John G. West
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John G. West is a Senior Fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, and Associate Director and Vice President for Public Policy and Legal Affairs of its Center for Science and Culture, which serves as the main hub of the Intelligent design movement.
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[edit] Biography
West received an undergraduate degree in Communications (Editorial Journalism) from the University of Washington in 1986. From 1986-1989, he served as Managing Editor of Public Research, Syndicated, which distributed essays on public affairs to more than 700 daily and weekly newspapers. He received his Ph.D. in Government from The Claremont Graduate School in 1992, has taught political science and history courses at California State University, San Bernardino and Azusa Pacific University, and was an Associate Professor of Political Science at Seattle Pacific University (a private Christian university) where he chaired the Political Science and Geography department.[1][2]
[edit] Darwin Day in America
In both his book Darwin Day in America and in lectures,[3] West has attempted to link Darwin to the eugenics movement. However, critics point out that:
- this movement came to prominence during the 'eclipse' of Darwinian evolution in the early 20th century;[4]
- the popular support for eugenics was matched with popular opposition to teaching evolution;[4]
- "while many biologists did support eugenic policies, many important biologists did not";[4]
- it was evolutionary biology that provided information debunking eugenics;[5]
- West quoted Darwin out of context in order to misrepresent him as supporting eugenics;[4][5] and
- prominent evolutionary biologists, such as Stephen Jay Gould have spoken out against eugenics.[6][7]
[edit] Bibliography
- The Politics of Revelation and Reason: Religion and Civic Life in the New Nation (American Political Thought) (1996)
- Public life in the shadowlands: What C.S. Lewis can teach us about politics (1998)
- The C.S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia, (ed., with Jeffry D. West) (1998)
- Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics (American Political Landscape Series), with Iain Maclean, and Jeffrey D. Schultz (1998)
- The Theology of Welfare: Protestants, Catholics, & Jews in Conversation About Welfare, with Sonja E. West (2000)
- Celebrating Middle-Earth: The Lord of the Rings As a Defense of Western Civilization (2002)
- Traipsing into Evolution: Intelligent Design and the Kitzmiller v. Dover Decision, with David K. Dewolf, Casey Luskin, and Jonathan Witt (2006)
- Darwin's Conservatives: The Misguided Quest (2006)
- Darwin Day In America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science (2007)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Discovery Institute biography
- ^ Seattle Pacific University biography
- ^ West Wins In Minn., Bruce Chapman, Evolution News & Views, Discovery Institute
- ^ a b c d Dancing with the Disco Institute, Mark Borrello, assistant professor of the history of science, University of Minnesota. Minnesota Citizens for Science
- ^ a b Should Dr. West Be Sterilized?, Jim Curtsinger, Minnesota Citizens for Science
- ^ How the West was ‘Won’: with spin and rewriting history, PZ Myers, Pharyngula
- ^ Carrie Buck's Daughter, Stephen Jay Gould
