Creationist insecurity
Via the delightfully snarky Ron Britton over at Bay of Fundie, I heard about this conference/webcast called “Darwin Was Wrong” [link to program PDF]. It’s sponsored by the Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and some group called Logos Research Associates, Inc. (Sounds sciencey!) The program itself sounds like a real train wreck, with talks such as “Darwin Was Wrong About Science,” “Darwin Was Wrong About the Fossil Record,” and “Darwin Was Wrong About God,” but out of some kind of morbid curiosity I’m going to try to watch the webcast—today’s talks are just starting now.
It’s not my goal to rebut all the stupid claims made by the speakers in these talks. First, because nobody who cares about this event would care what I have to say, but second, because I’m sure it’s been done before. I’m also in touch with the fact that, no matter how much creationists would like to paint it that way, scientists don’t worship Darwin’s word as the ultimate and unquestionable truth. (And hey, guys, if you want to criticize that way of thinking as unscientific and therefore invalid… look in the mirror.) Bottom line: sure, there were some particular claims and conjectures that Darwin put forth in his writings which we now have evidence against, but we still appreciate his work and groundbreaking ideas. We adjust and modify our theoretical models in light of new evidence, new data to compare our models with. That’s how science works.
I really just want to make one simple point, and that is: isn’t this all terrifically insecure? Creationists are really obsessed with trying to demonstrate that “Darwin was wrong” (just search Amazon for “darwin wrong” and you’ll see what I mean), but you practically never see a panel discussion with a handful of evolutionary biologists just riffing on how Biblical creation has a couple plot holes. Yes, the community of skeptics is growing, and yes, there are groups like the National Center for Science Education which have sprung up to advocate for evolution. But the vast, vast majority of the time, scientists are just going about their science, and ignoring the crazy fringe ideas. That’s because the crazy fringe ideas are obviously wrong. It would just be superfluous for biologists to spend one tenth the time creationists do, flailing around and shouting about how the other side is wrong. If you have no real proof of your point of view, the best you can do is insist that your opponent’s proof is insufficient, but if the evidence is on your side, you can rest assured that the evidence will speak for itself.
One other note. Lunch at this conference is being provided by Chick-fil-A. Of course.
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