Post-Darwinist on Darwinism and Pop-Culture

The ever observant Denyse O’Leary over at the Post-Dawrinist blog has an interesting little post about NCSE’s Eugenie Scott’s recent attempts to spin the “inside story about the Discovery Institute, the well-financed ‘think tank’ promoting intelligent design and other far-right causes.” (Well financed? What, compared to the average biology department at the average college? Our budget is a tiny fraction of just a tiny fraction of all the Darwin dominated budgets out there. And, far-right causes? What, like green hybrid vehicles or passenger ferry service?

Among other things Scott apparently refers to us as “right wing libertarians” with a “road map to theocracy”. What in the world is a libertarian theocrat you might wonder? A former DI colleague (who asked to remain unnamed because he was worried about being associated with such “conspiracies”) sarcastically explained to me that it must refer to “robber barron capitalism and a state church that regulates the hell out of peoples’ sex lives.”
For accuracy and clarity you won’t get from the NCSE website go here. Among the numerous truth sheets on this page are these two which I’m sure completely unspin Scott’s alleged “inside” story. Discovery Institute and “Theocracy”

Overview: Periodically certain Darwinists make false and unsubstantiated claims that Discovery Institute advocates “theocracy” or is part of the “radical Christian right” or supposedly supports something called “Christian reconstructionism.” These charges are little more than smears, and they show the bankruptcy of the Darwinists’ own position. Rather than argue about the substance of the scientific debate over neo-Darwinism, all Darwinists can do is engage in baseless ad hominem attacks. The “Wedge Document”: How Darwinist Paranoia Fueled an Urban Legend

Overview: In 1999 someone posted on the internet an early fundraising proposal for Discovery Institute’s Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture. Dubbed the “Wedge Document,” this proposal soon took on a life of its own, popping up in all sorts of places and eventually spawning what can only be called a giant urban legend. Among true-believers on the Darwinist fringe the document came to be viewed as evidence for a secret conspiracy to fuse religion with science and impose a theocracy. These claims were so outlandish that for a long time we simply ignored them. But because some credulous Darwinists seem willing to believe almost anything, we decided we should set the record straight. For a more detailed response please read “The Wedge Document: So What?”.

Robert Crowther, II

Robert Crowther holds a BA in Journalism with an emphasis in public affairs and 20 years experience as a journalist, publisher, and brand marketing and media relations specialist. From 1994-2000 he was the Director of Public and Media Relations for Discovery Institute overseeing most aspects of communications for each of the Institute's major programs. In addition to handling public and media relations he managed the Institute's first three books to press, Justice Matters by Roberta Katz, Speaking of George Gilder edited by Frank Gregorsky, and The End of Money by Richard Rahn.

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