Jonathan Wells
Encyclopedia
John Corrigan "Jonathan" Wells (born 1942) is an American author
and advocate of intelligent design
. A member of the Unification Church
, Wells wrote that the teachings of church founder Sun Myung Moon
, his own studies at the Unification Theological Seminary
and his prayer
s convinced him to devote his life to "destroying Darwinism
", a term which intelligent design proponents often use to refer to the scientific consensus
on evolution
and which he describes as the theory that various species developed as a wholly natural process "without God
's purposeful, creative activity."
In his best-known book, Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth?
, Wells describes a number of examples used to illustrate biology textbooks as being grossly exaggerated, distorting the truth, or patently false; he says that this shows that evolution conflicts with the evidence, and so argues against its teaching in public education
. Reviewers of Icons of Evolution have said the Wells misquoted experts cited as sources and took minor issues out of context, basing his argument on a flawed syllogism
. Wells's views on evolution have been rejected by the scientific community
.
in 1942 and grew up in New Jersey
, and was brought up as a Protestant Christian. He studied geology
at Princeton University
, where he dropped out in his junior year. Following a brief stint as a taxi driver, he was drafted by the army and spent two years serving in Germany
. After his discharge in 1966, he attended University of California, Berkeley
, where he publicly refused to report for reserve duty. This resulted in him being arrested and being incarcerated for 18 months at the Leavenworth military prison
. Upon his release, Wells returned to Berkeley where he completed his studies with a major in geology and physics
and a minor in biology
Jonathan Wells has received two Ph.D.s, one in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley, and one in Religious Studies from Yale University. He has worked as a postdoctoral research biologist at the University of California at Berkeley and the supervisor of a medical laboratory in Fairfield, California
, and he has taught biology at California State University East Bay in Hayward, California
.
In 1974 Wells joined the Unification Church
. He graduated from the church's Unification Theological Seminary
in 1978 with a Masters in Religious Education. Wells continued his studies at Yale University
, earning a PhD in religious studies
in 1986, focusing on historical reactions to Darwinism
. During this time he wrote extensively on Unification theology and taught at the Unification Theological Seminary. Wells was on the Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary until resigning in 1997 to return to teaching. He also acted as the director of the International Religious Foundation, a Unification Church affiliated organization which sponsors interdenominational conferences.
Wells has written on the subject of marriage
within the Unification Church and has been called a "Unification Church marriage expert" by church sources. Wells defended Unification Church theology against what he said were unfair criticisms made in 1977 by the National Council of Churches
.
In 1994 Wells earned another PhD in Molecular
and Cell Biology
from UC Berkeley. After receiving his doctorate, he worked at a position he described as "a post-doctoral research biologist at Berkeley, writing articles critical of Darwinism.” Shortly after that Wells joined former UC Berkeley law professor Phillip E. Johnson
, father of the intelligent design movement
, at the Discovery Institute
. He now serves as a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture
, hub of the intelligent design movement
, and at the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
, which also promotes intelligent design.
Wells stated that his religious doctoral studies at Yale, which were paid for by the Unification Church, focused on the "root of the conflict between Darwinian evolution and Christian doctrine" and encompassed the whole of Christian
theology
within a focus of Darwinian controversies. He said:
Wells said that "destroying Darwinism" was his motive for studying Christian theology at Yale and going on to seek his second Ph.D. at Berkeley, studying biology
and in particular embryology
:
He has written articles for the Discovery Institute, WorldNetDaily
, Origins & Design, and other sympathetic publications attacking evolution and defending intelligent design. In 1997 he presented a paper entitled "Evolution by Design" at the Unification Church sponsored International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences
in Washington D.C..
In 1999 Wells debated with the New Mexicans for Science and Reason. He was one of the contributors to Natural History Magazine's 2002 debate between ID advocates and evolution supporters. In 2005 he debated Massimo Pigliucci
on the PBS talk show
Uncommon Knowledge
. Pigliucci said Wells that "clearly lied" during his debates and misrepresented his agenda and science, as well as not understanding some of the theories he tries to attack.
Wells is one of the signatories of the Discovery Institute's "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism
", a controversial petition which the intelligent design movement uses to promote intelligent design by attempting to cast doubt on evolution. He is also the author of "Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution" for high school students, which is published by the Discovery Institute. The National Center for Science Education has issued a list of answers to the questions.
