{"id":984,"date":"2009-02-26T06:55:05","date_gmt":"2009-02-26T14:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=984"},"modified":"2009-04-23T05:17:32","modified_gmt":"2009-04-23T13:17:32","slug":"evolution-questioned-in-europe-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/doctrine\/evolution-questioned-in-europe-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Evolution Questioned in Europe & Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

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COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

In the movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”, Ben Stein interviewed various scientists who explained that many academic institutions are so unscientific that they will hurt the careers of serious scientists who write papers demonstrating that that the “theory of evolution” (it is actually a model\/proposed explanation, not a true theory), as commonly understood, cannot be correct.<\/p>\n

Some in Europe and Russia are questioning evolution, while others insist upon it.<\/p>\n

Notice the following news item:<\/p>\n

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European Creationists Take On Darwin<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
The US isn’t the only place with heated debates about Darwin’s theory of evolution: Europe has its own hardcore creationists and intelligent design backers, too. Increasingly, they are making their voices heard.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
Spiegel <\/strong>– Feb 25, 2009…<\/span><\/div>\n
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Fundamentalist Christians who believe in creationism — which holds that God created the world and humanity in the manner described in the Bible — reject the principle of evolution and are striking back. They are pushing for the use of school texts that vilify the theory of evolution as a mere ideology. They have sued to have the theory of intelligent design — a water-down version of creationism — taught in biology courses at the same time as evolution, as both an equally valid scientific theory and alternative to evolution… <\/span><\/p>\n

James Williams, a lecturer in science education at the University of Sussex…has studied the influence that creationists have had in the United Kingdom. And it is big: According to a survey conducted in 2006, the majority of British have their doubts about evolution, and 40 percent want creationism taught in biology classes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists agree that the overwhelming mass of evidence supports the theory of evolution. “No serious scientist questions the theory of evolution,” says Ralf Sommer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of T\u00fcbingen. “The only thing being discussed is the mechanisms of evolution, and that is a rather animated field of study.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The guerrilla tactics used against evolution continue to be the same: Evolution’s opponents try to discredit Darwin’s broader theory by looking for gaps and narrower scientific issues that remain answered.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Williams sees it, the fact that evolution is such a basic principle and lively field of scientific inquiry makes it a natural place to find so many open questions. But that’s no reason to cast doubt on the theory of evolution as a whole. “Even though no physicist has been able to explain why objects have mass,” Williams adds, “no one questions the theory of gravity.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Intelligent design and creationism, on the other hand, are not scientific theories because they aren’t falsifiable: They postulate the existence of a deity, a divine creation and guided evolution — all things that can never be empirically proved or disproved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not Just Americans<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This type of reasoning hasn’t stopped people from doubting the theory of evolution. In Germany, 20 percent of the population doesn’t believe in the theory; in the US, it’s closer to one-third. <\/span><\/p>\n

For many years, people have viewed creationism as a purely American phenomenon. The fact is, however, that there are also creationist currents in Europe, too, and an anti-evolution movement that is even less homogenous than the one in the US. On one side, you can find the creationists, who are splintered into groups of hard-line “Young Earth” creationists and supporters of intelligent design. On the other side, you find the churches, who have not taken a definitive stance on the issue. <\/span><\/p>\n

In June 2007, the Council of Europe’s Committee on Culture, Science and Education released <\/span>a report entitled “The Dangers of Creationism in Education.”<\/span> According to Anne Brasseur, a member of the council who collaborated on the report, its goal was to firmly anchor the theory of evolution in school curricula. <\/span><\/p>\n

The report was prompted by resistance to teaching Darwin’s theory in some European countries. “For example,” Brasseur explains, “the former deputy education minister of Poland called the theory of evolution a lie.” <\/span><\/p>\n

She went on to list a number of other negative examples:<\/span><\/div>\n