges the theory. Read More ›

[Note: For a more comprehensive defense of Ben Stein’s documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, please see: NCSE Exposed at NCSEExposed.org] Alas, poor Richard. Ever since being thrashed by Ben Stein in Expelled he’s just gotten more and more nonsensical. Then, it was that there is no intelligent design of life, except of course maybe alien-directed intelligent design. Now, it seems he has decided to follow some recent sage advice and avoid using the “d” word. And, he’s scrapped his previous idea of using designoid as a replacement. Then Dawkins got to the essential framework of the rest of his talk, making a distinction within purpose between the purpose that comes about as adaptation via natural selection, which he called “archi-purpose”, Read More ›

Tom Woodward of the C.S. Lewis Society, who will be appearing at the Darwin’s Legacy — The Hidden Story event along with Steve Fuller and Michael Medved, has just let us know that the event will now be broadcast live on the internet thanks to Tampa conservative talk radio station 860 WGUL. The program runs 7:00PM to 9:00PM Easter time, Thursday February 26th. The station will carry the news at the top of the hour, but by 7:05pm EST it will be begin streaming audio of the event. Go to http://860wgul.townhall.com/ and click on LISTEN LIVE in the upper left hand corner.

If Charles Darwin were to show up at his 200th birthday celebration in 2009, he would be shocked by the scientific puzzles and cultural fallout that his theory generated. To trace the untold story of the controversy he sparked, The C.S. Lewis Society is featuring a live discussion with: Dr. Steve FullerAuthor of Dissent over DescentSocial Scientist from EnglandAuthority in the Movie, “Expelled.”Dr. Michael MedvedNationally Syndicated Talk Radio Host2 Million Daily ListenersNew York Times Best Selling Author.Dr. Tom WoodwardAuthor of Doubts about Darwin and Darwin Strikes BackResearch Professor at Trinity College. Date: 7:00PM to 9:00PM, Thursday February 26thLocation:The Oval Theater, University of South Florida’s Marshall Center4202 East Fowler Ave.Tampa, FL 33620Students $5 – Adults $10For Information and Advanced Ticket Sales,Call Read More ›

A robust debate about Darwinian evolution has been taking place over at Forbes.com recently. The venerable techonomy site published over 20 articles in honor of Darwin’s birthday, four of which were from ID proponents. As usual, having any articles skeptical of Darwinism is a bridge too far for some, namely Darwin defender Jerry Coyne who attacked not just the authors, but Forbes itself for the temerity to discuss such views publicly.

No less than a member of the National Academy has responded. Forbes.com has just posted a piece by Philip S. Skell, The Dangers Of Overselling Evolution. Skell argues that …