That was a rich and enjoyable special broadcast of the Science & Culture Update on the Michael Medved Show, this afternoon from Discovery Institute. Rick Sternberg and Doug Axe both shared their stories of having been persecuted for failing to toe the line in support of Darwinian orthodoxy, while Steve Meyer sketched the larger picture of the positive case for design in nature. In the photo sitting at the table, from left to right, that’s Sternberg, Meyer, Medved and Axe.

Michael was eloquent in explaining the work we do at the Center for Science & Culture, and asking listeners to make their tax-deductible year-end contributions accordingly.

Some may be considering a gift to their college alma mater. Yet many of those same colleges and universities have contributed to the persecution of pro-ID scientists. There’s a better way to direct gifts to the cause of educating future generations, namely by supporting the CSC.

Any amount helps, but a $150 gift will get you a free DVD of Flight: The Genius of Birds. Go here now!

Medved told a story that’s worth repeating. Henry David Thoreau in 1846 refused to a pay a tax that would support the Mexican-American War, which he opposed, fearing it would lead to the extension of slavery. He spent a night in jail over the matter, and received a visit from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson chided him, "Henry, why are you there?" To which Thoreau replied, "Why are you not here?"

The application in the context of the intelligent design controversy, said Michael, is evident. As you can imagine, he has received challenges on his association with ID. Most, of course, from people who don’t know what ID theorists actually say. Scientists including Dr. Sternberg and Dr. Axe have not only been challenged but forced out of enviable positions in academic life (Cambridge and the Smithsonian) over the Darwin issue. When criticized for his support for persecuted ID scientists — "Why are you there?" — Medved’s answer is Thoreau’s: "Why are you not here?"

Interestingly, in the second hour of the show, Michael talked about the "nonhuman rights" madness that would, among other things, recognize chimps and dolphins as "nonhuman persons." The confusion about the nature of a "person," including the chilling notion of "human nonpersons," is among the legacies of Darwinist materialism. Our Discovery colleague Wesley Smith writes about it in the current Weekly Standard ("Habeas Chimpanzee").

We’re here because of the power of the scientific argument for purpose in nature, but also because denying design leads so predictably to lunacies like "nonhuman rights." Please join us!