#2605: Steve Brouard

We don’t know much else about him, but Steve Brouard is an Iowa-based creationist affiliated with the Quad-City Creation Science Association, and a representative specimen of local creationist clown, it seems. Brouard appears to hold the common creationist view that the theory of evolution is a ‘theory in crisis’; referring to court cases like Kitzmiller v. Dover and McLean v. Arkansas Board ofEducation, Brouard asks “why does a scientific theory hide behind judges and the threats of lawsuits to justify itself? Free and open debate is what advances science and learning, by discussing the meaning of available evidence.” That it is creationists who are trying to legislate creationism into places like public schools is something he conveniently overlooks – and although science precisely is about “free and open debate” and assessment of evidence, what people like Brouard want is precisely not open scientific discussion of the evidence among people competent to understand it, but to foist religion on children in public schools.

 

Otherwise, Brouard promotes standard creationist talking points: that lots of scientists in the 18^th and 19^th centuries were religious, for instance. He also invokes the claim that junk DNA is a myth (presumably referring to and misunderstanding the discussion surrounding ENCODE, or to Jonathan Wells’s ramblings) and claims that homology is “circular reasoning” – he doesn’t provide an explanation, rather strongly suggesting that he is repeating a claim he has read but don’t quite understand.

 

And of course: evolution is religion! It is “a basis for theology – the religion of atheism. By faith, atheists believe the first cell popped into existence by itself and a jellyfish-like creature morphed into a T-Rex. There is no science for these beliefs – only speculation” because it costs nothing to just deny the science, even if it stares you in the face. Then he challenges defenders of science to a debate. No really. With Eric Hovind.

 

Diagnosis: Very, very standard fare, and very, very dense and dumb. Probably minimal influence, but whatever influence he has certainly isn’t to the benefit of humanity.

 

Hat-tip: Sensuous Curmudgeon