BAV'S ACTIVITIES IN NATURE MAGAZINE

In its 23 November, 2006, issue the world renowned scientific magazine Nature carried a special report titled “Anti-evolutionists raise their profile in Europe.” The report covered a workshop called “Teaching evolution theory in Europe” organized by a Polish biologist called Maciej Giertych for members of the European Parliament.

The report in Nature magazine discussed the place occupied by the subjects of evolution and creation in school curricula in such European countries as Italy, Germany, Poland, France and Great Britain. It also covered the work of the Science Research Foundation in Turkey:

“The movement is by far the strongest in Turkey, however, which is in negotiations to join the European Union. The main Muslim creationist organization [is] the Turkish Bilim ve Arastirma Vakfi… Prominent US creationists are also frequently invited by the group to give talks.

Jones has just returned from the Istanbul book fair, where he says many creationist publications were on sale, and proving extremely popular. ‘Creationism is a major issue in Turkish politics; the debate is much more tense than in the United States,’ he says. ‘All biology textbooks now used in schools are creationist in tone.’”

The report also covered the debate stemming from the teaching of the fact of Creation in various schools in Germany, and what went on following the removal of the theory of evolution from middle school curricula in Italy at the request of Education Minister Letizia Moratti.

The article also cited examples of creation research conducted by creationist groups in Russia, and stated that there was a rapid rise in creationism, particularly in Great Britain:

“Steve Jones, a geneticist at University College London who has lectured widely about evolution, is one of those concerned by the growing influence of creationist groups. ‘I have talked about evolution in front of more than 100,000 British schoolchildren in the past 20 years – during most of that time I was never asked questions about creationism,’ he says. ‘But in the past couple of years, wherever I go I am asked about it.’”

At the end of the report Jones states his belief that the theory of evolution will never lose influence in European countries as it has in the USA and that evolution will always remain powerful, but that he does not feel the same regarding Turkey. These statements reveal the powerful impact of the BAV and of Harun Yahya’s works on Darwinism.