Richard Hoppe is pondering the creationists' motivations for opposing the teaching of evolution, and argues that it is the fear for their children's souls. And no amount of scientific facts will have any impact on most of them, he says.
A few days ago I attended a reading by Ed Larson, author of Summer for the Gods, Evolution’s Workshop, and most recently (just out last week), Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. During the Q&A Ed told of meeting a biologist at a conservative southern university (that I won’t name here) who said that when evolution is being taught in a biology course required for pre-meds, students of the fundamentalist Christian persuasion make a practice of staying in the back of the lecture hall and holding hands and praying. No amount of scientific reasoning is an antidote to the kind of cognitive blocking exemplified by that behavior.
Probably. But what doesn't work immediately, can have an effect on people some years down the line.
Blogger Classical Values argues that 9/11 conspiracy theories are becoming mainstream. A nice roundup of useful links to nutcase and debunking articles alike.
A big catalyst for 9/11 conspiracy theories becoming mainstream is Michael Moore's "documentary" Fahrenheit 9/11, which just won the Palme d'Or in Cannes. This BBC review of the movie points to a number of nutty conspiracy claims from the ruthlessly dishonest filmmaker:
The Afghanistan section - including a screen shot of a BBC News Online story - is a claim that the military action in Afghanistan was really about laying a natural gas pipeline across the country.
This claim is so ridiculous it speaks volumes that Moore includes it. It is not precisely for lack of seriousdebunking. And now, mainstream media will uncritically repeat those claims.
Political odd couple Bill Clinton and Bob Dole agreed Friday that infantile partisanship was weakening the United States' ability to counter terrorism and deal with other national problems.
