Creationists can't get any support for their ideas in scientific circles, which is why most of their efforts are directed at public relations and garnering political support. People with no understanding of science come out to defend creationism because they buy into the clever marketing tactics. Fortunately, there ways to detect this occurring.

PZ Myers uses an editorial from Bob Beckel to illustrate some of the signs that a person criticizing evolution or promoting Intelligent Design has bought into creationist nonsense:

ID is not a “scientific alternative”. There is no science to it! In good science teaching, our goal is to explain how we’ve reached our conclusions; this can’t be done for ID. There is no foundation of observation and experiment to support their claim of design.

We don’t teach “Darwinism”! It’s a giveaway that you’re dealing with a creationist when they start prattling away about “Darwinism”.

“overwhelming consensus of the scientific community”…doesn’t that say something to you? Shouldn’t you ask yourself, “Who am I, Bob Beckelis, liberal Democratic strategist of whom no one has ever heard, to argue about biology with professional biologists?”

Anyone who says “scientists have yet to prove the theory conclusively” as an argument against any theory has just demonstrated their stupidity conclusively. We ought to just smack ‘em down hard and tell them to shut up until they learn some grade-school science. No theory is ever proven.

“Only they will define science.” Who is “they”? Why, they are scientists. This is somehow objectionable, that the people who do something professionally are in some way the least capable of explaining what they do; we’re supposed to get that from political pundits and plumbers, apparently.

Myers has a lot more to say about Beckel’s editorial, but suffice it to say that Beckel has no idea what he is talking about, is completely ignorant of the science involved, and doesn’t seem to care the least little bit. Most intelligent people care about whether they understand an issue before promoting a particular opinion about it, but I guess Beckel isn’t such a person.

At the very least, he can serve as a bad example. Myers is able to identify several standard ideas which creationists repeat ad nauseam, thus providing a some key signs that will tell you when you are dealing with a person who doesn’t know what they are talking about and who has bought into creationist disinformation hook, line, and sinker.

 

Read More:

• Evolution vs. Creationism
• Science vs. Religion
• What is Intelligent Design?
• What is Science?