The cracks begin to widen | The Design Revolution
Tide of opinion rises in UK and across the world Less than half of the UK public believe evolution can explain life without the intervention of God, according to a BBC survey. A UK-wide Ipsos Mori poll for the BBC in January 2006 found that, despite more than a century of indoctrination in evolution, only 48% accept that evolution could happen without God. In addition, 22% said they believed in creationism and 17% in ID – remarkable for such a new theory – which taken together means that 39% of the public think that life was designed. Atheist evolutionist Prof Richard Dawkins’ response was to insult the intelligence of the UK public: “If somebody professes disbelief in evolution, it is highly probable that they know nothing about it. These ignorant people would probably welcome enlightenment.” The survey also showed that 41% of the UK public believe Intelligent Design should be taught as part of science education. Although current government guidelines suggest Intelligent Design should be debated in RE lessons, not science lessons, this policy is coming under increasing pressure. In December 2006, twelve senior academics wrote to the Prime Minister and Education Secretary in support of Truth in Science, an organisation promoting the teaching of
roots’, said, “… there has been one rule that evolutionary biologists thought they could cling to: the amount of complexity in the living world has always been on the increase. Now even that is in doubt… recent findings suggest that
Intelligent Design in school science lessons. The group included no less a figure than Norman Nevin OBE, Professor Emeritus of Medical Genetics at Queen’s University of Belfast. Professor Nevin has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications on genetics, and received his OBE for services to gene therapy. The group of academics also included
so choose, you ensure an open and honest approach to this subject under the National Curriculum.” The other signatories were: David Back, Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Liverpool; Steve Fuller, Professor of Sociology at Warwick University; Mart de Groot, Director, Retired, Armagh Astronomical Observatory; Terry Hamblin,
A sea change is taking place in the study of origins Antony Flew, former Professor of Philosophy at Reading University. “We write to applaud the Truth in Science initiative,” the letter said. Empirical science has “severe limitations concerning origins” and Darwinism is not necessarily “the best scientific model to fit the data that we observe”. They concluded: “We ask therefore that, where schools
Professor of Immunohaematology, University of Southampton; Colin Reeves, Professor of Operational Research at Coventry University and John Walton, Professor of Chemistry, St Andrews University, as well as three University Professors who are members of the Truth in Science Board and Council. In June 2007, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)
some of our very early ancestors were far more sophisticated than we have given them credit for.” This is a significant admission, because one of the main arguments against evolution is that complex creatures appear very early in the fossil
“Classical phylogeny has been built on rotten foundations, and tinkering with it will not put it right.”
considered provision for ID theory as part of a review of the science course curriculum (Scottish Sunday Herald, 17th June). In the same month, the Church of England’s head of education, Jan Ainsworth, suggested that schools should teach ID in science lessons. Meanwhile, ID’s international spread is hitting the headlines. The Economist confirmed that “the debate over creation and evolution is fast going global”. After debating whether or not the Pope supported ID, it stated, “Not that the advocates of Intelligent Design or outright creationists are in need of anyone’s endorsement… their ideas are flourishing and their numbers growing” (19th April 2007). Over 700 scientists have now signed a ‘Dissent from Darwinism’ statement launched by the Discovery Institute in America in 2001. The list of signatories includes members of the National Academies of Science in Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary, India (Hindustan), Nigeria, Poland and the United States. Many on the list are professors or researchers at major universities and international research institutions such as Cambridge University, Moscow State University, Chitose Institute of Science & Technology in Japan, BenGurion University in Israel, MIT, The Smithsonian and Princeton.
record, fully formed, with no apparent primitive ancestors. It is as if they were created out of thin air. While evolutionists have always allowed for some losses of genetic complexity and anatomical structures
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