WHEN WE wrote this article about WorldNetDaily‘s grotesque exploitation of a young man’s death, Suicide Blamed on Biology Class and Dawkins’ Book, we hoped we’d never have to visit the subject again.
But the shamelessness of creationists is a bottomless pit, and even if you think you’ve sampled the worst from its depths, you’re wrong, because there’s no limit to how deep it goes. Thus, we should have foreseen that the neo-theocrats at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (a/k/a the Discoveroids) would soon be jumping on board the hearse for a free ride to proclaim the evils of evolution.
Foreseeable or not, it’s happened, and the Discoveroids have given the matter a peculiar twist, one which only they could have accomplished: The Story of Jesse Kilgore and the Consequences of Teaching One Side of Evolution
See there? Just from the title you can determine where this is going. Jesse was taught only taught one side, and now look what’s happened!
The entire creationist enterprise is a wretched business, but this latest maneuver is every bit as sickening — as ghoulish — as the behavior of those who used the terrorist attacks on 9/11 to proclaim that the death and descruction were divine retribution because of ____ (fill in the sin of your choice). There were people like this during the Black Death, thrilled to see another corpse-cart going by, so they could use it as a prop while they preached to the dwindling crowd.
Fortunately, most of the Discoveroid message is in the form of a podcast, to which we won’t listen. But here’s some of what they’ve written at the link we provided:
… the story of Jesse Kilgore, a college student whose loss of faith and subsequent suicide has been linked to his biology class and Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion.
Has been linked? Has been linked? Yes, the “linkage” is in the putrid imaginings of the “journalists” at WorldNetDaily, about whom we wrote before.
Continuing:
After his professor challenged him to read the anti-theistic book and rule out the possibility of God’s existence in light of the evidence for evolution, Jesse experienced a crisis of faith.
We understand that Dawkins’ book has sold very well. According to Wikipedia, The God Delusion:
As of November 2007, the English version of The God Delusion had sold over 1.5 million copies and had been translated to 31 other languages. It was ranked #2 on the Amazon.com bestsellers’ list in November 2006. In early December 2006, it reached #4 in the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best Seller list after nine weeks on the list. It remained on the list for 51 weeks until 30 September 2007
The bodies must be dropping all over the place. Anyway, we’ve pretty much quoted all of what the Discoveroids say, except for whatever is in their podcast.
But wait! This is the conclusion of the Discoveroid article:
To paraphrase Clarence Darrow, why should this boy’s life be bound up with Richard Dawkins, that British crusader against religion? I don’t know. I only know it is.
How very touching. What a classy bunch they are.
Copyright © 2008. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
The Sensuous Curmudgeon 
You hit the nail square on the head. Since they cannot refute the book thru science and logic they must resort to these petty games.
Sad.
Rades? Is that you, Rades?
Did I just see Rades dance by?
I think we are going to see a lot more of this type of crap. The assault on the evidence behind the ToE is not going well for them because their arguments are simply too easy to refute, so they’re heading back to the roots of their purpose. They don’t want their kids to be in contact with this stuff because it goes against their acquired morals. I say acquired because apparently they have no morals of their own and have to have them shoved down their throats by a bunch of sheep herders with no knowledge beyond their sheep.
It’s always been all about morals and the one way trip to a glorious afterlife they fear they do not deserve. Oh, and the fact they are authoritarian [fools].
That pretty much sums up their attitude towards knowledge doesn’t it?
Yes, Tundra Boy, that was Rades. A milestone for my humble blog.
Well, tell him to get his butt back here.
I thought he spelled rabies wrong.
MF said: “I thought he spelled rabies wrong.”
You mean Rades? No. It’s Rades.
Grrr… This makes me so angry.
Stacy, why would Rades visiting make you angry?
Oh, you meant the wankers. Gotcha.
Well, it must be true. If Dawkins (and biology and books and reading) didn’t lead to suicide, would it have made Conservapedia?
“How very touching. “
And who do you think gave you that emotion, Darwin?
“What a classy bunch they are. “
You don’t seem to realize that without any absolute standard for classy bunches, you only have relative standards, which is the same as no standards at all.
Ahhhh. That’s better.
Good of you to straighten me out, MO.
Sometimes it’s good to let out one’s inner fundy (like Rev Right’s blog).
The sad part of this is that these people will never admit their own culpability in having this young man’s faith built on a house of cards to begin with. Since their “faith” has to be “scientific,” it manages to be neither, and when its shattered it leaves them with nothing.