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Herd of Kansas Darwinists Endangered, Conservationists Warn

This is the funniest — and yet the truest — account of the current Kansas school board hearings that I have seen. (Scroll down till you come to the endangered herd of Darwinists.) It perfectly matches the Darwinists’ view of themselves as an endangered species that the world has an obligation to protect. Enjoy.

Natural Selection Shrinks Herd of Kansas Darwinists

by Scott Ott

(2005-05-03) -- Elderly residents still recall stories of the dust clouds that rolled through Salina as herds of Darwinists thundered across the Kansas plains unchallenged by competition -- unquestionably dominating, and some say destroying, their environment.

But as selective pressures mounted, Darwinists forced to fend for themselves in the natural arena of logic often fell prey to scrappy skeptics who contended for equal space in the Darwinist's natural habitat.

Some celebrate the success of the skeptics as healthy for the overall environment, while concerned conservationists race against the clock to raise funds and public awareness to rescue and shelter the Darwinist.

Personally, I’m waiting until the Franklin Mint miniatures come out. Even the Darwnists can look cute inside those little glass globes that you shake, and the snow falls and it plays a tune .... maybe a tune with a name like "The Design of Life."

By the way, telling everyone how unhappy they are that some people do not accept their theory has not always helped the Darwinists. For a funny review of loose lips that sink ships, read Mark Hartwig’s "Busted!"

Darwinian evolution as a religion

Philosopher of science Michael Ruse argues, in a forthcoming book, that Darwinists have largely themselves to thank for the current opposition to Darwinism:

“Ruse, a philosopher of science at Florida State University, occupies a distinct position in the heated debates about evolution and creationism. He is both a staunch supporter of evolution and an ardent critic of scientists who he thinks have hurt the cause by habitually stepping outside the bounds of science into social theory. In his latest book, ''The Evolution-Creation Struggle,'' published by Harvard University Press later this month, Ruse elaborates on a theme he has been developing in a career dating back to the 1960s: Evolution is controversial in large part, he theorizes, because its supporters have often presented it as the basis for self-sufficient philosophies of progress and materialism, which invariably wind up in competition with religion.”

and,

“All told, Ruse claims, loading values onto the platform of evolutionary science constitutes ''evolutionism,'' an outlook that goes far beyond the scientific acceptance of evolution as a means of explaining the origins and development of species. Provocatively, Ruse argues that evolutionism has often constituted a ''religion'' itself by offering ''a world picture, a story of origins, and a special place for humans,'' while its proponents have been ''trying deliberately to do better than Christianity.'”

In my experience, Ruse is right. For example, the single most ridiculous thing about Darwinism is the hagiography of Darwin. Darwinists, to listen to them, never suggest that their Great Master’s theory might have flaws, as all theories do; they are careful to make clear that Darwinism anticipated absolutely everything, even when it didn’t. When I wrote By Design or by Chance?, I had trouble getting used to that. It’s so unlike science and so like a cult. But, come to think of it, that’s because — ya think? — Ruse is right ... ?