, in which he discusses ten examples which he says show that many of the most commonly accepted arguments supporting evolution
are invalid. The book is rejected by the scientific community and has received much criticism. There have been 12 detailed reviews of Icons, from scholars familiar with the subject matter, which have come to the consensus that the book's claims are a politically-motivated extreme exaggeration and misrepresentation of a scattering of minor issues. Scholars quoted in the work have accused Wells of purposely misquoting them and misleading readers. Biology Professor Jerry Coyne
wrote of Icons, "Jonathan Wells' book rests entirely on a flawed syllogism
: ... textbooks illustrate evolution with examples; these examples are sometimes presented in incorrect or misleading ways; therefore evolution is a fiction."
, which were boycott
ed by mainstream scientists. There Wells testified:
Prior to the evolution hearings, in December 2000 after the Pratt County, Kansas
school board revised its tenth-grade biology curriculum at the urging of intelligent design proponents to include material that encourages students to question the theory of evolution, the Pratt Tribune published a letter from Jerry Coyne
challenging Wells's characterization in an article of his work on peppered moths, saying that his article appended to the Pratt standards was misused and being mischaracterized:
published by Regnery Publishing
. The book was praised by Tom Bethell
, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science
, but was described by Dr. Reed Cartwright of Panda's Thumb as being "not only politically incorrect but incorrect in most other ways as well: scientifically, logically, historically, legally, academically, and morally." Cartwright also wrote a chapter-by-chapter critique of the book. A quote from the book linking evolution to eugenics, abortion and racism appeared on Starbucks
paper cups in 2007.
signed a petition which said in full:
Wells and Johnson have been criticized, along with others, for their questioning of the scientific and medical consensus that HIV causes AIDS. In the Washington University Law Quarterly, critics Matthew J. Brauer, Barbara Forrest
, and Steven G. Gey faulted Wells, Johnson, and others for denying the HIV/AIDS connection and promoting denialism
via a petition designed to garner publicity but without any scientific support.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and advocate of intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
. A member of the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
, Wells wrote that the teachings of church founder Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...
, his own studies at the Unification Theological Seminary
Unification Theological Seminary
The Unification Theological Seminary , is the main seminary of the international Unification Church. It is located in Barrytown, New York and with an Extension Center in midtown Manhattan. Its purpose has been described as training leaders and theologians within the Unification Church. The...
and his prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
s convinced him to devote his life to "destroying Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
", a term which intelligent design proponents often use to refer to the scientific consensus
Scientific consensus
Scientific consensus is the collective judgment, position, and opinion of the community of scientists in a particular field of study. Consensus implies general agreement, though not necessarily unanimity. Scientific consensus is not by itself a scientific argument, and it is not part of the...
on evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
and which he describes as the theory that various species developed as a wholly natural process "without God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
's purposeful, creative activity."
In his best-known book, Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth?
Icons of Evolution
Icons of Evolution is a book by the intelligent design advocate and fellow of the Discovery Institute, Jonathan Wells, which also includes a 2002 video companion. In the book, Wells criticized the paradigm of evolution by attacking how it is taught...
, Wells describes a number of examples used to illustrate biology textbooks as being grossly exaggerated, distorting the truth, or patently false; he says that this shows that evolution conflicts with the evidence, and so argues against its teaching in public education
Creation and evolution in public education
The status of creation and evolution in public education has been the subject of substantial debate in legal, political, and religious circles...
. Reviewers of Icons of Evolution have said the Wells misquoted experts cited as sources and took minor issues out of context, basing his argument on a flawed syllogism
Syllogism
A syllogism is a kind of logical argument in which one proposition is inferred from two or more others of a certain form...
. Wells's views on evolution have been rejected by the scientific community
Scientific community
The scientific community consists of the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions. It is normally divided into "sub-communities" each working on a particular field within science. Objectivity is expected to be achieved by the scientific method...
.
Biography
Wells was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1942 and grew up in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and was brought up as a Protestant Christian. He studied geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where he dropped out in his junior year. Following a brief stint as a taxi driver, he was drafted by the army and spent two years serving in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. After his discharge in 1966, he attended University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he publicly refused to report for reserve duty. This resulted in him being arrested and being incarcerated for 18 months at the Leavenworth military prison
United States Disciplinary Barracks
The United States Disciplinary Barracks is a military prison located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army post in Kansas....
