Why don't advocates of Intelligent Design try to persuade biology professors to teach it?

[Boojatta]

Poll question: Why don't advocates of Intelligent Design try to persuade biology professors to teach it?

[valerief]

1. It's easier to use state legislatures. nt

[rrneck]

2. Other

Creationists aren't self deluded. They know they're fulla shit.

[ZombieHorde]

3. Do you think creationists are only pretending to be creationists?

I don't understand you comment.

[rrneck]

5. It was a little short.

The people (and I use the term loosely) who run the creationist think tanks etc. have to know they are fulla shit. Granted, they have deluded a lot of people, but the whole creationist/ID thing is about money and power. The assholes that are driving that movement are nothing but crooks.

[Why Syzygy]

8. Daniel Radosh

while writing Rapture Ready, visited the creation museum of Answers in Genesis. The owner/operator of the museum told Radosh that they would not stoop to the political dirty tricks of the secularists. When Radosh sat in on a workshop, it was very much about cultural warfare and denigrating their opposition. They don't seem to notice the hypocrisy. It sounds a lot like tribal territorialism. Could be motivated by money, or could just be stunted maturity. :shrug:

[rrneck]

9. It sounds a lot like tribal territorialism

I can't think of an organized religion that didn't sooner or later become more about professing fealty to the tribe than to the deity. I just saw a Buddhist pissing contest on another thread. Will wonders ever cease?

Remember a while back when the polar ice pack melted and there was a minor geopolitical kerfuffle about who could plant their flag on the ocean floor first to claim whatever natural resources may be there? Well, that's what these crooks are doing. They're carving up human spirituality for profit. And by doing so they're sacrificing their own humanity. I wish I could be as generous as you. Their maturity may be stunted, but I think they have done it to themselves. That's why I have a hard time referring to them as human since they seem to have sacrificed the bulk of their humanity for profit. They have no sense of reciprocity, theory of mind, compassion, or honor. Shit, they don't even have the ability to anticipate beyond the next quarter. Sub human, the lot of 'em.

I ran across a publication by the Institute for Creation Research in a laundromat the other day. Most of the mailing label had been cut out, but apparently it had been mailed to a retirement center here in town. Here's a quote: "There is a dangerous drift in the evangelical world, where the Bible is no longer taken at face value, and where the sensibilities of men are the primary interpreters of God's word." The implications of that one sentence, in a magazine full of them, are frightening. And of course, on the back page, we find an offer for "Charitable Gift Annuities" Another quote: "Unlike common CD's, charitable gift annuities provide several wonderful benefits in retrun of ryour gift that CD's simply cannot match. First, annual income is guaranteed for the lifetime of the donor. Second, because ICR is a non-profit ministry, we can provide a partial tax deduction for your gift in the year it is made. And third, a sizeable portion of future annuity payments is tax free. What a wonderful opportunity ot sow and reap bountifully, not only for your personal needs, but also for eternal Kingdom's work!" These jerks are invisible soul vampires living among us.

Off topic but I read a book review on Salon that looked interesting. Have you heard of Terry Eagleton?

[Why Syzygy]

10. Thanks. I read the review.

Does sound interesting. I've not heard of him.

After I saw a link for ICR in a thread here, I joined their email list. Sometimes I sub to something conservative just to audit. I did that for one of the "family" lists a few years ago. Pretty terrifying at times. And, I thought maybe something uplifting might be presented. Boy, was I wrong. I'll say something nice. They do have a nice search tool on their website because the results have links to original Greek. On the list, it didn't take long until I got one championing spanking children. I wrote them. (In fact it was so upsetting, I posted a poll in this forum). The communications director did give me a nice reply, but completely defended the "Godliness" of Henry M. Morris III. We exchanged a few. I guess my last one was a bit heated and never heard back. A few weeks later, along came the "inspiration" championing hell. Ain't it grand. I don't believe in hell and that's one thing that no audit justifies allowing into my inbox; so I unsubscribed right then. I guess I'm still on some list because a few days ago they sent me this >

The Institute for Creation Research Graduate School (ICRGS) has filed two lawsuits against the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) defendants as of Thursday, April 16. Commissioner Raymund Paredes was formally served at his offices in Austin yesterday afternoon.

[baldguy]

4. If they want scientists to treat creationism like science

THEY should treat it like science themselves. Submit their ideas for peer review by other scientists. Defend those ideas from criticism in the science community. Then make changes to their ideas to fit new evidence.

The dirty little secret of creationism is that it has been submitted for peer review - repeatedly - and it has been repeatedly rejected.

Creationists don't treat this rejection as a problem with science - they see it as a problem with politics and have used politics to force changes in school curricula. But, even when they force teachers to spread their religious propaganda, it will never be a science.

[Occam Bandage]

6. Because scientists are part of the science conspiracy.

[cosmik debris]

7. You should read the court decisions on this subject. n/t