Clergy Letter Project - Reaction From Creationists

Reaction From Creationists

The creationist Discovery Institute, which arranged its own anti-evolution petition called A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism in 2001 criticized the project. Discovery Institute communications director Rob Crowther asserted that the disputes about evolution was "purely a scientific debate" and that clergy petitions are irrelevant, stating that clergy "don't make any difference," since "We don't think there is anything religious at all to the theory of intelligent design." Zimmerman described this argument as part of the problem, as intelligent design tried to undermine science by changing it from a study of the natural world to include supernatural explanations, and it was important for clergy to defend science against these attacks.

Ken Ham and Mark Looy of the creationist organization Answers in Genesis have repeatedly condemned Evolution Sunday/Evolution Weekend activities as a "Darwin praise service" and expressing dismay that "over 10,200 clergy had signed this awful letter." Ham and Looy also criticized Zimmerman's fundraising efforts through the Christian Alliance for Progress Answers in Genesis published a list of "modern scientists who have accepted the biblical account of creation." The majority are not biologists. The group has also organized "Creation Sunday" in response to Evolution Weekend, and has promoted the Creation Letter Project in response to Clergy Letter Project.

Jonathan Dudley, a divinity student at Yale University and author book Broken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics, (New York: Doubleday, 2011) wrote approvingly of Evolution Sunday in the Yale Daily News on January 24, 2007, while still worrying that congregations were not being taught to think for themselves with this current campaign, any more than subscribing to fundamentalist Christian biblical literalist doctrines. This caused Discovery Institute fellow Jonathon Wells to write a scathing article in the Yale Daily News on January 29, 2007 about Evolution Sunday, "Darwinism", and even Zimmerman. Wells repeated creationist objections to evolution by claiming incorrectly that there is no evidence of evolution and condemning evolution for not being in agreement with the views of 40% of the American public. Zimmerman responded to Wells' attack with a column in the Yale Daily News on February 5, 2007, pointing out the copious errors of fact in Wells' article. Wells followed this with a letter to the editor in the Yale Daily News dated February 6, 2007, and published on February 7, 2007. Wells brushed over the points Zimmerman had raised, and focused on whether the word "Darwinism" is appropriate or not. Wells also responded with vigor to two others who had written letters to the editor critical of his original article. Finally, Wells claimed that the only reason to stage Evolution Sunday is because evolution is not "scientifically sound or religiously neutral", and that it is "promoting an anti-religious philosophy disguised as empirical science." University of Iowa faculty member Tara C. Smith noted several other responses to this episode in her blog, Aetiology.