. Upon his release, Wells returned to Berkeley where he completed his studies with a major in geology and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and a minor in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
Jonathan Wells has received two Ph.D.s, one in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley, and one in Religious Studies from Yale University. He has worked as a postdoctoral research biologist at the University of California at Berkeley and the supervisor of a medical laboratory in Fairfield, California
Fairfield, California
Fairfield is a city located in Solano County in Northern California, USA. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately from the city center of both cities, approximately from the city center of Oakland, less than from Napa Valley, 18...
, and he has taught biology at California State University East Bay in Hayward, California
Hayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
.
In 1974 Wells joined the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
. He graduated from the church's Unification Theological Seminary
Unification Theological Seminary
The Unification Theological Seminary , is the main seminary of the international Unification Church. It is located in Barrytown, New York and with an Extension Center in midtown Manhattan. Its purpose has been described as training leaders and theologians within the Unification Church. The...
in 1978 with a Masters in Religious Education. Wells continued his studies at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, earning a PhD in religious studies
Religious studies
Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...
in 1986, focusing on historical reactions to Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
. During this time he wrote extensively on Unification theology and taught at the Unification Theological Seminary. Wells was on the Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary until resigning in 1997 to return to teaching. He also acted as the director of the International Religious Foundation, a Unification Church affiliated organization which sponsors interdenominational conferences.
Wells has written on the subject of marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
within the Unification Church and has been called a "Unification Church marriage expert" by church sources. Wells defended Unification Church theology against what he said were unfair criticisms made in 1977 by the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
.
In 1994 Wells earned another PhD in Molecular
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
and Cell Biology
Cell biology
Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
from UC Berkeley. After receiving his doctorate, he worked at a position he described as "a post-doctoral research biologist at Berkeley, writing articles critical of Darwinism.” Shortly after that Wells joined former UC Berkeley law professor Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson is a retired UC Berkeley law professor and author. He became a born-again Christian while a tenured professor and is considered the father of the intelligent design movement...
, father of the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
, at the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
. He now serves as a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture
Center for Science and Culture
The Center for Science and Culture , formerly known as the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture , is part of the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank in the United States...
, hub of the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
, and at the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design was a non-profit professional society that promoted intelligent design...
, which also promotes intelligent design.
Opposition to evolution
Of his student days at Unification Theological Seminary (1976–78), Wells said, "One of the things that Father [Reverend Sun Myung Moon] advised us to do at UTS was to pray to seek God's plan for our lives." He later described that plan: "To defend and articulate Unification theology especially in relation to Darwinian evolution."Wells stated that his religious doctoral studies at Yale, which were paid for by the Unification Church, focused on the "root of the conflict between Darwinian evolution and Christian doctrine" and encompassed the whole of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
within a focus of Darwinian controversies. He said:
Wells said that "destroying Darwinism" was his motive for studying Christian theology at Yale and going on to seek his second Ph.D. at Berkeley, studying biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
and in particular embryology
Embryology
Embryology is a science which is about the development of an embryo from the fertilization of the ovum to the fetus stage...
:
He has written articles for the Discovery Institute, WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily is an American web site that publishes news and associated content from a U.S. conservative perspective. It was founded in May 1997 by Joseph Farah with the stated intent of "exposing wrongdoing, corruption and abuse of power" and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.-History:In...
, Origins & Design, and other sympathetic publications attacking evolution and defending intelligent design. In 1997 he presented a paper entitled "Evolution by Design" at the Unification Church sponsored International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences
International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences
The International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences was a series of scientific conferences sponsored by the International Cultural Foundation, an organization founded by Sun Myung Moon, the founder and leader of the Unification Church...
in Washington D.C..
In 1999 Wells debated with the New Mexicans for Science and Reason. He was one of the contributors to Natural History Magazine's 2002 debate between ID advocates and evolution supporters. In 2005 he debated Massimo Pigliucci
Massimo Pigliucci
Massimo Pigliucci is the chair of the Department of Philosophy at CUNY-Lehman College. He is also the editor in chief for the journal . He is known as an outspoken critic of creationism and advocate of science education.-Biography:...
on the PBS talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
Uncommon Knowledge
Uncommon Knowledge
Uncommon Knowledge was a weekly 30-minute current affairs show hosted by Peter Robinson and co-produced and presented by San Jose, California, PBS member station KTEH from 1997 to 2005...
