Of the 25 most influential atheists featured at a student homework help site, it’s curious how many are best known or widely known for pushing Darwinism.
(I’m sure Larry Krauss, at #11, is as solid a brass-footed fish as you could hope for. But he is best known for preaching the end of all things, including science, so he’s not in tonight’s lineup.)
How about, instead:
#1 Richard Dawkins (“Darwin’s Rottweiler”, ‘nuff said)
#4 Daniel Dennett (winner of Darwin look-alike contest) and the Darwinist education award: “If you insist on teaching your children falsehoods- that the earth is flat, that “Man” is not a product of evolution by natural selection-then you must expect, at the very least, that those of us who have freedom of speech will feel free to describe your teachings as the spreading of falsehoods, and will attempt to demonstrate this to your children at our earliest opportunity.”)*
#7 Michael Shermer (skeptical of everything except Darwinism, I gather, but as Dennett would assure him, Darwin answers all needs)
#12 Edwin O. Wilson, prophet of Social Darwinism, oops, make that sociobiology, no wait, “evolutionary psychology”is the new brand name. To see the reason for continual rebranding, see #4 above.
Note: Wilson apparently describes himself as a provisional deist. I’d call it “true agnostic”, but see the combox below for a discussion of terms.
#13 P. Z. Myers, who finds time from his busy agenda teaching and researching at a Minnesota university to trash ID – also to rant, blaspheme, get tossed out of family friendly movie screenings, and desecrate Eucharists. (I’m told he’s good to kids and cats, but the cat who said so is not trustworthy.)
#19 Barbara Forrest has forged an academic career out of opposing the design of life. It’s okay, all right? Some people have made a career out of 9-11 truthing or “Oswald didn’t act alone.” Look, she probably gets better benefits. But, apart from ID, who would ever have heard of Barbara Forrest?
Note: Some vigorously dispute Forrest’s influence. See combox below.
#20 David Sloan Wilson, who “argues for the pervasiveness of selection in the evolutionary process. In consequence, he sees religion itself as an adaptation that can motivate humans to cooperate and behave altruistically.” Okay, presumably, if he forsook atheism and joined a traditional religion, volunteering and donations would head south? Well, for sure, nobody these days would want to convert the guy; too busy, too many hungry mouths to feed.
# 22 Will Provine made clear that most of today’s evolutionary biologists are pure naturalists – no God and no free will.
And they will all promote their religion through the school system, enforced by courts, never short of a standby chorus of Christian Darwinists wittering on behalf of a Jesus whom Darwin could explain.
And, by the way, when Evolution Sunday rolls around in 2011, all Christian Darwinists should pause to reflect on how much their faith owes to these people. (I mention this because I am knee-deep in these blessed dimes of Darwin, for some project I am stuck with.)
* It feels offensive, hearing someone like this arrogate to himself some role in free speech. I have toiled undeservedly alongside heroes of free speech, like Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant. Dennett is at least more honest than the Islamic fascists; he makes clear that his version of free speech means forcing his views on your children.