In an article titled “Academic denies practicing textbook terrorism,” John Oller, a linguistics professor at UL who routinely lobbies the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on behalf of Louisiana Family Forum — most recently at the December BESE meetings during which members voted to approve standard biology textbooks — insists his views have been misinterpreted by The Ind and others: “I haven’t been misrepresented,” Oller tells the Gazette, “I haven’t been represented at all.”
In fact, Oller’s long ties to young earth creationists — those who believe the earth was created over the course of six, 24-hour days 6,000 years ago — are well-chronicled in the Ind’s reporting on the topic, including the publication of a photo of the professor with other evolution skeptics at a conference at the Creation Museum in Kentucky where attractions include dioramas depicting early humans living alongside dinosaurs.
Citing a devotion to his students during finals week for declining to speak to The Ind for the December cover story, Oller retreads the common (mis)characterization of modern, mainstream evolutionary biology as cleaving to “19th century orthodoxy,” and says, “Darwin’s too-dull tools can’t refute the existence of an intelligent God. It’s entirely presumptuous.”
... written by Stelly , January 03, 2011 - 12:30 pm
If I may veer violently away from the subject of the article for a second...
The first thing that caught my attention when I clicked the link was the banner at the top of the website that read, "The vital measure of a newspaper is not its size but it's [sic] spirit." Proofreading! Attention to detail! Clearly, this Acadiana Gazette is a credible publication.
It is spirit, indeed.
... written by Resident , January 03, 2011 - 02:45 pm
What expertise in biology, or even science, does John Oller bring to the table? What experience does he have besides joining the Louisiana Family Forum in partisan political hackery?
This statement - "Darwin’s too-dull tools can’t refute the existence of an intelligent God." - shows just how ignorant he is on the subject. Science takes no position on god. Evolution does not try to refute the existence of god. Evolution explains the diversity of life, not how life began or why. What are Oller et al so scared of?
... written by Morrow , January 03, 2011 - 11:20 pm
You're telling me this is a prof @ UL???? What if I don't want my kid being taught by someone like this? I don't trust anything he would say. This is the kind of stuff a prof, who wants or expects any credibility, needs to keep to himself until his teaching days are over. I would definately want my kid to drop his class.
... written by Sharp Stick , January 04, 2011 - 12:20 pm
It is interesting that Morrow is upset because of the professor's faith. It is amusing that Morrow's outrage comes from defending an unproven theory. Is this too not another form of faith?
... written by The Truth , January 04, 2011 - 01:01 pm
What's this "UL" of Acadiana referred to in the article? I know that there is a ULL in Lafayette, but in the state of Louisiana the first Univerisity chartered by the State Legislature hasnt called itself the Univeristy of Louisiana since 1884 when the Legislature changed the name to reflect the Tulane Educational Fund's oversight of the charter. Its in the state constitution, plus its well know history. So why is the former USL trying to rewrite Louisiana historical precedence and fact?
it's like trying to assume another's identity and histury by mind games.
... written by Warhawk 1 , January 04, 2011 - 03:36 pm
The University of Louisiana was a fictional university in the 1988 film Everybody's All-American and the 1998 film The Waterboy.
At present, no single institution exists with the specific, official name of the University of Louisiana without geographical designation. The historic public "University of
Louisiana" became the private Tulane University of Louisiana. Later, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (successor to the University of Southwestern Louisiana) and the University of Louisiana at Monroe (formerly Northeast Louisiana University), which are members of the contemporary public University of Louisiana System, are legally required to bear their geographical locations as part of their names.
Act 45 further stipulated that no one school could change its name to "The University of Louisiana," that two would have to change their names simultaneously, and include additions to their names to differentiate them.
... written by Warhawk 1 , January 04, 2011 - 03:37 pm
ULM would now like to be known as Ohio State.
... written by Whoa , January 05, 2011 - 12:38 pm
Whoa, I CANNOT FIND EVIDENCE OF A WORD "REFUDIATE". Where did this word come from, as in this particular article? Is it just a joke, or did someone use this word in reference to this subject. If so, who?
... written by Skullsike , January 05, 2011 - 01:20 pm
Darwin himself once said, "A fair result can be obtained only by fully balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question."
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in using your Facebook account or register if you do not have an account yet.
