On May 26, 2009 Reverend Barry Lynn offered his characterization of infidels who refuse to venerate Darwinius. His tirade (supported by Eugenie Scott) can be found here: Show #1415 Eugenie Scott, Susan Russell.
Some excerpts:
Reverend Barry Lynn :
The more new evidence that develops the more some people dig in to their erroneous earlier beliefs
…..
I am still flabbergasted by the notion that no matter what you show some people and say…”this why I believe what I believe” some people say, “nope not enough”….….the religious right is already saying….”it [Ida (Darwinius)] could be a fake”
What’s wrong with people that they can’t look at evidence and say, “Ok, I didn’t see it before I’m going to re-evaluate based on what I do see.”
But then, less than a month later, reporter Denyse O’Leary pointed us to a Scientific American article:
And in an elaborate public-relations campaign, in which the release of a Web site, a book and a documentary on the History Channel were timed to coincide with the publication of the scientific paper describing her in PLoS ONE, Ida’s significance was described in no uncertain terms as the missing link between us humans and our primate kin. In news reports, team members called her “the eighth wonder of the world,” “the Holy Grail,” and “a Rosetta Stone.”
The orchestration paid off, as Ida graced the front page of countless newspapers and made appearances on the morning (and evening) news programs. Gossip outlets, such as People and Gawker, took note of her, too. And Google incorporated her image into its logo on the main search page for a day.
And in an elaborate public-relations campaign, in which the release of a Web site, a book and a documentary on the History Channel were timed to coincide with the publication of the scientific paper describing her in PLoS ONE, Ida’s significance was described in no uncertain terms as the missing link between us humans and our primate kin. In news reports, team members called her “the eighth wonder of the world,” “the Holy Grail,” and “a Rosetta Stone.”But a number of outside experts have criticized these claims. Not only is Ida too old to reveal anything about the evolution of humans in particular (the earliest putative human ancestors are a mere seven million years old), but she may not even be particularly closely related to the so-called anthropoid branch of the primate family tree that includes monkeys, apes and us.
So Reverend Lynn was criticizing the skepticism of those who refused to venerate Ida. He insinuated that those who were skeptical of Darwinism were closed minded and had no basis for skepticism of Ida. What does Lynn have to say now? Is anyone aware of a retraction or apology for his smear on those skeptical of Ida?
Let me remind Reverend Lynn of his own words:
What’s wrong with people that they can’t look at evidence and say, “Ok, I didn’t see it before I’m going to re-evaluate based on what I do see.”
Reverend Lynn’s guest on this show was Eugenie Scott. Genie speculated on the large financial interest that certain organizations have in perpetuating the myths and untruths of Darwinius.
Eugenie Scott:
This is a wonderful wonderful fossil….it [Ida (Darwinius)] is a wonderful transitional fossil ……
My hypothesis about the secrecy…had to do with the payment…the asking price was a lot of money…I suspect that it was the company that ended up making the book, making the movie, selling the showing rights to ABC and the history channel…I suspect that the money came from the media…..
Reverend Barry Lynn:
We’re gonna explore…this persistent fear by people from people don’t like evolution. They don’t believe in anything. They don’t include…like Ida.…we’re talking this first half of the program about the new discovery of a 47-million-year-old skeleton….kind of a branch of the chain that breaks out into lemurs and other varmints and then that branch in the evolutionary ladder, tree or whatever you want to call, that branches out to humans….
Eugenie Scott:
I am looking much more Neanderthal since I had this job…
A real problem that anybody has is when you let your ideologies override the evidence….
Did your irony meter explode like mine did?
NOTE:
To set the record straight, I probably think more highly of Genie and the NCSE than most. She seems like a nice person for the most part (except for her treatment of Sternberg). I think she is mistaken on many issues, but I certainly would not go so far as to say what one teacher in Minnesota said of her organization:
“The NCSE is lying.”
–PZ Myers