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AR 22:6 - "Antiscience" creationists invade Europe
In this issue:
ISLAM - holding out hope for "faith in humanity's ultimate goodness"
ORIGINS - "an antiscience movement once limited mostly to the U.S. is gaining ground on the eastern side of the Atlantic"
Apologia Report 22:6 (1,326)
February 9, 2017
ISLAM
Letters to a Young Muslim, by Omar Saif Ghobash [1] and The Atheist Muslim: A Journey From Religion to Reason, by Ali A. Rizvi [2] -- reviewed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: intriguingly significant, as much for the sports-celeb reviewer's commentary as it is for its analysis.
"In 1786, when the United States needed protection from North African pirates who were stealing ships and enslaving crews, it signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which stated that 'the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion...."
After noting that "tolerance is not the same as encouragement," Abdul-Jabbar suggests that the two books being reviewed here "may help us return to those glory days when Americans weren't so frightened and could see the world as more Us Verses Them. ...
"Ghobash's Letters to a Young Muslim follows the literary tradition of a family elder passing down insights to a younger generation, specifically in this case, his two teenage sons, as well as other young Muslim women and men. ...
"Ghobash is not an apologist for Islam because there is no need. He argues that reason and religion can coexist because we are meant to use our intelligence to reject manipulative and myopic interpretations of the scriptures. In essence, he is suggesting a compromise between blind faith and nibbling on the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. There are certain heavenly ordained teachings, but followers must be ever-vigilant that these not be perverted by people with personal or political ambitions. ...
"The most difficult subject for non-Muslims to understand is how peaceful Muslims can exist simultaneously with Muslim terrorists. This is the same problem Catholics, Protestants and Jews have had to grapple with throughout the centuries as adherents of each of those religions used violence to further some aim. ...
"It may seem a little early to have to think about these things, but there is a lot of power and influence at stake. And power tempts." He warns the reader not to underestimate the influence of the small minority of extremists among the 70 percent of Muslims who are illiterate and the 100 million Arabs between the ages of 15 and 29 - 28 percent of whom are unemployed.
"In the end, Ghobash encourages the reader to accept a modern, enlightened path that embraces diversity, not just within Islam but among all religions: 'If you begin to accept the individual diversity of your fellow Muslims, you are likely to do the same for those of other faiths as well.' It is this sort of wisdom that creates hope for a world in which people are smart enough to work together toward a common good rather than claw at one another while slowly sinking in quicksand. ...
"The American minister and author Norman Vincent Peale allegedly said, 'The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.' ... Most of Rizvi's general arguments against religion are familiar.... However, his open personality and earnestness make this book so compelling that Rizvi may well become the Dawkins or Hitchens for the millennial generation. ...
"Faith is the belief in something for which there is no conclusive evidence. To demand concrete proof of God's existence contradicts the very notion of faith, which requires a person to examine their interior world rather than anything on the outside. But faith does not preclude logic. Choosing to demonstrate faith in humanity's ultimate goodness, despite all the evidence to the contrary, allows us to embrace certain religious teachings. But it does not relieve us of the responsibility of choosing which teachings express that faith and dismissing those that do not. Both authors would agree to that. And that should give us all hope." New York Times Book Review, Jan 15 '17, pBR10-11. <www.goo.gl/jly190>
On his Facebook page, Abdul-Jabbar calls these two books "must reads for anyone who wants to understand being Muslim." <www.goo.gl/GyFMzA>
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ORIGINS
"Creationism in Europe" by Stefaan Blancke -- the subtitle reads: "Creationism is not an exclusively North American phenomenon. In Europe, creationism is also finding a foothold, drawing the attention of European scholars." Midway through the first page Blancke blandly states his purpose thus: "I thought it would be a good idea to bundle everything we know about the recent history of creationism in Europe."
Blancke reports that "polls over the past three decades have invariably shown that creationism is immensely popular in the United States. Between 40 and 50 percent of the American population endorses the belief that God created the Earth (and life on it) more or less as it is today. The rest accept the fact of evolution, but the large majority believes that God has guided the process. Only 10 to 15 percent accept the scientific, naturalistic account of evolution. If we compare these numbers with the few figures that we have on Europe, it becomes immediately clear how exceptional the American situation really is.
