Evolutionary Quote Mining and Creationist Straw Men

A review of Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters by Donald R. Prothero
Columbia University Press, New York, 2007
reviewed by John Woodmorappe

Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters
This book is so jam-packed with information (and disinformation!) that it would take a separate book to address it. Predictably, Prothero dismisses rejection of evolution as the product of the fear of loss of God, morality, and human uniqueness. This ignores those (myself included) who once reconciled their religion with belief in evolution, but eventually came to realize that the scientific evidence doesn’t require acceptance of evolution. He considers creationism claustrophobic (p. 358). Having found it a fascinating intellectual adventure, I couldn’t disagree more.

We hear the usual mantra about most religious leaders accepting evolution. This ignores the fact that it is much easier to conform to the pressures of modern thinking than to be out of step with them, and that this is especially true in our age of spineless political and religious leaders. Also, his fellow misotheists Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne  have nothing but contempt for such spinelessness.