Despite some of the gnashing of teeth and wailing around these parts about how mean we are to creationists on ScienceBlogs and how this will backfire, as I’ve noted before, creationist is slowly becoming mainstreamed as a pejorative (as opposed to a religious belief that should be exempted from criticism). Steve Benen writes:
I call them “conversation enders.” These are comments that lead you to know, the moment you hear them, that the writer/speaker is either clueless or intellectually dishonest, and there’s really no reason to engage the person in a serious dialog.
I suspect we all have them. When I hear, “Tax cuts are fiscally responsible because they pay for themselves,” it’s a conversation ender. When I hear, “Evolution is just a theory,” it’s a conversation ender. When someone says, “Global warming can’t be real because it’s cold outside,” it’s a conversation ender.
I consider this to a good development.
mikethemadbiologist
Another convention that I’ve noticed along the same lines is the derision that is heaped on the state of Kansas to this day because of creationism. Kansas education got a dig on Family Guy. Recently, a commenter at an Iowa online paper asked, regarding the new antievolution bill, if the state was turning into Kansas. This is not to belittle the efforts of the science advocates in Kansas; as Jeremy Mohn noted, “We’ve had quality, pro-evolution science standards in place here in Kansas for the majority of the last decade.” It does illustrate, however, that creationism can make a state a laughingstock, and is a powerful weapon against the antievolution crowd.
CO2 is minuscule. But the plants a starving for it. They thrive at levels twice as they are now. Plant Killer.
“It’s never been a better time to buy a house.”
The fact that these things have become ‘conversation enders’ may be due in part to the fact that they are regularly associated with ‘stupid’, ‘idiotic’, ‘insane’, ‘irrational’, and other rude words.
Recently, a well-known neuroscientist came to talk at our university. During an informal chat with students he, a Republican, talked about conservatives in Texas (where he worked). A paraphrase of his words:
“I thought I was conservative, but there are people down there who don’t believe in evolution. How do you talk to somebody who doesn’t believe in evolution? And not just about science, about anything.”
I suppose it does serve as a sort of litmus test. If a person says they “don’t believe” evolution (not “don’t understand” but “don’t believe”) then you should have no expectation that they will converse in good faith on any topic.
Creationist as a pejorative really is main stream because it’s been used that way in a television comedy. On CBS’s The New Adventures of Old Christine the character Mathew revealed that he was dating the lunch lady from his nephew’s school. He then lists her numerous faults. The last one: “And she’s a Creationist.”
And yet, the conversations continue amongst the Creationists themselves–and between them and school boards and state legislatures, largely following the script provided by the Discovery Institute.