Creationist activity in the Netherlands

An interesting issue indeed. I have found quite a few links to relevant pages and intend to discuss them in more detail in a later contribution. Suffices to say that ID is not getting a ‘warm reception’ in the Netherlands, not even from the CDA (Christian Democrats) and the VVD (Liberal party (Dutch conservatives)).

A dutch biologist stated

De minister laat haar ambtenaren een debat organiseren over een wetenschappelijke theorie waar ze geen expertise over heeft, op basis van een gesprek met iemand die dat ook niet heeft. Als de privé persoon Van der Hoeven behoefte heeft aan een gesprek over de schepper, dan kan ze een gespreksgroepje zoeken, de minister moet toezien op kwaliteit en verder liever niets.

The minister is having her staff organize a debate about a scientific theory in which she lacks any expertise, based on a conversation with someone who similarly lacks such an experience. If the private person van der Hoeven has the urge to have a discussion about the creator, then she has all the opportunity to join a support group, the minister should be responsible of quality, and preferably nothing else.

Some good websites which show what is wrong with Intelligent Design include

Gert Korthof’s Was Darwin Wrong? Exploring the theory of evolution, its extensions, problems, and alternatives and Skepsis

Thank God the dutch are as pragmatic as ever. Quick to recognize that van der Hoeven’s position would turn back the clock half a century or more.

Openness always has its hazards. One should not let fear govern policies however, just because a few may screw up. It’s this openness which also led various politicians make remarks which were taken to be offensive by some. It is regrettable, and indeed quite novel for the Netherlands, that words can become lethal. However political violence is nothing new to the netherlands, although in general the violence has excluded violence against humans and focused on torching gas stations or supermarkets for their support of South Africa. Most homicides in the Netherlands are related to the ‘underworld’, involving power struggles and pay offs. Pim Fortuyn was one of the first victims of this changing mentality, followed by the murder of a movie maker (van Gogh) and the threats against their lifes of some politicians. Despite all this, the dutch are as pragmatic as ever, rejecting what is obvious to all a religious attempt to introduce poor science into the educational system. The netherlands educational system is quite ‘unique’ in that it allows religious schools to be state funded as long as they offer non religious alternatives to their students as well.