Washblog

In Turkey, fertile ground for creationism (Washington Post 11/08/09):

The Discovery Institute … sent speakers to Turkey after being invited by the Istanbul municipal government in 2007. President Bruce Chapman said the institute helped bring Turkish evolution critic Mustafa Akyol to a 2005 Kansas school board hearing …

David Berlinski confirmed this alliance during an interview on CBC, reported here. Bruce Chapman took exception to this report, but was refuted.

I can't say this emphatically enough: This alliance exhibits extremely poor judgment.

Islam's Darwin problem (Boston Globe 10/09/09):

Critics of the movement fear that this makes it more likely that creationism will find its way into policies there, especially when the theory of evolution is portrayed among Muslim thinkers, as it often is, as an instrument of Western intellectual hegemony.

…

For many Muslims, the fact that the theory of evolution was worked out in the West makes it even more suspect: Islamic creationists will often describe evolution as something foreign and invasive, even as a legacy of colonialism.

Fanning the flames of anti-American sentiments with attacks on reason is irresponsible. That "creationism" is just a political wedge strategy meant to trick people into supporting a pro-corporate agenda makes the whole affair rather tragic.

Ironically, Chapman made his mark criticizing Republicans for their extremism in the book The Party That Lost Its Head. I wonder what changed.