In a rather underhanded moved designed to further the appeal of religious faith over scientific theory, a group of born again Christians have been marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' by distributing versions of the book that contain a new 50-page introduction favouring creationism.
...it\'s a roller coaster ride, eh? Image: kevindooley/Flickr.
The adjusted anniversary edition of Darwin's book, which was first published in 1859 and played a pivotal role in the theory of natural selection and evolution, received its new introduction from the pen of evangelical minister and TV host Ray Comfort, who is presently promoting the 'Origin into Schools' campaign around the United States.
Independent campus publication Student Life of Washington University, St. Louis, reports that around 1,000 copies of Darwin's sullied work were passed into the community outside its gates, without any form of notice regarding the addition of Ray Comfort's slanted introduction.
And, according to Comfort's own official Web site, livingwaters.com, some 194,000 copies of the book were handed out at a total of 100 other universities across the country.
“Nothing has been removed from Darwin's original work,” outlined Comfort, who's name is clearly printed on the $4.99 USD anniversary edition's jacket. “As usual with reprints of On the Origin of Species (there have been over 140 reprints) there will be an Introduction.”
“In one day, 170,000 future doctors, lawyers and politicians will freely get information about Intelligent Design (and the gospel) placed directly into their hands!” he added.
It's worth noting that Comfort's new introduction, which was initially available to read free online in a PDF format, has now disappeared from livingwaters.com.
However, the Chicago Tribune's reaction to the 50-page addition outlines that: “Comfort's introduction questions Darwin's scientific findings and contends that Darwin was racist and Adolf Hitler took the theory of evolution to its “logical conclusions”.
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