Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Valentine Pontifex · 09-30-2002, 05:27 PM

Answers in Genesis has done it again. They have quoted someone flagrantly out-of-context in <a href="http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/0930religion.asp" target="_blank">today's article</a>.

Quote:

Michael Ruse, professor of history and philosophy and author of The Darwinian Revolution (1979), Darwinism Defended (1982), and Taking Darwin Seriously (1986), acknowledges that evolution is religious:

�Evolution is promoted by its practitioners as more than mere science. Evolution is promulgated as an ideology, a secular religion�a full-fledged alternative to Christianity, with meaning and morality. I am an ardent evolutionist and an ex-Christian, but I must admit in this one complaint. . . the literalists [i.e., creationists] are absolutely right. Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today.�4

Ruse didn�t always espouse the religious foundation of evolution....

I found the entire text of the article online. This is a case where reading the paragraph is not enough but rather one must read all the way to the end. <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=3925d620.0%40209.128.1.3" target="_blank">Click here to read what Ruse wrote in its entirety</a>. Hey that user looks familiar. :-)

I suppose that if Ruse had said that Bill Gates had made money into a religion that AiG would say that economics was a religion. ;-)

[ September 30, 2002: Message edited by: Valentine Pontifex ]</p>

Valentine Pontifex · 10-02-2002, 01:51 AM

I was sure that the NCSE had dealt with this before and sure enough by going through my back issues of RNCSE I found an article on misquotes that addressed the Ruse quote. It gave a URL for letter to the editor which Ruse had complained about similiar misuse of his article.

<a href="http://www.pratttribune.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2000/September/6-512-news7.txt" target="_blank">Click here.</a>

Dr.GH · 10-02-2002, 10:46 AM

Thanks for the links. I enjoyed reading both items by Ruse.

I was not sure were to index them in my bookmarks file; finally opting for Philosophy:Science:and Religion. But they could have gone into Evo/Creto:Misquotes, and false attributions, where you have also contributed to my small store of knowledge.

Reading AiG is generally a painful experience. It struck me that much of the early part of linked 'article' was paraphrased from Ruse, particularly as regards the material on Huxley.

GH

[ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: Dr.GH ]</p>

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10-02-2002, 01:51 AM	#2
Valentine Pontifex Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy Posts: 3,092	I was sure that the NCSE had dealt with this before and sure enough by going through my back issues of RNCSE I found an article on misquotes that addressed the Ruse quote. It gave a URL for letter to the editor which Ruse had complained about similiar misuse of his article. <a href="http://www.pratttribune.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2000/September/6-512-news7.txt" target="_blank">Click here.</a>

10-02-2002, 10:46 AM	#3
Dr.GH Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Dana Point, Ca, USA Posts: 2,115	Thanks for the links. I enjoyed reading both items by Ruse. I was not sure were to index them in my bookmarks file; finally opting for Philosophy:Science:and Religion. But they could have gone into Evo/Creto:Misquotes, and false attributions, where you have also contributed to my small store of knowledge. Reading AiG is generally a painful experience. It struck me that much of the early part of linked 'article' was paraphrased from Ruse, particularly as regards the material on Huxley. GH [ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: Dr.GH ]</p>

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