Sunday, May 29, 2011

#216: David Klinghoffer

Klinghoffer, who has a bachelor’s degree from Brown, is a Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute (and author, for instance of the interestingly titled “How Would God Vote?: Why the Bible Commands You to Be a Conservative”), staunch proponent of Intelligent Design creationism, a frequent contributor to National Review, and former columnist for The Forward. Klinghoffer is the major peddler of creationism among orthodox Jews.

He has argued, famously, that if convergent evolution were true, then evolution would have led to Cthulhu. Literally. Since “Darwinists love him [Lovecraft]” (“Darwinists” are here supposed to be people like Ken Miller). More here. He has also been adamant that Darwin is to blame for the Columbine killings and several other incidents (and for Hitler, of course) – Klinghoffer is a standard Discovery Institute revisionist, in other words. A more original one is his attempt to blame Ted Haggard’s moral failings on Darwin.

He seems to have a strange view on the Holocaust.

Klinghoffer was the receiving end of Dr. Nicholas Gotelli’s famous response to invitations to debate creationists.

And for his truly insipid take on the Texas science standards (with Charles Garner), enjoy this one.

Diagnosis: Another shrill idiot who subordinates truth, evidence and reason to ideology, and in the most dishonest manner imaginable. As a part of that center of ignorance, the Discovery Institute, he has some influence, and he is certainly productive.

5 comments:

  1. Klinghoffer has an uncanny ability to latch onto fully unrelated news stories to quickly spew out a rant connecting said news story to how evolutionary theory (which he doesn't understand) must, I say must!, be false.

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  2. Here is Klinghoffer killing off some irony meters. Again.

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  3. Klinghoffer takes the moral highground. How civil of him, and how well informed he is.

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  4. Klinghoffer isn't exactly sparing with his stupidity. A few more recent examples:

    Here he tries to argue that ... well, he calls the NCSE a “leading science-denial group.”

    Here he asks a stupid question.

    Here he tries to argue that mathematics is a frontier for Jesus (or, more explicitly, Intelligent Design).

    Here is a report on Guillermo Gonzalez and the Ball State brouhaha.

    Here he launches his attack on the rebooted Cosmos series.

    Enjoy.

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