"In some Northern and Western European countries, such as Iceland, Denmark, and France, the acceptance rate of human evolution is higher than 70, sometimes even 80, percent. In Eastern European countries the acceptance rate is much lower, but it is still at least ten percentage points higher than in the United States. The only exception is Turkey, where no more than 30 percent of the public accepts evolution. ...
"We have joined forces with [science historian and former Seventh-Day Adventist] Ronald Numbers <www.goo.gl/R7hWEh> and invited experts from various countries to contribute. These efforts resulted in a recently published edited volume with the Johns Hopkins University Press: Creationism in Europe [3]." Blancke discusses various definitions of creationism in the remainder of his article here. Skeptical Inquirer, Jan/Feb '17, pp48-51. [4]
Blancke contributed an earlier piece on the subject for SI which we noted in 2009 - and just below that item we included a review of a tangentially related article by Ron Numbers <www.goo.gl/XyHrON>.
Writing for Scientific American (with Peter C. Kjærgaard, Oct 1 '16) in a piece titled "Creationism Invades Europe" Blancke's subtitle ominously announces that "An antiscience movement once limited mostly to the U.S. is gaining ground on the eastern side of the Atlantic." However, "in Europe creationism does not represent a united community; it varies strongly from one country to the next. In some countries creationism provides an identity to smaller local religious communities, and has little impact. ... And in some places creationism exists among religious elites that have considerable political power. ...
"For years, although creationists were growing in number in European countries and gradually developing an influence in schools and local communities, they mostly kept under the radar and were not a major concern. Not until, at least, about a decade ago, when the Council of Europe issued a warning against the growth of creationism and the potential threat to the educational system it posed. ...
"Some investigative journalists tried to make sense of what was happening and figure out who these creationists were. Most, they found, were just reiterating the old science versus religion theme.... Unaware of all the tricks developed by American creationists, however, European journalists far too often jumped to the standard 'balanced perspective,' looking at the case from both sides. News coverage and background stories treated the differences between science and religion as a matter of personal preference. Where there were none, the media helped creationists turn it into a debate and into the public sphere. ...
"Few in the scientific community saw this coming. In some countries creationists had larger budgets available for antievolutionary activities in the Darwin year [2009] than science organizations had to promote science and evolution. Many of the campaigns were well produced, clever and had an impact. Despite the fact that European nations are generally among those with the highest public acceptance rates of evolutionary theory....
"We have learned that confronting creationism is not a scientific matter but rather a political one. To engage creationism it does not suffice to line up all the evidence and arguments in support of evolutionary theory. Instead, scientists have to get out and operate on all platforms where creationists are active. This includes giving public lectures, writing op-eds and articles in popular magazines, weeklies and newspapers as well as discussing the issue in television and radio broadcasts, developing and maintaining Web sites on evolution, and via exhibitions.
"When creationism finds its way into the educational system, European scientists do not just comment in the newspapers. They organize and rally support for counteractions. ...
"Although creationists seem here to stay - including in Europe - they do not constitute the main threat to understanding evolution. We have learned a surprising lesson about how people think from dealing with the rise of creationism in Europe. Even if people claim to accept evolution, they tend to interpret evolutionary processes in intuitive but scientifically incorrect ways. Evolution as a topic is often treated marginally or even neglected in schools across Europe. Ironically, being forced to consider antievolutionists operating in Europe, we now know that we need to do more to make people understand what we know about the fundamental processes of life on Earth." <www.goo.gl/RXKllo>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Letters to a Young Muslim, by Omar Saif Ghobash (Picador, 2017, hardcover, 272 pages) <www.goo.gl/aCSUIC>
2 - The Atheist Muslim: A Journey From Religion to Reason, by Ali A. Rizvi (St. Martin's, 2016, hardcover, 256 pages) <www.goo.gl/qNLHmN>
3 - Creationism in Europe, by Stefaan Blancke and Hans Henrik Hjermitslev (Johns Hopkins Univ Prs, 2014, hardcover, 296 pages) <www.goo.gl/KVgbGl>
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SOURCES: Periodicals
4 - Skeptical Inquirer (anti-supernaturalist), <www.csicop.org/si>
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