discovery institute’s crocodile tears
If Discovery Institute’s Casey Luskin hasn’t set a record for whining about how much he’s abhorred, he should have it firmly in his sights by now. After all, it’s his favorite pastime and he never misses an opportunity to mention how much grief he’s getting for being a creationist in his rants and lengthy e-mails. If he still had the chance, Luskin would also be crying to the media but the press has grown tired of his wannabe martyr act. It seems that he’s enjoying the negative attention and is trying to solicit more hate.
Why else would someone who works for a group that’s a transparent creationist think tank even think of insisting that he’s dedicated to scientific inquiry? The Discovery Institute is founded by wealthy Evangelicals who believe that teaching evolution is the same as preaching atheism and natural selection is a coded justification for doing away with all morality because someone who doesn’t ascribe to their religion must think it’s ok to lie, cheat, steal and kill. It’s impossible to serve both religious zealots and secular science at the same time. Anyone who claims to be objective while stuck between these competing camps, collecting his paychecks from the zealots, can only be described as dishonest.
And really, dishonest is the only word that can describe the Discovery Institute’s tactics during an evolutionary debate. They use pseudoscience, cite long rejected errors and hoaxes as a legitimate history of evolutionary theory’s hunt for fossil evidence and stoop to outright denialism when they can’t just dismiss something they would much rather see vanish from the face of the Earth since it presents an inconvenient hurdle for which they don’t have a prepared talking point. When that fails, they resort to attacking Darwin as if that’s somehow going to change the facts and use all sorts of random, out of context quotes from people with PhDs in every area of science except one that has to do with biology or paleontology.
To the Institute, all scientists are the same. A PhD in Philosophy carries the same weight as a PhD in Biology when discussing a very specific area of expertise. Rather than making sure that their arguments are relevant and have a solid scientific backing, they’re far too busy separating the issue into two camps and creating a you’re-either-with-me-or-against-me grudge match. That’s what passes for civil debate and skeptical inquiry in Luskin’s offices. If you disagree with that, you must be one of those godless evolutionists who mindlessly assault us just out of spite. Cue sad puppy face, stifled sobbing and a well timed crocodile tear.
After demonstrating his dishonesty and contempt for science and education, Luskin goes on to complain that there are thousands of people well versed in biology and able to see through his little rouse who have grown tired of the many inanities he’s thrown around for years by now. Here’s a bit of advice for you Casey. Being a martyr wannabe doesn’t make you right and in your case, being called willfully incompetent or inept isn’t an insult. It’s a diagnosis, one you should do something about.
