Creationism Again
Ten or twenty years ago, prominent overseas creationists once toured in a blaze of publicity. They spoke in public schools and received plenty of air time on National Radio and prime time TV. Some of us were out there fighting, and we felt we won most of the major battles.
David Riddell (NZ Skeptic, Spring) quotes Carl Wieland on the “unproductive” American approach. Quite so, they lost, but the new efforts do not look the same league. It is true that they are doing well in “home school” circles, but years ago we faced a full attack in the public school system. There are still battles to be fought but the situation looks, at least to me, a lot brighter than is being suggested.
Most discussions of creationism focus on the American sibling organisations, Creation Science Foundation and the Institute For Creation Research, or their Australian offshoots. This is not surprising because these organisations have attempted to subvert the American constitution and introduce fundamentalist Christian teaching in schools. They have been very successful in having only a castrated form of biology taught in American schools and ensuring that only a minority of US citizens believe that organic evolution has occurred.
However, I believe that worldwide, these organisations have been of only limited importance and the creationist message has been carried by a much more powerful and very much wealthier body. Years ago, when I was involved in science teaching and combating creationism, the majority of the information used by our opponents came from the World Wide Church Of God, either its radio stations, or the magazine Plain Truth.
Nearly every year there was a major article attacking evolution and these were then usually reprinted as an A4 size booklet. Thus a huge proportion of the creationist literature originated from Plain Truth. Most biologists concerned with countering creationism seemed to assume that their main enemy was the Creation Science Foundation, but this organisation had little money. It was Plain Truth and the church’s radio broadcasts, backed by an enormous income, that reached millions. By comparison, the people left in the field have only peanuts. Creationism is still alive and well but the major driving force behind it is dead and gone. The war is bound to continue for many years but let us not be pessimistic, we are on the winning side.
On other matters: three cheers for Neil McKenzie, that is the kind of medicine we need. But I feel uneasy when you print clippings like “Sex with aliens erotic, says star”. This is the kind of material invented by journalists and I think we should be skeptical about whether the lady said anything on this topic.
Jim Ring
Did You Hear the One About…
Dear Editor,
What would happen to a homeopathic patient who took a massive underdose?
Clive Trotman
