Duane Gish

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Duane Gish
PhD)
Employer(s)University of California, Berkeley
Cornell University
Institute for Creation Research
Known forProminent public speaker on creationism
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service1941–1945
RankCaptain
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsBronze Star Medal

Duane Tolbert Gish (February 17, 1921 – March 5, 2013[1]) was an American biochemist and a prominent member of the creationist movement.[2] A young Earth creationist, Gish was a former vice-president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) and the author of numerous publications about creation science.

Gish was called "creationism's

debates with prominent evolutionary biologists, usually held on university campuses,[3] while abandoning formal debating principles. A creationist publication noted in his obituary that "it was perhaps his personal presentation that carried the day. In short, the audiences liked him."[4]

Early life and education

Gish, a twin, was born in

Upjohn Company as a research associate in 1960.[6]

Creationism

A

falsifiable evidence against evolutionary theory, particularly the origin of life, and that various fields of science offered corroborating evidence in support of the Genesis creation narrative.[8] He joined the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), an association of Christian scientists, mistakenly assuming the group supported creationism. Through his affiliation at the ASA, Gish met geneticist and creationist William J. Tinkle, who in 1961 invited Gish to join a newly formed anti-evolution caucus within the ASA.[7]

In 1971, Gish became a member of the faculty at

creationists as an authoritative reference.[6] Gish initially "assigned low priority to the question of [the] age [of the Earth]".[9]

At his death on March 5, 2013, Gish held the position of Senior Vice-President Emeritus at the ICR.[10]

Debates

Gish's debating opponents said that he used a rapid-fire approach during a debate, presenting arguments and changing topics quickly. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, dubbed this approach the "Gish gallop", describing it as "where the creationist is allowed to run on for 45 minutes or an hour, spewing forth torrents of error that the evolutionist hasn't a prayer of refuting in the format of a debate".[11] She also criticized Gish for failing to answer objections raised by his opponents.[12] The phrase has also come to be used as a pejorative to describe similar debate styles employed by proponents of other, usually fringe beliefs, such as homeopathy or the Moon landing hoax.[13][14]

However, Gish said a similar thing about his debate opponents, especially Kenneth Miller. Gish accused Miller of using spread debating, i.e. speaking very fast and bringing up so many points that there was no chance to answer them all.[15]

Gish was also criticized for using a standardized presentation during debates. While undertaking research for a debate with Gish, Michael Shermer noted that Gish re-used similar openings, assumptions about his opponent, slides, and even jokes. For example, during the debate, Gish attempted to prove that Shermer was indeed an atheist and therefore immoral, even though Shermer said he was not an atheist and was willing to accept the existence of a divine creator.[16] Massimo Pigliucci, who debated Gish five times, said that Gish ignored evidence contrary to his religious beliefs.[17] Robert Schadewald accused Gish of stonewalling arguments with fabricated data.[18]

Works

See also

References

  1. ^ Looy, Mark (6 March 2013). "Creation Debater Dr. Duane Gish Passes Away". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  2. ISBN 0-8108-3386-7
    .
  3. ^ Numbers 2006, p. 316
  4. ^ Henry Morris III (2013). "Duane Gish: Celebrating a Creation Champion". Acts & Facts. pp. 18–19. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  5. ^ "Duane T. Gish Obituary: View Duane Gish's Obituary by San Diego Union-Tribune". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-275-96262-8.[page needed
    ]
  7. ^ a b Numbers 2006, p. 251
  8. ^ "Dr. Duane Gish: Crusader", Creation Matters, Volume 1, Number 1 Archived 2012-07-23 at archive.today January/February 1996
  9. ^ Numbers 2006, p. 260.
  10. ^ "Duane T. Gish dies". The Skeptical Review. March 6, 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  11. Talk Origins Archive
    . Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  12. ^ Scott, Eugenie (November–December 2004). "Confronting Creationism: When and How". National Center for Science Education. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  13. ^ "Homeopathy: Recedit ad anum". Short and spiky. 15 Feb 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  14. ^ St. Whitehall, Nigel (18 August 2009). "Skeptoid #167". The Skeptical Review. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  15. ^ Gish, D.T., Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics, IRC, 1993
  16. ISBN 0-7167-3387-0
    .
  17. ISBN 0-87893-659-9.[page needed
    ]
  18. ^ Schadewald, Robert J. "Six Flood Arguments Creationists Can't Answer". Lhup.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2015-07-31.

Further reading

External links

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