Readers may recall--in connection with Professor Beckwith's defense of discrimination against gay philosophers--that Professor Beckwith also took exception to being described as a shill for ID creationism. The issue has arisen again, and it appears the charge stands. From the conclusion of the preceding analysis of Beckwith's record:
Beckwith’s attempt in his [recent] Baton Rouge talk to distance himself from the ID movement, and now his protestations about being called an ID supporter, are merely an attempt to perpetuate his charade as a disinterested scholar concerning ID. It was no coincidence that, barely three weeks after the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education gutted its policy so as to create an opening for teaching ID, he appeared in Baton Rouge to deliver a lecture in which he argued that ID is not “stealth creationism,” a statement taken verbatim from an article in which he argues that not only permitting but requiring ID in public schools is constitutional. There were only two possible beneficiaries of Beckwith’s visit: the creationists at the LA Family Forum and the Discovery Institute, who are the only ones with anything invested in this piece of legislation.
Beckwith wants to have his cake and eat it, too. On the one hand, over a period of almost ten years (given the February 2009 talk in Baton Rouge, it’s fair to include the present), he wants to write articles and a book and make public appearances that any reasonable person would interpret as pro-ID, while on the other hand, he wants to deny that he is an ID supporter. But he doesn’t get to have it both ways. As Tim Sandefur noted in his response, at the very least, if one lies down with dogs, one gets up with fleas. Does Beckwith really think that he could do these things and no one would ever comment on them? His writings and actions are what they are, and he now must live with them.
UPDATE: There's more illuminating discussion of Professor Beckwith's sleazy tactics here.
ANOTHER GEM: From the "what's wrong with the world" crowd, who regularly exemplify, rather than, analyze the phenomenon. Professor Norcross called that blog "bizarro world," but nuthouse is coming closer to the mark.
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