Thursday, July 19, 2007

Behe disowned

Actually, not.

Disowned: internet definitions - Any connection is denied. To refuse to acknowledge or accept as one's own; repudiate.

This is what the Lehigh Department of Biological Sciences has said, in response to Michael Behe's work.
The faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences is committed to the highest standards of scientific integrity and academic function. This commitment carries with it unwavering support for academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas. It also demands the utmost respect for the scientific method, integrity in the conduct of research, and recognition that the validity of any scientific model comes only as a result of rational hypothesis testing, sound experimentation, and findings that can be replicated by others.

The department faculty, then, are unequivocal in their support of evolutionary theory, which has its roots in the seminal work of Charles Darwin and has been supported by findings accumulated over 140 years. The sole dissenter from this position, Prof. Michael Behe, is a well-known proponent of "intelligent design." While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific.
Has Behe been "disowned"? No. His position on Intelligent Design has been disowned. So Dawkins (who worded it that way first), NCSE (which picked up his review) and all the bloggers that have followed them are all really going beyond what Lehigh have said.

And thus falls into place another misleading darwinist myth ....