Adnan Oktar is a Turkish writer who uses the pen name Harun Yahya. He has become internationally famous as an Islamic critic of Darwinian evolution who denounces Darwinism as unscientific and atheistic in its denial of Allah as the Creator of everything.
Denyse O'Leary is a writer who promotes "intelligent design theory" at Bill Dembski's website--"Uncommon Descent." She has posted an interview with Oktar. She identifies him as a "Turkish Darwin doubter," and she praises one of his books as "the most succinct and comprehensive of the critiques of overblown claims for Darwinian evolution that I have ever read."
This might seem strange to anyone who knows that Oktar is a vehement critic not only of Darwinism but also of intelligent design theory. He exposes intelligent design theory, particularly as developed by Michael Behe, as a product of a Masonic conspiracy for promoting atheism and Deism.
This is a consequence of the deceptive rhetorical strategy employed by the proponents of intelligent design theory. On the one hand, they need to appeal to religious believers by conveying the message that the "intellient designer" is you know who. On the other hand, they insist that their reasoning is purely scientific and therefore not religious at all. But Behe pushes the scientific argument so hard that he ends up denying that Biblical theology has any scientific basis. I have written about that here and here. It is not surprising, therefore, that a Muslim creationist like Oktar denounces Behe and other intelligent design proponents. But then O'Leary shows the confusion in all of this by praising Oktar as a "Darwin doubter" who should be on the side of intelligent design!
There are complications in the story of Oktar that I won't take up here, because I don't know enough to judge his case. Some of the charges against him include the claim that he has led a cult whose members regularly have sex with girls under the age of 18. But they claim that this is permissible under Islamic law because they do not have "real sexual intercourse" but only "anal and oral sex."
It's good that these folks haven't been corrupted by Darwinian materialism!
Oktar's website can be found here.
"The Left has traditionally assumed that human nature is so malleable, so perfectible, that it can be shaped in almost any direction."
ReplyDeleteWhap whap whap! Pound on that strawman.
I have been following “Expelled” antics for over a year, and am amazed that I missed the Behe “expulsion.” Unfortunately I think I know why I missed it, aside from not reading your blog as often as I’d like. In the rush to dismiss all “kinds” of anti-evolution activists as “creationists” (thus allowing IDers to bait-and-switch different definitions of the C-word), most critics downplay the hopeless disagreements under the “big tent” regarding “what happened when in life’s history” that can and must be used to our advantage. As you probably know, in “Only a Theory” Ken Miller warned that ID has been successful at uniting anti-evolutionists (YECs, OECs, IDers) and dividing “evolutionists.” The last thing we need is fellow critics helping IDers prop up the big tent. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteFrank J,
ReplyDeleteYes, you've made a good point. By playing down the differences between Intelligent Design reasoning and Biblical Creationism, the defenders of evolutionary science have actually supported the "big tent" rhetorical strategy of the Discovery Institute.
onein6billion,
ReplyDelete"As long as I breathe, I shall fight for the future, that radiant future in which man, strong and beautiful, will become master of the drifting stream of his history, and will direct it towards the boundless horizon of beauty, joy, and happiness."
--Leon Trotsky
"Democracy must stand or fall on a platform of possible human perfectibility."
--Herbert Croly
"In the more distant future, it is not only possible but necessary for society to enter the Kingdom of Freedom."
--Michael Harrington
"There are those who look at things as they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
--Robert Kennedy
Are these all straw men?
Wait... WAIT! "For one thing, Darwinism is a pagan religion whose roots go back to the Sumerians and Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians also believed that life emerged spontaneously from the muddy waters of the Nile. The theory of evolution is a superstitious belief that has been around ever since and that is not supported by a shred of scientific evidence."
ReplyDeleteSo... the fact that this more closely relates to (and obviously was the source of) the Genesis story of Adam being created from the soil doesn't even occur to these buffoons? This guy's even crazier than most of them!