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Thank You for Sharing Our 20th Anniversary and the World Premiere of Revolutionary!

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Friday night we marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture. It was a convivial event on a lovely warm Seattle evening before an eager standing-room-only crowd, sprinkled with old friends and new acquaintances, ID scientists and our generous supporters. Thank you to all who joined us and of course to CSC staff and fellows. You all made this possible!

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The whole affair was characterized by a true sense of celebration, of how far we’ve come and where we’re going. The highlight was the world premiere of a new hour-long documentary, Revolutionary: Michael Behe & The Mystery of Molecular Machines, written and directed by CSC associate director John West. Revolutionary does an outstanding and insightful job of telling the story of Dr. Behe, the Lehigh University biochemist who launched ID as a serious scientific insurgency with extraordinary public awareness.

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In the film Behe describes how, though a shy person, he’s also stubborn. And we would add, fearless. The documentary shows how Behe’s arguments have been vindicated, despite much controversy and invective, setting the stage for the next twenty years. The DVD and Blu-ray will be released in October, but you can see the trailer here:

Congratulations equally to Dr. Behe and Dr. West!

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The evening was both a look back and a look forward. In his comments, John West recalled how he and Stephen Meyer launched the CSC two decades ago in the precise venue where Friday’s celebration took place — Seattle Pacific University’s E.E. Bach Mainstage Theatre.

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After the screening, Dr. Meyer led a fascinating conversation with Behe and fellow ID scientists Douglas Axe and Richard Sternberg about the current state of the evolution debate and what’s to come. Though not present in person, CSC Fellows including Michael Denton and Paul Nelson sent birthday wishes by video.

Steve Meyer recalled a fateful interaction with Dean Kenyon, and a 1993 gathering at Pajaro Dunes, California, organized by Phillip Johnson. Rick Sternberg shared intimate, Darwin-confounding details of whale evolution. And Dr. Behe was asked, given the rocky ride that followed the release of his book Darwin’s Black Box, if he had any regrets.

Given the option, would he do it all over again? “Yes,” said Behe, “in a heartbeat.”

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Evolution News & Science Today (EN) provides original reporting and analysis about evolution, neuroscience, bioethics, intelligent design and other science-related issues, including breaking news about scientific research. It also covers the impact of science on culture and conflicts over free speech and academic freedom in science. Finally, it fact-checks and critiques media coverage of scientific issues.

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