Topic: WorldNetDaily
Joseph Farah used his June 29 WorldNetDaily column to defend Rep. Michele Bachmann from criticism over her appearance in a Coral Ridge Ministries-produced video on socialism claiming that "the envy-inflamed ideas of Marx and others are at war with the family, the church, and with God and His Word." Farah, unsurprisingly, insists that such a claim is "undeniably and provably true."
But Farah's really upset that a news article criticized another Coral Ridge video trying to link Charles Darwin to the Holocaust by noting it was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League:
The Anti-Defamation League diminishes itself for blasting it. It is 100 percent true and well-documented. It is an established fact that the Nazi genocide was firmly based on Darwinism. If you have any doubts, just see the fascinating documentary for yourself. But, keep in mind, Bachmann had nothing to do with it! She is a part of a different documentary critiquing socialism.
Well, not quite. As we detailed in 2006, the basic premise of the video -- that Darwin's theory of evolution directly led to the Holocaust -- falsely conflates evolution with social Darwinism, the survival-of-the-fittest concept that existed long before Darwin.
Further, Coral Ridge reportedly misled at least one scientist interviewed for the video claiming that he was interviewed about a book he wrote and was not told he would appear in a Darwin-bashing video. Afther the scientist raised concerns about how he was being portrayed, Coral Ridge reportedly removed him from later editions of the video.
WND also studiously ignored criticism of the video from its fellow right-wingers. For example, a writer at the Alan Keyes-linked Renew America apologized for promoting it, pointing out that Coral Ridge pastor D. James Kennedy's statement "No Darwin, No Hitler" is "not a true statement."
WND was a huge promoter of the video and whitewashed the controversy about Coral Ridge's ethics. WND's promotion just happened to coincide with Coral Ridge's promotion of WND managing editor David Kupelian's WND-published book "The Marketing of Evil," featuring it on its televised services, airing an interview with Kupelian, and giving away copies of a "special paperback edition" of the book to Coral Ridge donors.
Oh, and to put the utterly craven cherry on top of this, WND sells both Coral Ridge videos, links for which are scattered throughout Farah's column.
