Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Evolution, Creationism, and <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law">Godwin's Law</a>:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_06_12-2005_06_18.shtml#1118961862
[1]Clayton Cramer correctly faults Michael Shermer for writing:
The primary reason we are experiencing this peculiarly American
phenomenon of evolution denial (the doppelganger of Holocaust
denial)....
Cramer argues that evolution is less well-supported than the
Holocaust, but I think there's a deeper error here: The main reason
that people dislike Holocaust deniers isn't just that they're
factually wrong, methodologically wrong, or even foolish.
Rather, it's that we strongly suspect that the deniers either dislike
Jews, or want to make apologies for Nazis. That's not logically
necessary -- one can imagine someone denying the Holocaust for
perfectly decent reasons, no matter how factually misguided he will
be. But it does seem psychologically likely that most people who deny
the Holocaust in the face of very powerful contrary evidence are
indeed pro-Nazi or anti-Jewish.
Analogizing deniers of evolution with denials of the Holocaust is thus
unfair: Not only is there this huge difference here, but it's a
difference that goes to the core connotation of the phrase "Holocaust
denial" (sympathy for Nazis or anti-Semitism). If you want to suggest
that creationists are foolish, that's great -- but analogize them to
those who are likewise merely foolish, rather than to those whose
folly likely stems from sympathy for evil.
References
1.
http://www.claytoncramer.com/weblog/2005_06_12_archive.html#111894754237839965
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