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Well, we'd like to know why the statement that creationism's influence is growing across the globe is BS.

The intelligent design "movement" was the last hurrah of creationism. It was a movement concieved, bankrolled and largely populated by conservative christians who publicly insisted that it had nothing to do with religion at all.

Epic fail.

That it failed to attract any significant base of support among scientists and professors came as no surprise to anyone not already bewitched by its philosophical chicanery.

What was surprising was its failure to accomplish its real goal: to drive a big enough "wedge" (as Phillip Johnson put it) of public opinion between what he saw as philosophical naturalism and the classroom that ID would end up having to be taught despite, and contrary to, the opinions of the vast majority of scientists and researchers.

In a nation like the US where the majority of the population believes in some sort of special creation, this seemed a very real possibility, which is why the reaction from Eugenie Scott & Co. was so vehement.

But what happened?

School board members who attempted to introduce ID found themselves looking for work after election time even in conservative counties. Judges with conservative track records on other issues failed to see the validity of ID as a legitimate scientific theory. Scholars and theologians at conservative schools who were initially excited by it came to find its arguments uncompelling enough that they were not willing to trumpet them publicly. The few researchers who remained publicly supportive of ID were denounced by their own collegues and exist as borderline academic pariahs.

In short creationism (along with its red-headed, back-stairs stepchild the ID movement) failed in an environment more ripe for its success than any other western, democratic country on the planet. It failed to a degree that I think surprised even its most vehement detractors.

If creationisms attempt at intellectual respectability cannot succeed in conservative, religious colleges or rural Pennsylvania, it cannot succeed anywhere.

bewitched by its philosophical chicanery

Nice set of loaded words there. Let us not forget that the modern evo have their own "philosophical chicanery" going on: they claim that all that exists is matter and that there is no God. While they don't know everything, they discount the possibility of something that is not unreasonably possible.

Let me expand. How did life occur? We don't know, but it can't be God. How did the universe begin? We don't know, but it can't be God. They have already rejected a definite possibility for rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty.

You’re describing influence in terms of their acceptance by those in institutions of learning, organizations, etc.

I think the author is referring to the GENERAL PUBLIC and what they believe. In this regards, he seems to be telling us that creationism seems to be gaining in acceptance.

For instance, CBS has been doing a yearly poll on public acceptance of evolution since as far back as I can remember.

This poll (1991) had 47% for creationism (God created man 10,000 years ago) and 40% for evolution.(man evolved God guided the process). However an addition 9% also believed in evolution (man evolved God wasn’t involved) End numbers 47% to 49%

A follow up (1997) to the last poll, with the same numbers came out 44% creation 39% evolution with God and 10% pure evolution. End numbers 44% to 49%

In 2005, they told us that their poll results show that most Americans do not accept the theory of evolution. Instead, 51 percent of Americans say God created humans in their present form, and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process. Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved.

This number, I think has been increasing every year in favor of creationism INSPITE of what is happening at our institutions of learning.

*THAT* I think is what the author is referring to.

Sorry but you could not be more wrong. Evolution is historical (aka hysterical) science. Evolution stands logic on it’s head to try to explain nature. The Dover PA case did not involve any “conservative, religious colleges of rural Pennsylvania” higher learning insitutes.

See my post #30 in this thread for more truth than you’ll
find in all of the evolution textbooks combined. If the
government would quit funding evolutionary science then
it would literally dry up and blow away.