Re: Wiki edit for the Phillip Johnson page

On 2024-08-04 18:25:54 +0000, RonO said:

The Phillip Johnson wiki page has been edited and the quote from the Berkeley Science Review where he admitted that there was no theory of intelligent design has been removed.

This was done on 18th June at 23.31 (one of many edits he did that day) by an editor whose user name is GuardianH. Many of his edits are quite sensible so I wonder if this was just a mistake. Anyway, I have written to him asking him to explain. I'll let you know if anything useful emerges.

 This is the WayBack link that works:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070609131601/http://sciencereview.berkeley.edu/articles.php?issue=10&article=evolution   QUOTE:
I also don’t think that there is really a theory of intelligent design
at the present time to propose as a comparable alternative to the
Darwinian theory, which is, whatever errors it might contain, a fully
worked out scheme. There is no intelligent design theory that’s
comparable. Working out a positive theory is the job of the scientific
people that we have affiliated with the movement. Some of them are quite
convinced that it’s doable, but that’s for them to prove…No product is
ready for competition in the educational world.
END QUOTE:
 Johnson made the admission in 2006 after the Dover fiasco.  The ID perps tried to run the bait and switch on the Dover creationist rubes, but the ID perp responsible for making sure that the bait and switch went down dropped the ball, and did not follow up after telling the Dover rubes not to teach intelligent design, but they should try the obfuscation and denial switch scam instead.  The Dover rubes did not take his advice and tried to teach the junk anyways.  Phillip Johnson had, had the bait and switch run on him the first time in 2002 in Ohio.  Both He and then senator Santorum were all for getting ID taught in the Ohio public schools, but Meyer, Wells and a few others decided to start running the bait and switch instead of giving the rubes any ID science to teach (Wells included the decision to start running the bait and switch in his report on the Ohio fiasco).  The bait and switch went down on every group of creationist rubes that wanted to teach the scam junk for the next 3 years, but Johnson still came forward and supported teaching the ID scam junk in Dover.  He sat in the court room every day of testimony, and after that experience gave the Berkeley Science Review interview.
 The quote has been removed from the wiki artlcle for some reason.  It isn't controversial.  Johnson never claimed otherwise.  After publication I think that the Panda's Thumb was the first discussion group to put up the Johnson admission, and as far as I know Johnson never changed his mind.
 Ron Okimoto

--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly in England until 1987.