Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Flirting With the Truth
Now, James Dobson's Focus on the Family is getting involved in the dispute over the Smithsonian screening of the intelligent design film, "The Privileged Planet."
An article in "Family News in Focus" by Josh Montez reports on the controversy. Rob Crowther, the director of communications at the Discovery Institute, tells Montez that he believes "pressure from evolutionists that convinced the Smithsonian to withdraw support." Then -- and this will surprise no one -- Crowther plays a little fast and loose with the truth:
The film doesn't deal with evolution, but that's not what the objections were about. It's an intelligent design film that attempts to inject pseudoscience into a new arena -- physics and cosmology -- where it doesn't belong any more than it does in a high school biology classroom.
And notice how Crowther finesses intelligent design into a sort of "fine-tuning" of the universe.
The Focus on the Family article concludes with a none to subtle threat from Jason Lisle, who is described in the article as an astrophysicist who works at Answers in Genesis."
Red State Rabble has absolutely no problem with born-again Christians (or anybody else, for that matter) watching any film they want, in fact, we will defend their right to do so, as long as they do it in their own church. We don't see why taxpayer dollars should support the peculiar religious views of a few at the expense of many. And, we don't see why biblical literalists demand a stamp of approval from science -- we thought that was the reason they're called "believers."
An article in "Family News in Focus" by Josh Montez reports on the controversy. Rob Crowther, the director of communications at the Discovery Institute, tells Montez that he believes "pressure from evolutionists that convinced the Smithsonian to withdraw support." Then -- and this will surprise no one -- Crowther plays a little fast and loose with the truth:
"The 'Privileged Planet' deals with cosmology, physics, astronomy—sort of the fine-tuning of the universe," he said. "It does not deal in any way with Darwinian evolution or biological evolution."
The film doesn't deal with evolution, but that's not what the objections were about. It's an intelligent design film that attempts to inject pseudoscience into a new arena -- physics and cosmology -- where it doesn't belong any more than it does in a high school biology classroom.
And notice how Crowther finesses intelligent design into a sort of "fine-tuning" of the universe.
The Focus on the Family article concludes with a none to subtle threat from Jason Lisle, who is described in the article as an astrophysicist who works at Answers in Genesis."
"Institutions like this are going to respond to the complaints of people,"
he said. "Therefore I think we Christians need to make a case that we would like
to see films that challenge atheistic ideas."
Red State Rabble has absolutely no problem with born-again Christians (or anybody else, for that matter) watching any film they want, in fact, we will defend their right to do so, as long as they do it in their own church. We don't see why taxpayer dollars should support the peculiar religious views of a few at the expense of many. And, we don't see why biblical literalists demand a stamp of approval from science -- we thought that was the reason they're called "believers."
