Darwin Day Is Fizzling

Certain advocacy sites are busy, but Darwin Day seems to be falling off the radar of major news outlets and journals.

Darwin Day is February 12, the birthday of Charles Darwin. The International Darwin Day website lists a smattering of events around the world, but no results were found for the phrase ‘Darwin Day’ in the usual science news outlets on February 11th. The journals we routinely follow, too, showed no search results. Perhaps the morning of February 12th will show some activity, but it seems surprisingly quiet on Darwin Day Eve.

The website is encouraging adoption of “Darwin Day Resolutions” in governmental bodies. These are not like New Year’s Resolutions, calling on people to evolve or perish, but rather public announcements trying to promote recognition of Darwin.

Now more than ever, governmental support for scientific research is under threat. Thankfully, the Darwin Day resolutions, H. Res. 123 and S. Res. 63, have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for the seventh time since 2011 due to the hard work of the AHA’s lobbying team. We are proud to work again with Representative Jim Himes (D-CT) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to introduce the resolutions, which:

• State that evolution “provides humanity with a logical and intellectually compelling explanation for the diversity of life on Earth”
• Demand that the “advancement of science be protected from those unconcerned with the adverse impacts of global warming and climate change”
• Confirm that the “teaching of creationism in some public schools compromises the scientific and academic integrity of the United States’ education systems”

These resolutions will only pass Congress if we have your help. Can you take a moment right now to ask your Representative and Senators to co-sponsor these important resolutions?

There aren’t any statistics or counters on the page for how many have responded. Somehow this push for more Darwin and less creation seems less pressing than other current events, especially in the USA’s high-energy Presidential election campaign.

The resolution’s association of Darwin Day with climate change seems curious. Maybe it’s because both subjects are matters of intolerant consensus by totalitarians who brook no criticism, but pour contempt and vitriol on anyone doubting the “experts” on the subjects.

The claim that Darwinism “provides humanity with a logical and intellectually compelling explanation for the diversity of life on Earth” can be summed up in two words: “stuff happens.” Some may find that logical, since stuff does happen. Whether it forms an intellectually compelling explanation could be debated. As Dawkins said, it does allow one to be an intellectually fool-filled atheist.

Unexpected Promoters

There are some people strongly using Darwin Day as a media campaign. Surprisingly, they are Darwin skeptics in the Intelligent Design Community.

In prior years, the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture used February 12th to announce the “Censor of the Year,” the world’s most guilty bigot for stifling debate about origins. Winners have included Jerry Coyne, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Wikipedia.

This year, the CSC is taking a positive approach: they are using Darwin Day to launch a new six-part video series called “Secrets of the Cell.” It features Michael Behe, ex-Darwinist and author of Darwin’s Black Box, The Edge of Evolution, and Darwin Devolves. Watch the trailer here. Readers will now have entertaining movies to show for their Darwin Day parties.

In past years, CEH had fun thinking up party games for Darwin Day (example). Seriously, though, creationists and ID supporters should take Darwin Day as a day to remember the horrors and atrocities committed in the name of natural selection and survival of the fittest, something like is done with Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Watch this excellent video about Darwin’s connection to the Holocaust, which features an appearance of one of our contributing authors, Dr Jerry Bergman. He explains clearly the connection between Darwinism and Hitler’s passion to exterminate inferior races. Bergman shares a few ironies along the way, such as the fact that Jews were so similar to Germans in appearance, they had to be identified with patches. Also, Hitler was part Jewish, and so was the young man whose photo was used to identify the ideal Aryan specimen. Whoops.