. Pigliucci said Wells that "clearly lied" during his debates and misrepresented his agenda and science, as well as not understanding some of the theories he tries to attack.
Wells is one of the signatories of the Discovery Institute's "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism
A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism
A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism is a statement issued in 2001 by the Discovery Institute, a conservative non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, USA, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design.The statement expresses skepticism about the ability of random...
", a controversial petition which the intelligent design movement uses to promote intelligent design by attempting to cast doubt on evolution. He is also the author of "Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution" for high school students, which is published by the Discovery Institute. The National Center for Science Education has issued a list of answers to the questions.
Icons of Evolution
Wells is best known for his 2002 book Icons of EvolutionIcons of Evolution
Icons of Evolution is a book by the intelligent design advocate and fellow of the Discovery Institute, Jonathan Wells, which also includes a 2002 video companion. In the book, Wells criticized the paradigm of evolution by attacking how it is taught...
, in which he discusses ten examples which he says show that many of the most commonly accepted arguments supporting evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
are invalid. The book is rejected by the scientific community and has received much criticism. There have been 12 detailed reviews of Icons, from scholars familiar with the subject matter, which have come to the consensus that the book's claims are a politically-motivated extreme exaggeration and misrepresentation of a scattering of minor issues. Scholars quoted in the work have accused Wells of purposely misquoting them and misleading readers. Biology Professor Jerry Coyne
Jerry Coyne
-Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* ", The New Republic * -Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* ", The New Republic (Review of Michael Behe's The Edge of Evolution)* -Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The...
wrote of Icons, "Jonathan Wells' book rests entirely on a flawed syllogism
Syllogism
A syllogism is a kind of logical argument in which one proposition is inferred from two or more others of a certain form...
: ... textbooks illustrate evolution with examples; these examples are sometimes presented in incorrect or misleading ways; therefore evolution is a fiction."
Kansas evolution hearings
In 2005, Wells participated in the Kansas evolution hearingsKansas evolution hearings
The Kansas evolution hearings were a series of hearings held in Topeka, Kansas, United States May 5 to May 12, 2005 by the Kansas State Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing Committee to change how evolution and the origin of life would be taught in the state's public high school...
, which were boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
ed by mainstream scientists. There Wells testified:
Prior to the evolution hearings, in December 2000 after the Pratt County, Kansas
Pratt County, Kansas
Pratt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 9,656. The largest city and county seat is Pratt.-19th century:...
school board revised its tenth-grade biology curriculum at the urging of intelligent design proponents to include material that encourages students to question the theory of evolution, the Pratt Tribune published a letter from Jerry Coyne
Jerry Coyne
-Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* ", The New Republic * -Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* , The New Republic* ", The New Republic (Review of Michael Behe's The Edge of Evolution)* -Online articles:* , The New Republic* , The...
challenging Wells's characterization in an article of his work on peppered moths, saying that his article appended to the Pratt standards was misused and being mischaracterized:
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design
In 2006 Wells published his second major book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design, which was part of a seriesThe Politically Incorrect Guide
The Politically Incorrect Guide is a book series by Regnery Publishing presenting conservative or what the publishers of the books consider, politically incorrect beliefs on various topics. Each book is written by a different author and generally presents a conservative or libertarian viewpoint on...
published by Regnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing in Washington, D.C., is a publisher which specializes in conservative books characterized on their website as "contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York." Since 1993, Regnery Publishing has been a division of Eagle Publishing, which also owns the weekly magazine...
. The book was praised by Tom Bethell
Tom Bethell
Tom Bethell is a journalist who writes mainly on economic and scientific issues, and is known for his support of the market economy, political conservatism, and fringe science. He says that neither evolution nor intelligent design is falsifiable....
, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science is a 2005 book by Tom Bethell, the third book in the Politically Incorrect Guides series published by Regnery Publishing, after the Guides to American History and Islam....
, but was described by Dr. Reed Cartwright of Panda's Thumb as being "not only politically incorrect but incorrect in most other ways as well: scientifically, logically, historically, legally, academically, and morally." Cartwright also wrote a chapter-by-chapter critique of the book. A quote from the book linking evolution to eugenics, abortion and racism appeared on Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
paper cups in 2007.
