Topic: WorldNetDaily
As demonstrated by its anti-college magazine issue, WorldNetDaily isn't all that big on book-learnin' (all the better to keep its readers ignorant enough to believe birther conspiracies, one must presume). WND takes that anti-intellectualism to the next level with a black-is-white approach so bizarre that it portrays people who believe in science as anti-science.
In a March 31 column, Tom Flannery rants that there is a "left-wing war on science" taking place, citing as his first exhibit ... evolution.
There is the leftist pseudo-science of evolution and a universe which was the product of a massive unsupervised explosion – yet, ironically it would seem, somehow produced a whole world filled with beauty, order and complexity. When was the last time any explosion, even a controlled one, did that?
For the longest time, they told us there never was a creation event as described in Genesis 1:1, because the universe always existed. Furthermore, they insisted that the universe was the result of this unguided explosion and other random events, which occurred entirely by chance. Then it was conclusively proven that the universe did have a beginning and that there are at least dozens of equations governing the universe which, if any single one of them were altered in the slightest, would make Earth uninhabitable.
So it turned out that the opening declaration of Genesis, “In the beginning …” was an accurate scientific statement after all. Not only that, but the characteristics of our intelligently designed universe revealed the awesome handiwork of an infinite mind (as opposed to the complete chaos we should find in the aftermath of random events arising by pure chance). That means the second part of this verse is true as well: “God created the heavens and the earth.”
As far as evolution is concerned, the fossil record has been a bust, the transitional fossils Darwin’s theory demanded have never been found and the “simple cell” Darwin described – before man had the ability to actually look inside the cell – turned out to be complex beyond anything he could have ever comprehended or imagined.
Never mind, of course, that evolution has been copiously documented by science, or that evolution is not necessarily linked to the creation of the universe, or that it's entirely logical to believe in both God and evolution.
Nevertheless, Flannery continues:
Then there is the leftist pseudo-science of embryonic stem cell research. In their never-ending mission to destroy human life, liberals have demanded the destruction of human embryos for research purposes, predicting that this research would lead to cures for myriad diseases. To this day, they continue to willfully distort the truth by lumping all questions surrounding the topic under the singular heading of “stem cell research,” when they know quite well that there are two separate issues at stake here. The first is adult stem cell research, which is fully supported by pro-life advocates and other conservatives because it does not require the destruction of life and has been shown to have significant medical benefits, and the other is embryonic stem cell research, which the controversy is all about since it does destroy life and has shown zero potential for medical use.
Flannery ignores the fact that adult stem cell research has been going on a lot longer than embryonic stem cell research. It's disingenuous for Flannery to claim that embryonic research "has shown zero potential for medical use" because research is ongoing. That's why you do research, dude.
Flannery goes on to rant about "the leftist pseudo-science of global warming," "the leftist pseudo-science of abortion" and "the leftist pseudo-science of birth control and green energy."
Flannery appears not to understand what the word "pseudo-science" means. Just because you are opposed to scientific claims for political reasons -- and that's the ultimate gist of Flannery's ignorant rant -- does not mean that the documented science behind it does not exist.
Flannery's WND bio states that he "has won two $10,000 awards for opinion writing." Perhaps those organizations that gave him those awards should demand their money back in the wake of this stunningly ignorant tirade.
