Jodi Wilgoren’s wry account of her two successive boat trips down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon last summer-first with a group of creationists, then with Eugenie Scott’s Darwinists–must qualify as one of the more inventive and evocative ways to convey differences on origins issues, as well as a reason to nominate the writer for some kind of federal fitness award. I’m sure I was not the only one amused by the delicious contrast in styles in the two passenger manifests, though each congregation came off as religious in its own ways. A creationist wore a Jesus fish symbol, a Darwinist the Darwin amphibian symbol that mocks the Jesus fish. The creationists were earnest, the Darwinistas ironic. The creationists sang hymns, the Darwinists a ditty for evolution.

For my part, I was grateful that Ms Wilgoren took the trouble to point out in her article that intelligent design proponents do not share the creationist belief that the Earth is only a few thousand years old. And, accordingly, the river rafting was just not our trip. We don’t go on pilgrimages to the Galapagos, either. But, I have to admit that such outings do sound like fun.

In an exchange a few weeks ago Jodi Wilgoren upbraided me for observing in this space that she had seemed “biased” when she began her profile article on Discovery Institute. I went on to say that her professionalism had overcome that bias, but she wasn’t taking that as a compliment at all and was not mollified.

All right, I take back the bias charge, assuming that one interprets bias as a malign and intentional disregard of the truth.