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Know Your Creationists -- Yaba-Daba-Dooo!
Over at The Daily Kos, frontpager DarkSyde has another in his series of profiles of leading proponents of creationism and intelligent design. As in any field, there are people who are very competant, dangerous adversaries. Others are charlatans and hucksters.
The former and the latter make far more headway in advanding their interests, the less they are understood by opponents. DarkSyde clearly understands this and in his series, he presents the range, and writes about them in an way that is evaluative of their signficance, their strengths and weaknesses. And while his writing has plenty of personality and humor, unlike many writers who take on these subjects, his style does not interfere with a well-informed and considered evaluation of the players in this field. |
Here is an excerpt:
Although many of my fellow Intelligent Design/Creationism debunkers think of Kent Hovind as the most colorful personality in the lot, I personally feel the good DR Professor Rev. Carl Baugh should hold that title. Baugh is another Young Earth Creationist who sports not just one advanced degree of questionable validity, but a whole shifting slew of them. A friend of mine once summed it up as, "He's like an academic hydra who sprouts a new Doctorate as the circumstances require".
[TalkOrigins] The specific science degrees claimed by Baugh (or attributed to him) have varied somewhat from account to account. In recent years Baugh has claimed a "Masters Degree in Archaeology from Pacific College" and a "Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Anthropology from College of Advanced Education."
And, if you've ever been told that evolution or radiometric dating have been 'disproved', because scientists have found human tracks in the same fossil beds as dinosaurs, you've encountered a fan of Carl Baugh.So, if you'd like a short break from current politics, read on and Yaba-daba-dooo!...
Young Earth Creationism is a specific religious perspective and fails utterly as a science. This isn't something appropriate for public science classes--assuming parents and churches wish to take care of religious instruction themselves or that parents care about the education and future prospects for their children. And if there is some kind of 'faith based' riders or special giveaways to 'alternative views' in any future science/education legislation, many of us worry that Mr Baugh's views or something like them may become an official part of the scientific curricula in K-12 schools.
Much more. |
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