I seem to have hit a nerve with the pop quiz on evolution I posted earlier this week, so here’s another fun tidbit on evolution:

This article exemplifies so much of what is wrong with public discourse about science. PZ Myers has posted a nice jumping-off point for those interested in more detailed information about the facts of the case, but the gist is that the Kansas Board of Education has called hearings over whether to adopt new science standards that would require the teaching of alternative theories to evolution.

I’m not writing this to address the details of the “debate” over evolutionary theory, but rather to examine the language used by the author in her coverage of the Kansas hearings. Specifically, I have a major problem with the author’s insistence on referring to evolutionary theory as “Darwinism.” Effectively she’s creating a straw man by resting evolutionary theory entirely on the shoulders of our long dead friend Charles Darwin rather than giving it its proper credence as one of the most developed fields of modern biology.

I don’t think this is malicious intent on the part of the author, but rather a remarkable success on the part of denialists. They are managing to twist the popular rhetoric to make the debate about a person who can easily be defamed rather than a theory that is supported by scientific evidence and will require additional actual evidence to alter or deny.