Harun Yahya and The Evolution Deceit
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On the old messageboard, I once posted a link to Harun Yahya's book, "The Evolution Deceit". At the time I had not done enough research on evolution and was just looking for comments from members of this messageboard.
A few interesting things have come to light since then. First of all, Harun Yahya is a bit of a ghost -- the title is a pseudonym. I remember Shahid once mentioning that Harun Yahya had studied with Edip Yuksel -- who apparently does not have a very high opinion of him (http//www.yuksel.org), but I have no way of confirming this. This article identifies him as Adnan Oktar. Note that he studied at a university of fine arts...
http//www.jamiat.org.za/whatsnew/hyahya.html
Regardless, Yahya also appears to have links with the Turkish "scientific research foundation" Bilim Arastirma Vakfi (BAV). Interestingly, BAV has links with the Christian fundamentalist organization, the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in San Diego. In fact, it appears that Yahya's mentors are from the ICR, Henry and John Morris (cited in his book). BAV and the ICR organized conferences on the theory of evolution in Turkey in 1998, so it is probable that Yahya came into close contact with these "scientists". Point being I certainly don't see objective science happening here...Yahya's arguments appear to be a regurgitation of fundamentalist Christian pseudoscience.
Yahya's claims about his mentors are absolutely preposterous. In his book, he mentions Duane Gish as a "world-reknowned evolution expert." I have no idea where he got this from. I searched, and I couldn't find a single article published by this man in a peer-reviewed journal (although he does get published in Christian journals). He is also a biochemist, and not a paleontologist. Empty rhetoric does not make up for lack of factual evidence.
Henry Morris is not a biologist or a paeleontologist. He is a hydraulic engineer. I believe he even thought that Muhammad was possessed by Satan.
John Morris is the director of the ICR. Yahya calls him a "geologist" but he is a geological engineer. Like his father, he claims that the age of the earth is less than 10,000 years, as per the Biblical claim that the earth is thousands of years old. You've got to be kidding me here!
Further, he makes some absolutely sensationalist statements in his book. Check this out
Not a single "transitional form", creatures which are supposed to show the gradual evolution of advanced organisms from more primitive ones as neo-Darwinist theory claims, has ever been found anywhere in the world despite the most diligent and prolonged search in the fossil record.
Hmm, let me think.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there are thousands of examples of evolution in the fossil record. We have found fossils of intermediate forms of man. Here's a quote taken from a website
The Australopithecus fossils is one example, and there are many others. There are also examples of transitional forms between other species, such as Arch?opteryx (between dinosaur and bird, discovered in 1862) or Amphioxus (between invertebrate and vertebrate). Since Darwin's time we have increased our knowledge of the Tertiary period more than tenfold, and the unbroken chain of life is so clear now that no one in the entire paleontological community has seriously doubted evolution theory for the past century. In fact, it's been said that if the biologists hadn't invented evolution theory, the paleontologists would have eventually had to do it for them, otherwise none of their findings would have made any sense.
http//www.stardestroyer.net/Creationism/Arguments/Lies.shtml
So where does Yahya get off with such ridiculously unsubstantiated claims?
Even funnier, the references Yahya cites in his book are usually in support of evolution. He just picks one sentence out of context and cites it to prove his ideas. I mean, come on, how can you be citing Stephen Jay Gould to attack the theory of evolution!
If all this wasn't enough, the man appears to be a hypocrite, too, and one with fascist tendencies. He has very benevolently set up a site entitled "Islam Denounces Antisemitism", in which he plainly states that the Holocaust happened and was a great tragedy (while at the same time pointing out that it is exploited by Zionists). Strangely enough, he has also published a book in Turkish, "Soykirim Yalani" which is translated as "Holocaust Deception", in which he proceeds to explain that the Holocaust was a myth perpetrated by the Jews. Certainly one might argue that the Holocaust has been exploited by Zionists, but to underrate the tragedy is a mistake.
Also note that the CODOH ("Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust"), an anti-semetic group dedicated to "proving" the Holocaust never happened, supports this book. When the book was published, it received great praise from Turkey's Islamist Welfare Party. I smell politics here. Could someone like this be an objective scientist?
Summary Unless someone comprehensively refutes the above findings, I'm quite convinced that Harun Yahya, whoever he is, is something of a fraud, and should not be taken seriously.