It is almost sad to see Harun Yahya's group in a petulant way seeking some - any - attention from the Vatican during the Vatican's conference on evolution. While the Vatican has done a fine job of simply ignoring Yahya's antics, Reuters may have fallen a bit in their trap (and I'm reporting on Reuters' reporting - so am I being irresponsible too??). On their blog, Faith World, they reported on the disruption caused by a Yahya affiliate at the conference - and also quoted him in saying that the conference is "anti-democratic". Ha! Now Yahya has posted on his website that "Reuters affirms that the conference in anti-democratic". Hmm...well lets give Yahya a break. We already know the quality of Yahya's Atlas of Creation. So why should we be surprised by this circular logic.
And below is the clip that Reuters posted (note that it was filmed by a Yahya associate). This is quite painful to watch. It is as if an astrologer shows up at an astronomy conference and start making statements in defense of astrology. If the microphone is eventually taken away - then the astrologer claims that it is censorship on the part of astronomers. Here is the clip (but please also see the evolution of Yahya's Atlas of Creation):
What is Irtiqa?
Irtiqa is Salman Hameed's blog. A few years ago (before Facebook killed many of the blogs), it used to track stories of science & religion, especially those related to Muslim societies. That is still one of its foci, but now it dovetails more of Salman's interests including film, astronomy, science fiction, and science outreach in both Pakistan and the US.
Irtiqa literally means evolution in Urdu. But it does not imply only biological evolution. Instead, it is an all encompassing word used for evolution of the universe, biological evolution, and also for biological/human development. While it has created confusion in debates over biological evolution in South Asia, it provides a nice integrative name for this blog. For further information, contact Salman Hameed.
The blog banner is designed by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad. You can find all his creative endeavors at Orangie.
Salman Hameed
Salman is an astronomer and Associate Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Currently, he is working on understanding the rise of creationism in contemporary Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. He is also working with historian Tracy Leavelle at Creighton University to analyze reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He teaches “History and Philosophy of Science & Religion” with philosopher Laura Sizer, and “Science in the Islamic World”, both at Hampshire College. Salman and Laura Sizer are also responsible for the ongoing Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion, and you can find videos of all these lectures below. Contact information here.
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Blog Archive
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2009
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- Philip Kitcher at Hampshire College on Thursday
- Sorting out the mess at Texas school board meeting
- Homo erectus would have done fine in New England w...
- David Attenborough's Charles Darwin and the Tree o...
- Woody Allen on lobster existentialism
- At McGill for Islam & Evolution Symposium
- Mustafa Akyol backing away from ID?
- Push-button executions from the skies
- Read and watch "Watchmen"
- Blaspheming in Philadelphia
- Dennett on babies, chocolate cake, girls, and jokes
- Whales and the Geometry of God
- Tracing the spread of Black Death
- Science & religion on the Daily Show
- Muslim Creationists - not the bottom of the barrel
- Education and Pakistan's drift towards theocracy
- Controversy over Darwin censorship in Turkey
- At Hofstra University for Darwin's Reach conference
- Cheesus!
- "Non-religious" affiliation gains ground in US
- Creating the image of a Muslim astronaut
- Meaning of life as an Agnostic
- Between Fatwas and Polio
- What if God Disappeared?
- Discovery Institute also upset with the Vatican
- Yahya still desperately seeking attention
- BBC Radio program: Islam & Science - part 3
- Vatican conference on evolution
- A more nuanced light on Iran
- Darwin and Einstein in songs
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12 comments:
Salman, there's always a risk of being misinterpreted or overinterpreted when we report something as it happened. Harun Yahya has done both by saying that our reporting affirmed their charge that this conference was anti-democratic. Our correspondent on the spot thought this was an interesting aspect of the conference and posted it. Yes, the video was provided by a Harun Yahya associate. We posted it in full and leave it up to the viewer to say who comes off worse.
Tom - I agree with you. My comment was more directed towards the nature of Harun Yahya's organization and how they misrepresent positions for their own publicity sake rather than on the reporting. (To be fair, he has also used a quote from me - that seem to be flattering towards him. Hmm...what a wonderful "out-of-context" world he has created).
But thanks for letting me know - and looking forward to more coverage of the conference. Are you also covering this conference?
I think, Mr. Salman is trying to advertise for himself as a preacher of evolution ideology from seemingly Muslim background. There are not many staunched Muslim oriented people campaigning for Darwinian ideology ! I don't think, his efforts are directed toward science, rather than focusing Darwinian ideology.
Regarding Pope's conference, Christian authority does not have anything to offer due to over dilution of Christian's fundamental principles. Religious values does not depend on democratic principles. I wont be even surprised to see that Pope's is campaigning for atheism!
”Douglas Futuyma left the platform in the face of truth. Futuyma found the solution in fleeing, just like Richard Dawkins.”
1. why did he left the platform without answering?
