Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Red State Rabble's Great American Quote Mine Contest
Yesterday, we posted a link to a New York Times story by Douglas H. Erwin that reported "there are growing calls among some evolutionary biologists" to revise what has come to be called the modern synthesis of Darwin's theory of evolution.
Erwin notes that "none of these concerns provide a scintilla of hope for creationists," nevertheless, we predicted this story would provide fertile soil for creationist and intelligent design quote mining.
One reader, Gerry L. suggested, "Maybe we should beat them to the punch (read: mock them) and start pulling out bits and pieces from the NYT collection to show how it's done."
That's a great idea.
So, here's the challenge for Red State Rabble readers: Take the text of Erwin's article, "Darwin Still Rules, but Some Biologists Dream of a Paradigm Shift," rip parts of it out of context in creative, amusing, and outrageous ways. Distort the clearly stated intentions of the scientists cited beyond recognition. Connect widely spaced and generally unrelated parts of the story so as to make up sentences that seem to support creationist notions. In short, have your way with the text.
Then e-mail your clever little quote mine to Red State Rabble -- you can find my e-mail address in the sidebar under contact -- and I'll post the wittiest and most ingenious.
Best yet, there are prizes for the top four entries. Each of RSR's favorite entries will win one of the Red State Rabble mouse pads shown below:
If the prizes aren't incentive enough, remember this: You don't want to be bested by the posts that are bound to show up over the next couple of days at Discovery's Evolution News and Views or William Dembski's Uncommon Descent. You can be sure the Casey Luskins, Michael Egnors and DaveScots of the world are pouring over the NYT article and eyeing each other like Humphey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Walter Huston after they found the treasure of Sierra Madre.
Erwin notes that "none of these concerns provide a scintilla of hope for creationists," nevertheless, we predicted this story would provide fertile soil for creationist and intelligent design quote mining.
One reader, Gerry L. suggested, "Maybe we should beat them to the punch (read: mock them) and start pulling out bits and pieces from the NYT collection to show how it's done."
That's a great idea.
So, here's the challenge for Red State Rabble readers: Take the text of Erwin's article, "Darwin Still Rules, but Some Biologists Dream of a Paradigm Shift," rip parts of it out of context in creative, amusing, and outrageous ways. Distort the clearly stated intentions of the scientists cited beyond recognition. Connect widely spaced and generally unrelated parts of the story so as to make up sentences that seem to support creationist notions. In short, have your way with the text.
Then e-mail your clever little quote mine to Red State Rabble -- you can find my e-mail address in the sidebar under contact -- and I'll post the wittiest and most ingenious.
Best yet, there are prizes for the top four entries. Each of RSR's favorite entries will win one of the Red State Rabble mouse pads shown below:
If the prizes aren't incentive enough, remember this: You don't want to be bested by the posts that are bound to show up over the next couple of days at Discovery's Evolution News and Views or William Dembski's Uncommon Descent. You can be sure the Casey Luskins, Michael Egnors and DaveScots of the world are pouring over the NYT article and eyeing each other like Humphey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Walter Huston after they found the treasure of Sierra Madre.
