Ben Carson got two standing ovations at the Discovery Institute conference, which was about how Charles Darwin “undermined human rights” such as those in the Declaration of Independence.
Nancy Pearcey, a student of Francis Schaeffer, spoke about the Imago Dei and Darwin. I got a chance to speak to her for about 12 minutes.
Carson is one of the most famous doctors in the world, and spoke about debating Dawkins and Dennett. He was speaking with Francis Collins as theists.
Discovery has taken a deep dive into Republican politics, and that dive seems very popular in Dallas.
Approximately 1500 attended.
Including scores of young people.
I bought 66 dollars’ worth of books, including Stephen Meyer’s book on the Cambrian explosion.
Pearcey has argued that initially women didn’t want the vote. At the conference, she spoke about the status of women, and slavery.
William Dembski happened to sit next to me. I hope to speak to him about my work in grad school in the future.
Schaeffer seems to have helped fundamentalist kids appreciate European art. Pearcey talks a lot about Western Civilization.
Hillary Ferrer is a new apologist on the scene who has written a book called Mama Bear Apologetics. The protection of youth from atheism and philosophical materialism (embodied in Discovery’s view by Darwin, Marx, and Freud in a bundle) seem to be a central part of the Institute’s mission.
The faiths of the Founding Fathers was a big part of the presentations. And the idea of human equality, and the notion of “Darwinian racism”.
I left with a mixture of feelings because certain of my friends who attended were very supportive.
It sure is hard maintaining friendships when evangelicals themselves are so divided over the Bible and origins in an already polarized context.