Posted on 01/28/2009 11:36:17 AM PST by Coyoteman
We will see and hear the term “Darwinism” a lot during 2009, a year during which scientists, teachers, and others who delight in the accomplishments of modern biology will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. But what does “Darwinism” mean? And how is it used? At best, the phrase is ambiguous and misleading about science. At worst, its use echoes a creationist strategy to demonize evolution.
snip...
In summary, then, “Darwinism” is an ambiguous term that impairs communication even about Darwin’s own ideas. It fails to convey the full panoply of modern evolutionary biology accurately, and it fosters the inaccurate perception that the field stagnated for 150 years after Darwin’s day. Moreover, creationists use “Darwinism” to frame evolutionary biology as an ism or ideology, and the public understanding of evolution and science suffers as a result. True, in science, we do not shape our research because of what creationists claim about our subject matter. But when we are in the classroom or otherwise dealing with the public understanding of science, it is entirely appropriate to consider whether what we say may be misunderstood. We cannot expect to change preconceptions if we are not willing to avoid exacerbating them. A first step is eschewing the careless use of “Darwinism.”
(Excerpt) Read more at springerlink.com ...
Gosh, I should visit these threads more often. A peaceful respite from 0bamination news!
Matter of fact, the tendency is to take anyone who does not hold to the hardline, naturalistic no-God allowed position on the ToE and cram them into a flat earth, heliocentric, 6 day, 6,000 year YEC, Bible literalist box and then mock and ridicule them regardless of what their position is.
Well, maybe if you were to actually challenge the legions of posters here who adhere to a "flat-earth, (and it's geocentric, not heliocentric - heliocentrism is considered to be just as much of Satan as the ToE is around here) 6-day, 6,000 year YEC, Bible literalist" view, we wouldn't cram you into that box.
But you never do. All you ever do is shout "Hallelujah!" right along side them, praise them for their faith and their "insight," and endlessly mock and ridicule the countless real scientists who have spent centuries showing that the Bible literalist view of the universe is a bunch of ignorant, superstitious crap written thousands of years ago by people who had no idea how the universe really works, and had no way of ever finding out because the observational tools that they needed simply weren't there yet. And I'd point out that many of those real scientists paid for their "blasphemy" with their lives, thanks to people like you.
If the shoe fits, wear it. And until you actually start demanding that these lunatics post some actual proof of their assertions that dinosaurs rode on Noah's Ark and that the earth is the immovable center of the universe, among other things, I and every other semi-rational person who reads your nonsense will continue to cram you into that little box right along side the rest of the Luddites.
He ‘speaks’ for Science, and quite well too. That’s good enough for me.
No problem. Pretty much everybody knows what flame bait and veiled threats look like. I’ll just let the thread speak for itself.
Pick your target, personlize it, polarize it, and try to provoke a reaction.
Your bladder control problems?
You live in a flood zone?
Your dryer is broken?
You didn't have shoes on when you stuck your feet in that puddle under your chair?
there’s that old saying...how does it go...
don’t let the door...
You've already 'spoken' for the thread, by making allegations you can't support. Typical Liberal tactics. Your slip is showing.
The Dems won the last nation wide election and you're not seriously implying that what they support is science, are you? All that global warming and environazi crap?
The dirty secret is that they love death, so they actually think that all these deaths were a good deed. To eugenicists, all these deaths were not just an unfortunate by-product of over-zealous adherents (of course, they try to pin them on something else). Over-population is one of their creeds.
I am not saying every evolution promoter thinks that all these deaths are a good thing. But to a eugenics and over-population believer, thinning the herd is a good thing, at least in theory, and if it isn’t their family or themslves who are being thinned (at least involuntarily).
The only allegation I’ve made is that you came to me looking to pick a fight. I’ll let the thread stand as evidence.
I guess the mantle of paranoia got automatically passed with cm’s banning.
A toothless, self appointed attack dog gumming my ankles.
ummm bert?
Oh nevermind.
Coming from you I must say this means...
absolutely nothing, but what's new?
You need to be telling that to your fellow DCers. They apparently haven't gotten the message yet.
Still not good enough.
I almost ruined my laptop when I read Coyoteman and “gently reminding someone” used in the same sentence.
I had no idea how many there were on FR metmom!
Yeah. That pretty well describes what you’re doing. Right out of the Alinsky book of approved tactics. You’re on a roll. Keep talking.
Maybe you forgot how badly Sarah Palin was mocked - rightly or wrongly - for her supposed Creationist beliefs?
Whether or not she is a Creationist (that's open to debate), she was mocked and belittled for being a Creationist.
You can't expect the American people to elect a person to a position of power when they believe something that is rejected by mainstream science.
Same goes for climate change.
Instead of rejecting the reality of climate change, the debate should be on the political response.
It's impossible to have a voice in a political debate when you refuse to acknowledge the reality that led to the debate.
Sticking your fingers in your ears and screaming, "It's not science! Junk science! Make it go away!" doesn't address the problem and doesn't convince voters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.