2. if he is” a man of science” why didn’t he respond to the questions put forward by creationist?
THE QUESTION WAS PUT FORWARD BY A NEUROSURGEON
THE ANSWER FOR THIS IS ”’HE DOESN’T KNOW THE ANSWER…..HAHAH…….HAHA
PAGAN RELIGION ( DARWINISM) IS UNDER THREAT…HAHAH HAHAHAHAHA ………
PLEASE DO REMEMBER ” THE QUESTION WAS POSED BY A DOCTOR”"
HE LEARNED ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, PATHOLOGY, PHARMACOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY,FORENSIC MEDICINE, OPTHALMOLOGY, ENT, COMMUNITY MEDICINE, GENERAL MEDICINE, SURGERY, OBG, PEDIATRICS…..etc….etc TO BECOME A DOCTOR..
BECAUSE YOU CANNOT GIVE NONSENSE REASON LIKE HE DIDN’T KNOW SCIENCE THAT WHY Douglas Futuyma DID NOT ANSWER”’
'And for Yahya: He should get training in biology, do research, publish papers in peer-reviewed journals, and then he can debate these ideas in journals. That's how science works.''
FIRST OF ALL Mr SALMAN MY QUESTION IS TO YOU...
1. FIRST OF YOU ARE JUST AN ASTRONOMER --WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN POSTING ''EVOLUTION THEORY BASED'' ARTICLE?
2. HAVE YOU LEARNED BIOLOGY?
3. IF YOU CAN POST WRITINGS ON EVOLUTION THEORY THEN WHY CANT Mr. HARUN YAHYA PUBLISH ' ATLAS OF CREATION' BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST AN ASTRONOMER.
8:54 AM
DAWKIN WILL NEVER EVER DEBATE WITH HARUN YAHYA BECAUSE HE IS NOT 'INTELLECTUALLY FIT ' TO DEBATE.
Mr DAWKIN IS 'ADAPTING' HIMSELF NOT TO DEBATE WITH HARUN YAHYA AND NOW ONWARDS HE WILL NOT DEBATE WITH ANY OF THE CREATIONIST. HE WILL ONLY DEBATE WITH L.K.G, U.K.G STUDENTS AND WITH PRIESTS.
NOW DAWKIN IS LIKE ''MUTATED'' GENE
GOOD FOR NOTHING...IF HE CAN WRITE MANY BOOKS ON EVOLUTION WHY CANT HE DEBATE HARUN YAHYA?
'If Dawkins debates Yahya then this is all the publicity that Yahya needs - remember its not Dawkins who is seeking legitimacy here. This is an old creationist trop''
Mr. SALMAN
WHAT YOU MENTIONED ABOVE YOUR ''TRAP'' TO JUSTIFY DAWKINS DENIAL IN DEBATING WITH HARUN YAHYA....
Mr DAWKIN IS NOT A ''MAN OF SCIENCE'' HE IS A '' MAN OF IDEOLOGY'' AND HIS IDEOLOGY IS ATHIESM..
''There is a big difference between scientific debates and public debates. Scientific debates take place in peer-reviewed journals.''
1. WHAT ARE THOSE ''BIG DIFFERENCE''?
2. WHO SAID SCIENTIFIC DEBATES ONLY TAKES PLACE IN ''PEER-REVIEWED'' JOURNALS?
3. WHY ARE TRYING TO DECEIVE YOURSELF JUST FOR THE ''SAKE OF JUSTIFYING' DAWKIN?
Harun Yahya (also known as Adnan Oktar) can't debate with Richard Dawkins as, Oktar is in jail at the moment for blackmail and other crimes. Oktar doesn't have any understanding of evolution, so Dawkins would wipe the floor with him.
"PAGAN RELIGION ( DARWINISM) IS UNDER THREAT…HAHAH HAHAHAHAHA ………"
Jamshed ,the caps lock king, misses the point entirely. Evolutionary theory isn't called Darwinism any more. Since Darwin died there has been much more scientific development and new technology has enabled us to analyze DNA. Religion does not have any way of analyzing its superstitions of supernatural entities. There is no evidence of gods being anything but imaginary. But there is plenty of evidence for evolution.
Jamshed gets it all upside down. Islamic, Christian and Jewish creationists are all afraid that their unsubstantiated fairytales will be shown to be untrue.
JAMSHED MOIDU cut and pasted....
DAWKIN WILL NEVER EVER DEBATE WITH HARUN YAHYA BECAUSE HE IS NOT 'INTELLECTUALLY FIT ' TO DEBATE.
You have that inverted Jamshed.
Adnan oktar is illiterate when it comes to science. And dawkins doesn't debate know nothing creationists.Heres why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhmsDGanyes&feature=related
But if Adnan Oktar wants to read what Dawkins really thinks of him he can read The Greatest Show on Earth. You'll have to translate for Oktar, as your cult leader can't read english.
Robert Lenski.
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