Creationism Conference at Michigan State University Stirs Unease

sciencehabit writes "A creationist conference set for a major research campus — Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing — is creating unease among some of the school's students and faculty, which includes several prominent evolutionary biologists. The event, called the Origins Summit, is sponsored by Creation Summit, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit Christian group that believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible and was founded to "challenge evolution and all such theories predicated on chance." The one-day conference will include eight workshops, according the event's website, including discussion of how evolutionary theory influenced Adolf Hitler's worldview, why "the Big Bang is fake," and why "natural selection is NOT evolution." News of the event caught MSU's scientific community largely by surprise. Creation Summit secured a room at the university's business school through a student religious group, but the student group did not learn about the details of the program—or the sometimes provocative talk titles — until later.

Comments

Re:Why at a place of learning?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm all for it if it comes with a free bucket of tomatoes for the spectators.

Ah yes, there is that famed tolerance of those that disagree.

Re:So they got their reservation using deception?

[SillyHamster]

At some point, it's not "silencing a dissenting view", it's refusing to waste time and lend credibility to idiots.

I'm sure that'll provide comfort to you if you're ever silenced because the silencer thinks you're an idiot.

Do you think laws and rules should not protect people you sufficiently dislike? Have you considered any possible downsides to that?