Robert Crowther

We often report on the misreporting about the debate over evolution, and point out the misinformation that is spread not just by our critics, but also by the media itself.

How does it happen that urban myths, such as the one claiming that the Kansas state science standards include intelligent design, spread and catch on? Or what about one that is growing right now from an egregious misquote of CSC Fellow Paul Nelson?

“The ‘Stand up for Science, Stand Up For Kansas’ educational campaign is intended to defend newly implemented science standards in Kansas from misleading and blatantly false campaigns of misinformation,” said Robert Crowther, director of communications for the Center for Science & Culture in response to criticism of Discovery Institute’s public education campaign. “As we’ve reiterated previously, Discovery Institute does not get involved in electoral campaigns, and we do not endorse candidates,” added Crowther. “Groups such as Kansas Citizens for Science are waging a campaign of misinformation, blatantly misinterpreting the new standards in three major ways,” said John G. West, associate director of the Center for Science and Culture. “For instance, they continue to advance the false idea that the teaching Read More ›

Standing in stark contrast to contemporary claims that the world is meaningless, A Meaningful World: How the Arts and Sciences Reveal the Genius of Nature reveals a cosmos charged with both meaning and purpose. Written by Dr. Benjamin Wiker and Dr. Jonathan Witt of the Center for Science & Culture, the groundbreaking new book shows that nature offers all of the challenges and surprises and all of the mystery and elegance we associate with design and with artistic genius.

“A Meaningful World is simply the best book I’ve seen on the purposeful design of nature. In sparkling prose Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt teach us how to recognize genius, first in Shakespeare’s plays and then in nature. From principles of geometry to details of the periodic table, the authors portray the depth, elegance, clarity and pure cleverness of a universe designed to nurture the intelligent life that one day would discover that design. A Meaningful World recovers lost purpose not only for science, but for all scholarly disciplines.” — Michael J. Behe, author of Darwin’s Black Box

“A Meaningful World is a wise and witty romp through the fallacies of reductionism. It is illustrated by charming examples that show how literature and science both teach us that we live in a world full of meaning, not the spiritually dead world in which the materialists would confine us.” — Phillip Johnson, author of Reason in the Balance

Click here to download the prologue to the book.

Discovery Institute will host a release party for A Meaningful World on Tuesday, August 22 at 4:30pm. Please join us as Wiker and Witt take us through the evidence for purpose and meaning in the world around us. Their arguments begin in Shakespeare and range through the fine-tuning of the laws of physics, the Periodic Table of Elements, the artistry of ordinary substances like carbon and water, the intricacy of biological organisms, and the drama of scientific exploration itself.

Well you knew it had to happen sooner or later. The song is “Dance Like a Monkey” a catchy pop-punk bit from the legendary New York Dolls — their first new recording in nearly 30 years. It has a clever animated video to go along with it. Expect to hear a lot more about this as the song is going into rotation on the radio and the band was recently on Conan O’Brien.

The New York Times put it this way:

“The new record’s best song, “Dance Like a Monkey,” is a rock ‘n’ roll answer to a timely theological question. Trying to woo a “pretty creationist,” the singer invites her onto the dance floor. “Evolution is so obsolete,” Mr. Johnansen shouts like a leering old bluesman. “Got to stomp your hands and clap your feet.”

What the Dolls get wrong — they mistakenly confuse biblically based YEC with intelligent design.

What they get right — their chorus is right on target proclaiming “Evolution is obsolete.”

(if the video doesn’t load properly view it here at Youtube.com)

The Washington DC Examiner today published a full-page interview with John West and Casey Luskin, two of the authors of Traipsing Into Evolution. After seeing West and Luskin make a presentation about the book in Washington DC Recently, the Examiner decided to interview the authors “to get a better understanding of their arguments against Kitzmiller.” You can read the full interview online, and you can download a PDF of the actual page here. You can purchase the book online at Amazon.com, or order copies by calling 1-800-643-4102. Q Is your main disagreement with Kitzmiller v. Dover over its ultimate rejection of intelligent design (ID)? Or for the way the case exemplified, in your eyes, judicial overreach? A John West: The Read More ›

What are the Kansas science standards really about? Kansans will now be able to learn for themselves as three experts will explain why the revised standards were necessary at a series of free symposiums across Kansas. The efforts to mislead Kansas citizens about the state’s new science standards will hopefully be curbed by these symposiums.

“Practically everything opponents have said about these changes is either flat wrong or highly misleading,” said John Calvert, a spokesman for the eight scientist and educators who proposed the changes, and organizer of the symposiums. “Critics falsely claim that ‘the changes remove evolution.’ Wrong! They actually seek to increase the content so that students will be equipped to actually understand the theory.”

Three experts will explain the existing scientific controversies over biological and chemical evolution and how the new Kansas science standards encourage teachers to objectively introduce students to these controversies, as well as showing how the science standards have been systematically misrepresented and why it is important that the public be adequately informed on this issue.

Over at Post-Darwinist, journalist Denyse O’Leary points out another type of misinformation. In this instance it’s a complete misrepresentation of the views of Cardinal Schönborn about evolution, as well as that of the Catholic church.

Briefly, the Catholic Church has come out swinging in recent years AGAINST Darwinism, which is precisely the “evolution” that Rosengarten is talking about.

Here’s what the Pope now distributes on prayer cards hawked all over Rome:

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.

So all over the world, people will remind themselves of anti-Darwinism every day.

We’ve reported about Cardinal Schönborn’s views and previous misrepresentations several times.

In an e-mail O’Leary added:

“Should public schools censor scientific evidence just because it challenges Darwin’s theory of evolution?” asks Robert Crowther, director of communications for Discovery Institute a non-partisan public policy center. “Of course not. Teachers should present all the scientific evidence, including both the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory, and this is exactly what the Kansas state science standards call for.”

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Sign the Petition and Stand Up for Science at www.standupforscience.com

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At the behest of Kansas teachers and parents the Discovery Institute in July will launch the www.standupforscience.com website to help defend Kansas’ science standards. At the website people who support teaching both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolution will be able to sign a petition supporting the state’s science standards.

There is a concerted effort underway in Kansas to censor science and undermine the strong science standards adopted there last year. In 2005 the Kansas state board of education (KSBOE) courageously voted to adopt science standards that require students to learn all about evolution, including both the scientific evidence and for and against the theory. That’s it. The Board didn’t require any alternative theories be taught, just the evidence for and against Darwinian evolution. However there are a number of groups both inside and outside of Kansas that are seeking to stifle discussion in Kansas classrooms of anything critical of Darwinian evolution. Chief among them is “Kansas Citizens for Science” (KCFS). Not content with simply complaining about the Kansas science Read More ›