Creationism
Creationism (or "creation science") is the belief that the variety of life on Earth is not the result of evolution, but instead is the result of special creation by a supernatural being. The main goal of creationists is to either bar or dilute the teaching of evolution in public schools or if that is not possible to require that "creation science" also be taught. Some creationists also promote the concept of a theistic science. There are several varieties of creationism, but two of them predominate. "Young Earth Creationists" believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible, including a recent origin of the Earth and that Noah's flood is responsible for most of the fossil record. The YECs dominated the early attempts to require the teaching of "creation science" in public schools. In recent years the "Intelligent Design" creationists have been replacing the YECs as the dominant group. ID is really the return of an old idea, that design in nature is evidence for a designer. IDs are usually vague about the nature of the designer, but it it is clear to outside observers that they mean a supernatural being who used supernatural powers. While the debate is often portrayed as a struggle between creationism and evolution, many people embrace a position somewhere in the middle. Some believe that God established the laws of nature, and then stood back and let nature take its course. Others believe that evolution has been directed by God, or that while plants and lower animals evolved humans are the product of special creation.
Creationisms is actually anti-evolutionism; the evidence "for creationism" is actually evidence that supposedly disproves evolution. As such it is the most popular type of denialism or pseudo-skepticism. Because creationism is promoted as the only alternative to evolution, if evolution is somehow "defeated" then creationism wins by default. (This is a false dichotomy, there are other explanations for the origin of life.) It is also the area that has generated the most literature; since denialists of every stripe tend to use the same techniques (see Shermer page , Norton) this makes the literature very useful for studying the methods of deception. Popular methods used by creationists are faulty science, appeals to authority, ad hominem arguments, quote mining, committing evidence, and scape-goating.
References
Jim Norton, Letter to the editor, The Skeptic, Vol. 5 #3.
Michael Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Times. W. H. Freeman and Company, 1997.
Additional reading
Far too much has been written on the creation/evolution debate for me to keep up with, this is a sample of some of the best.
NEW The Panda's Thumb is a new blog dedicated to criticising Intelegent Design creationism
NEW Robert Todd Carroll reports on the government's promoting of Intelligent Design creationism.
NEW In Advances in Deception Carl Zimmer notes that a leading creationist group attempts to promote itself as the middle ground between extremists.
Talk.origins, named after the newsgroup of the same name, has the largest collection of material online, including a long list of links to sites on both sides of the debate, a collection of FAQs, and a list of books.
National Center for Science Education defends the teaching of evolution in public schools.
The Skeptic News: The "What's New" Page for Skeptics often carries items about the activities of creationists.
Skeptical periodicals like The Skeptic and the Skeptical Inquirer often carry items about creationism.
Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism, by Philip Kitcher, The MIT Press, 1982. An excellent debunking of "creation science"
Science and Creationism, edited by Ashley Montagu, Oxford University Press, 1984. A collection of essays by leading scientists and thinkers..
The Monkey Business: A scientist Looks at Creationism, by Niles Eldredge, Washington Square Press, 1982. The first book I read on the debate.
The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism, by Ronald L. Numbers, University of California Press, 1992. A scholarly history of creationism.
Darwinism Comes to America, by Ronald L. Numbers, Harvard University Press, 1998. A shorter and less scholarly history of creationism.
Defending Evolution in the Classroom: A guide to the Creation/Evolution Controversy, by Brian J. Alters and Sandra M. Alters, Jones and Barlett Publishers, 2001. A guide for school teachers, but also useful for others.
Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism, Robert T. Pennock, The MIT Press, 1999. A very critical lokk at Intelligent Design creationism.
Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate, by Tim M. Berra, Stanford University Press, 1990. Another look at the debate.
Mere Creation: Science, Faith & Intelligent Design, Edited by William A. Dembski, InterVarsity Press, 1998. A collection of essays promoting Intelligent Design creationism.
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, by Michael J. Behe, Simon & Schuster, 1996. Claims that some biochemical processes cannot be explained by evolution.
Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution is Wrong, By Jonathon Wells, Regenery Publishing, Inc., 2000, Claims that much of what is taught about evolution is wrong. The Icons of Antievolution site has rebuttals to the book's arguments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Jim Norton
Visit my anti-environmental myths home page.
Visit my practical skepticism page
The text on these pages may be freely copied, distributed and posted as long as my name, this statement and the URL (http://info-pollution.com/creationism.htm) are included.