JUNE 17 If anyone ever wonders why Saints fans hate Atlanta with a capital H, here's a good indication. Radio "professionals" at an Atlanta station created an entire segment around making fun of former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is now paralyzed by ALS. Listen, nobody's ever accused DJs of being rocket scientists. But how could someone think it is amusing to pretend to ask a man with a degenerative, fatal disease if he will be alive next week? The DJs have been fired, and are now whining about how gutless their former bosses are. Wow.
JUNE 18 Here's the latest from the Advocate on the fatal hit-and-run accident allegedly involving the president of the Livingston Parish School Board. He's accused by police of hitting a 21-year-old man on a highway early Sunday and driving away. The man died at a hospital later. On Monday, police seized the president's truck and towed it away. But he's available for board meetings: apparently a $500 bond is sufficient for this type of thing over in St. Helena Parish.
JUNE 18 Former broadcast journalist Griffin Scott has posted this plea on his blog for financial assistance from his readers. Scott, who says he was fired after he wrote something fairly innocuous (for Facebook) on his wall, is suing a media giant for his job back. He's framed himself as David going after a bloated media giant, and he's probably not far off.
JUNE 18 Here's a fairly absurd column posted on DIG Magazine about the completely absurd practice of naming killer storms. Tornadoes don't have names. Blizzards don't have names. But hurricanes do, and there's a big process to bestow them, Jacques Cormery writes. He's right about the crazy assemblage of names -- this year, there's everything from Tanya to Humberto -- and his idea that we don't waste good names on killer storms is a good one.
JUNE 17 Political columnist John Maginnis has some advice for Louisiana Republicans: grow up. After the schism that occurred in this past session - fiscal hawks teaming up with Democrats to spank the Republican "majority" and hand Gov. Jindal his, er, aspirations for continued solon control -- they need to figure out how to get along with each other, Maginnis writes.
JUNE 17 Here's the Picayune's obit story for Dorothy 'Miss Dot' Domilise, the lady who made poboys at the uptown restaurant that bears her name. Miss Dot moved to New Orleans during World War II, where she met and married her husband Sam. When she passed away Friday she was 90, and had spent more than 60 of those years working at the restaurant on Annunciation Street.
JUNE 17 This editorial in the Advocate speaks in favor of the consent decrees that have federal judges overseeing police operations and the sheriff's parish prison in New Orleans. Mayor Landrieu and Sheriff Gusman can't get along, so outside forces, like the Inspector General and the judges, are needed to make sure things run right, the editorial opines.
JUNE 18 Here's a post from Manny Schewitz on Forward Progressives that is good for a chuckle. Manny had an epiphany back in November, and is sharing it with us today: he believes that Fox "News" is killing the GOP by pandering to right wing nuts. Now, don't get it twisted: Manny's not broke up about it. He says he enjoys watching the downward spiral with a shot of whiskey and "a schadenfreude chaser."
In rendering his ruling, District Judge John Trahan all but called the real estate developer a liar for inconsistencies in his accounts of what prompted him to punch a school teacher unconscious.
Frank’s Casing Crew, now doing business as Frank’s International, will make its final appearance on ABiz’s list of the Top 50 Privately Held Companies in Acadiana this year, and once again, it will likely be at the top with more than $1 billion in annual revenues. The 75-year-old company specializing in tubular fabrication and installation services to the oil and gas industry plans to go public this year.
The defeat, or rather highjacking of House Bill 420 in the final days of this year's Legislative Session, say Reps. Vincent Pierre and Terry Landry, is the result of the propaganda spread by one unidentified local media outlet and an unnamed former state Representative, but nothing to do with the original legislation's lack of checks, balances or details.
City-Parish Council Chairman Brandon Shelvin heaped steady doses of condescending ire on a Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana executive while failing to reveal his financial ties to a BC/BS rival.
Abbeville native David Primeaux was a popular professor until his death late last year, and while he was successful at camouflaging a dark past, he couldn’t outlive it.
Tehmi Chassion’s failure to recuse himself in the school board’s selection of a group health benefits provider raises ‘serious questions’ on whether he violated state ethics law.
He’s a singer. A songwriter. A piano man. A family man. He’s even got his own Wikipedia entry. He’s David Egan. And he knows ancient secrets about the monolithic stones of Stonehenge that he’s not willing to share.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
The first thing that caught my attention when I clicked the link was the banner at the top of the website that read, "The vital measure of a newspaper is not its size but it's [sic] spirit." Proofreading! Attention to detail! Clearly, this Acadiana Gazette is a credible publication.
It is spirit, indeed.