AIDS denialism
In 1991, Wells and his mentor Phillip E. JohnsonPhillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson is a retired UC Berkeley law professor and author. He became a born-again Christian while a tenured professor and is considered the father of the intelligent design movement...
signed a petition which said in full:
Wells and Johnson have been criticized, along with others, for their questioning of the scientific and medical consensus that HIV causes AIDS. In the Washington University Law Quarterly, critics Matthew J. Brauer, Barbara Forrest
Barbara Forrest
Barbara Carroll Forrest is a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. She is a critic of intelligent design and the Discovery Institute.- Biography :...
, and Steven G. Gey faulted Wells, Johnson, and others for denying the HIV/AIDS connection and promoting denialism
Denialism
Denialism is choosing to deny reality as a way to avoid an uncomfortable truth: "[it] is the refusal to accept an empirically verifiable reality...
via a petition designed to garner publicity but without any scientific support.
Books
- Jonathan Wells, Charles Hodge's Critique of Darwinism: An Historical-Critical Analysis of Concepts Basic to the 19th Century Debate. (Edwin Mellen Press, April 1988.) ISBN 0889466718
- Jonathan Wells, Icons of EvolutionIcons of EvolutionIcons of Evolution is a book by the intelligent design advocate and fellow of the Discovery Institute, Jonathan Wells, which also includes a 2002 video companion. In the book, Wells criticized the paradigm of evolution by attacking how it is taught...
. (Regnery PublishingRegnery PublishingRegnery Publishing in Washington, D.C., is a publisher which specializes in conservative books characterized on their website as "contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York." Since 1993, Regnery Publishing has been a division of Eagle Publishing, which also owns the weekly magazine...
, 2000) ISBN 0-89526-276-2 - Jonathan Wells, The Myth of Junk DNA. (Discovery Institute Press, May 31, 2011) (150 pages) ISBN 1936599007
- Jonathan Wells, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design. (Regnery PublishingRegnery PublishingRegnery Publishing in Washington, D.C., is a publisher which specializes in conservative books characterized on their website as "contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York." Since 1993, Regnery Publishing has been a division of Eagle Publishing, which also owns the weekly magazine...
, 2006) ISBN 1-59698-013-3 - Jonathan Wells and William A. DembskiWilliam A. DembskiWilliam Albert "Bill" Dembski is an American proponent of intelligent design, well known for promoting the concept of specified complexity...
, The Design of Life. (Foundation for Thought and EthicsFoundation for Thought and EthicsThe Foundation for Thought and Ethics is a Christian non-profit organization based in Richardson, Texas, that publishes textbooks and articles promoting intelligent design, abstinence, and Christian nationism. In addition, the foundation's officers and editors are some of the leading proponents...
, 2007) ISBN 0980021308 - Jonathan Wells and William A. DembskiWilliam A. DembskiWilliam Albert "Bill" Dembski is an American proponent of intelligent design, well known for promoting the concept of specified complexity...
, How to be an Intellectually Fulfilled Atheist (Or Not). (ISI BooksIntercollegiate Studies InstituteThe Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., or ', is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists...
, 2008) ISBN 1933859849
External links
- Jonathan Wells biography from the Discovery InstituteDiscovery InstituteThe Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
- Articles by Wells from the Discovery InstituteDiscovery InstituteThe Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
- Articles by Wells from the Discovery Institute
- Articles by Wells from the Access Research NetworkAccess Research NetworkAccess Research Network , based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, evolved from an earlier creationist organization, Students for Origins Research . SOR was founded in 1977 by a group of students at the University of California at Santa Barbara as an "alternative view" to both the Young Earth...
- FAQ on Jonathan Wells from talk.originsTalk.originstalk.origins is a moderated Usenet discussion forum concerning the origins of life, and evolution...
- Wells's testimony at the Kansas evolution hearingsKansas evolution hearingsThe Kansas evolution hearings were a series of hearings held in Topeka, Kansas, United States May 5 to May 12, 2005 by the Kansas State Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing Committee to change how evolution and the origin of life would be taught in the state's public high school...
- Icons of Evolution? - Why much of what Jonathan Wells writes about evolution is wrong
- Answers to Wells's 10 questions from National Center for Science EducationNational Center for Science EducationThe National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is the United States' leading anti-creationist organization, and defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes...
- Chapter by Chapter analysis of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design by Dr. Reed A. Cartwright, The Panda's Thumb