IN the Washington Post we read Creationism finds fertile ground in Turkey.
The article begins with the account of a biology teacher in Turkey who has been accused of atheism because she teaches evolution. Here are some excerpts, with bold added by us:
What especially disturbed — and amused — the veteran professor was that the arguments for creationism presented by some of the students came directly from the country where she was educated in the biological sciences years before — the United States. Translated and adapted for a Muslim society, the “proofs” offered that Darwinism and evolution were wrong came directly from American proponents of Christian creationism and its less overtly religious offshoot, intelligent design.
It’s a source of pride to know that the US leads the world in creationism, and is exporting this belief to less enlightened countries. Let’s read on:
While creationism and intelligent design appear to be in some retreat in the United States, they have blossomed within Muslim Turkey. With direct and indirect help from American foes of evolution, similarly-minded Turks have aggressively made the case that Charles Darwin’s theory is scientifically wrong and is the underlying source of most of the world’s conflicts because it excludes God from human affairs.
Wow! The Turks are really becoming Westernized. Or is it that the West is becoming so unhinged that we’re sinking to the level of the rest of the world? We continue:
“Darwin is the worst Fascist there has ever been, and the worst racist history has ever witnessed,” writes Harun Yahya, the most assertive and best-known critic of evolution in Turkey, and long a favorite of more conservative American creationists.
It must delight American creationists to know that their “science” is spreading. Here’s more:
… Turkey, which is officially secular, appears to be joining its neighbors on evolution. A recent survey, quoted in a 2008 article in the American journal Science, found that fewer than 25 percent of Turks accepted evolution as an explanation of how modern life came to be — by far the lowest percentage of any developed nation.
[...]
To many Turkish scientists and educators, this is a worrisome development. The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was an advocate of science, education and, some say, even evolution. Turkish science has been especially strong in the Muslim world. If Turks close their minds to evolutionary thinking, advocates say, it won’t be long before religion and politics shut off other scientific pursuits.
How do American creationists react to this news? The Post says:
To John Morris, president of the Institute for Creation Research in Dallas, however, the news could hardly be more encouraging. “Why I’m so interested in seeing creationism succeed in Turkey is that evolution is an evil concept that has done such damage to society,” said Morris, a Christian who has led several searches for Noah’s Ark in eastern Turkey. Members of his group have addressed Turkish conferences numerous times.
No comment. Here’s more:
The Discovery Institute of Seattle, which researches and promotes intelligent design as an alternative to both creationism and evolution, also sent speakers to Turkey after being invited by the Istanbul municipal government in 2007. President Bruce Chapman said the institute earlier helped bring Turkish evolution critic Mustafa Akyol to the 2005 Kansas school board hearing on teaching critiques of evolution.
Ah yes, the Kansas evolution hearings. That was one of the Discoveroids’ most notable accomplishments.
The Washington Post article is a long one. We’ll give you one last excerpt:
The Islamic-oriented government [of Turkey], elected in 2002 and reelected in 2007, has telegraphed its views on evolution by adding doses of creationism to a required public school course on “Religion and Morals,” proponents of evolution say. Earlier this year, the editor of one of the nation’s prominent science journals, Science and Technology, was fired by government officials after her magazine planned to put Darwin on its cover.
Does anyone doubt that this is exactly how American creationists will behave if they get the chance?
Copyright © 2009. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
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5 responses so far ↓
386sx // 8-November-2009 at 3:19 am
Ah yes, the Kansas evolution hearings. That was one of the Discoveroids’ most notable accomplishments.
Yeah they seem to be pretty good at getting creationists voted out of office. Keep up the good work I guess. Napoleon wishes he had such Waterloos. Whenever you hear “Waterloo” from those guys, you just know another batch of creationists are on they way out somewhere somehow.
comradebillyboy // 8-November-2009 at 11:13 am
The Turks are no worse than Texans when it comes to creationism. And the Turkish government clearly states that Turkey is a secular nation not a nation founded on Islam. Unlike some parts of the good ole’ US of A Turkey has been moving towards enlightenment values since the Kemalist revolution after WW 1.
Gabriel Hanna // 8-November-2009 at 12:10 pm
“Napoleon wishes he had such Waterloos. ”
That’s really good.
“Unlike some parts of the good ole’ US of A Turkey has been moving towards enlightenment values since the Kemalist revolution after WW 1.”
It’s a top-down movement, not bottom-up, and their Army has the constitutional obligation to overthrow insufficiently secular governments. That is not something I should wish to import here.
comradebillyboy // 8-November-2009 at 4:29 pm
“It’s a top-down movement, not bottom-up, and their Army has the constitutional obligation to overthrow insufficiently secular governments. That is not something I should wish to import here.”
True, but the army has kept them secular and relatively progressive compared to any other country with a moslem majority and the army has always yielded political power back to civilians.
Albanaeon // 9-November-2009 at 12:35 pm
Turkey, and the Middle East in general, has always been the perfect example of why we have to fight the fundamentalists at all opportunities and not give them any victories. Considering that Islam fundies pretty much dragged the area into the dark ages and kept it their and any progress made needs to be defended with arms, its not hard to see what would happen if we get “taken back to Jesus.”