(6) Wed 19 Nov 97 1:45 By: Christopher Baker To: All Re: Randigram - Australia St: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ @EID:00fe 23730da0 Delivered-To: majordomo-jrefinfo-nu-real-outgoing@redhotmomma.ssr.com Delivered-To: jrefinfo-nu-outgoing@ssr.com Date: 18 Nov 1997 05:49:30 -0000 From: James Randi --- Wizard To: broadcast-JREFInfo@ssr.com Subject: Minor Victory in Australia Sender: owner-jrefinfo@ssr.com Reply-To: James Randi --- Wizard Barry Williams, of the very active and effective Australian Skeptics group, has forwarded this news release, which I will share with you..... Australian Skeptics is celebrating a tactical victory over the main creationist propaganda organization in Australia. The Queensland-based Creation Science Foundation, which has, for around twenty years, spearheaded the promotion of the anti-scientific dogma of creation "science" in Australian schools, has just announced that henceforth the organization will do business under the name "Answers in Genesis." By removing any reference to science from its title, and by adopting its new name, the group is finally acknowledging what Australian Skeptics has always maintained, that the CSF/AIG represents only a peculiarly narrow fundamentalist religious dogma, which has nothing whatever to do with science. AIG, announcing its conversion to a more honest title in its publication "Prayer News," claimed that its US offshoot, the Kentucky- based "Answers in Genesis," set up by former CSF director Ken Ham, had had success under the new name and that all of their associated "ministries" would now use this title. In what was no doubt unconscious irony, it also claimed that the new name will be "less easily confused, even unconsciously, with cultic groups like `Christian Science' and `Scientology'." Australian Skeptics, while regarding this belated change as a tactical victory, will nevertheless maintain its vigilance and opposition to any future attempts by the creationist minority, under whatever name, to seek to inject their intellectually barren dogma into school curricula. We also expect that this move will stimulate some more vigorous opposition to the creationist propaganda from Australia's mainstream religions, now that they are being directly challenged on their own turf. **************************************** Subscribe to SWIFT! **************************************** SWIFT our quarterly (hardcopy) newsletter, is $10/annum Checks payable to JREF (address below). Tax deductible in the USA. Overseas, add $6 for airmail. ********************************************************************* To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from the mailing list: ********************************************************************** To subscribe: send a message to JREFInfo-request@ssr.com. In the body of the message have the one word, subscribe. To unsubscribe: Send mail to JREFInfo-request@ssr.com. In the body of the message have the one word, unsubscribe ----------------- How to Contact Randi: ----------------- James Randi Educational Foundation phone: +1 954 467 1112 201 SE Davie Boulevard fax: +1 954 467 1660 Fort Lauderdale FL 33316-1815 http://www.randi.org U.S.A. General questions: randi@randi.org Mail directly to Randi: 76702.3507@COMPUSERVE.COM --------------------------- BACK ISSUES OF THE HOTLINE: --------------------------- ftp.ssr.com is the home of the hotline, but we are very over loaded, so please try the other sites first. European users please try: Thanks to Anson Kennedy and Massimo Macucci for providing the ftp sites at netcom and unipi.it. -30- --- DB B2300sl/001027 * Origin: Rights On! - Make me believe it! - Edgewater_FL_USA (1:18/14) SEEN-BY: 12/12 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 3804/180 @PATH: 18/14 374/98 46 3651/9 396/1 3615/50 218/1001