Posted: 01/08/08

Darwinists Strike Back

Sean McDowell

For those who doubt the determination of many Darwinists to completely do away with intelligent design (and really, any movement that questions the stronghold of Darwinian evolution), it is worth checking out the response at Amazon.com to the release of the new book by William Dembski and Jonathan Wells entitled The Design of Life (TDOL). For those of you who have been following the development of intelligent design (ID), the critical response to its release should come as no surprise. The stories of ID-supporting professors being denied tenure and other name-smearing campaigns are all too well known (See, for example, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design or www.discovery.org).

In just the first few weeks of its release, Darwinists mobilized over 1,000 people to post negative reviews, negative comments, and low scores for The Design of Life. The intent is clear: use any means in your disposal to undermine the book and its message. If you think I am being too strong, check out the responses yourself. You will find comments such as:

• "The reader will find no signs of intelligence in either biological systems or the author while reading this waste of what could have been fine toilet paper."

• "Do yourself a favor and skip this sorry waste of precious wood fiber."

• "It took about 3 hours to read... and what a waste of time. I would pick several holes in the argument but many others have beaten me to it. So I will spare myself the trouble and do my bit to help you save some time by writing this review. I have NEVER thrown out a book before, but this book will find the bin on the same day that I got it. I won't even bother recycling it."

Clearly, some of these people haven't even read the book much less weighed the evidence fairly. They are content in doing whatever it takes to undermine its legitimacy. Efforts like these must not go unanswered. If you are reading this article, then you are obviously concerned about the issue of design. We need to mobilize an effective, yet fair response to this campaign. Will you get a copy of TDOL and write a quick response on Amazon.com? It's tempting to try and mobilize people simply to vote positively and reverse the trend, but this would be dishonest. Rather, we need to write informed responses to the book, and more importantly, learn the information to become better informed ourselves.

This is not just any intelligent design book. By far, it's the most compelling, well-written, and up-to-date book on the subject. On the back of the book Michael Behe says, "When future intellectual historians list the books that toppled Darwin's theory, The Design of Life will be at the top." It is a must-read for believers and non-believers alike.

Ironically, the efforts of Darwinists to undermine TDOL have backfired. TDOL has been the #1 seller for its category on Amazon.com through the holidays! The negative press has actually worked in its favor.

By Sean McDowell Click here for bio and archived articles