Answers in Genesis and creationism in general are seen as important exponents of the conflict between science and religion in the United States. Out of many examples of this, a website that features numerous texts dealing with the compatibility of science and religion from a Christian perspective is simply called “noanswersingenesis.org.au”. The analysis of conflict dimensions that become visible in the Ark shows that this generic understanding is at the same time too narrow and too wide. It is too wide, because the mission of Answers in Genesis is by no means the refutation of all of science, or the fundamental opposition against scientific rationality per se. On the contrary, it was argued that the Ark and creationism in general actually represent a certain form of rationalization of religious beliefs.
On the other hand, the view that the Ark is “merely” another iteration of the conflict between science and religion is too narrow. The Ark is a focal point of entertainment, apologetics, economy, hermeneutics, and science. To adopt Answers in Genesis’ interpretation of its own Ark means to adopt an entire worldview. What formula could be employed to encompass all those different aspects of the Ark? The historian Frank Turner coined the phrase “contesting cultural authority” to summarize his analyses of Victorian British conflict situations surrounding science and religion, “whereby groups advocating different ideas came to the fore, claimed the right to be heard, and established institutions that fostered their own ideas and values” (Turner 1993: xii). The scientific naturalists of the 19th century, like Thomas Huxley and John Tyndall, were interested in the autonomy of their fields of scientific research from religious influence. For them, this differentiation was the precondition to gain scientific authority , on which they tried to build their cultural authority. Answers in Genesis seeks to gain cultural authority through the opposite operation. The organization is interested in a Christianization or Re-Christianization of American society, hence in a collapse of religious and secular logic (science being part of this), and it clearly expresses this claim with regard to cultural authority.
Sociology of Science and Religion: Interview with John H. Evans
John H Evans is the author of Playing God? Human Genetic Engineering and the Rationalization of P... more John H Evans is the author of Playing God? Human Genetic Engineering and the Rationalization of Public Bioethical Debate and Contested Reproduction: Genetic Technologies, Religion and Public Debate. Here, he talks to Tom Kaden, one of the Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum team about sociology and debates about science and religion.
A Look at the Professional Creationists and Anti-Creationists
When looking at this complex and highly specialized field of professional creationist and anti-cr... more When looking at this complex and highly specialized field of professional creationist and anti-creationist organizations, one can find at least part of an answer to the question why public talk about creationism seems so detached from social scientific findings about it. Their success in representing creationism or anti-creationism is only in part dependent upon being identical with what their constituencies think. Rather, they are oriented toward each other, the legal and cultural frameworks within which they act, and the expectations of mass media and professional science journalism. They are largely autonomous regarding their finances and trademark slogans, and they have an interest to continue to exist as institutions. Social scientific research about creationism is only beginning to take this differentiation between an elite discourse and the everyday representation of “creationism” more seriously.
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Blog Posts by Tom Kaden
Answers in Genesis and creationism in general are seen as important exponents of the conflict between science and religion in the United States. Out of many examples of this, a website that features numerous texts dealing with the compatibility of science and religion from a Christian perspective is simply called “noanswersingenesis.org.au”. The analysis of conflict dimensions that become visible in the Ark shows that this generic understanding is at the same time too narrow and too wide. It is too wide, because the mission of Answers in Genesis is by no means the refutation of all of science, or the fundamental opposition against scientific rationality per se. On the contrary, it was argued that the Ark and creationism in general actually represent a certain form of rationalization of religious beliefs.
On the other hand, the view that the Ark is “merely” another iteration of the conflict between science and religion is too narrow. The Ark is a focal point of entertainment, apologetics, economy, hermeneutics, and science. To adopt Answers in Genesis’ interpretation of its own Ark means to adopt an entire worldview. What formula could be employed to encompass all those different aspects of the Ark? The historian Frank Turner coined the phrase “contesting cultural authority” to summarize his analyses of Victorian British conflict situations surrounding science and religion, “whereby groups advocating different ideas came to the fore, claimed the right to be heard, and established institutions that fostered their own ideas and values” (Turner 1993: xii). The scientific naturalists of the 19th century, like Thomas Huxley and John Tyndall, were interested in the autonomy of their fields of scientific research from religious influence. For them, this differentiation was the precondition to gain scientific authority , on which they tried to build their cultural authority. Answers in Genesis seeks to gain cultural authority through the opposite operation. The organization is interested in a Christianization or Re-Christianization of American society, hence in a collapse of religious and secular logic (science being part of this), and it clearly expresses this claim with regard to cultural authority.