The BBC's clearinghouse on evolution. It includes the text of Origin of the Species, a bibliography and more.

BBC Education: Evolution homepage: "'4,000 million years crammed into one website'"

This organization tracks legislative issues.

Americans United: Bush Endorsement Of 'Intelligent Design' In Public Schools Is Irresponsible, Says Americans United: "President George W. Bush’s endorsement of teaching “intelligent design” in the public schools is irresponsible and undermines sound science education, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State."

The New York Times> Search> Abstract: "Beliefs; Eighty years after Scopes, a professor reflects on unabated opposition to evolutionists.
"

Honorable mention to The Origin of the Species.

HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE :: Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries: "Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries"

Now this is a theory that deserves to be taught alongside evolution!

AlterNet: Blogs: Peek: Open letter to Kansas School Board: "I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. "

Now this is a theory that deserves to be taught alongside evolution!

AlterNet: Blogs: Peek: Open letter to Kansas School Board: "I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. "

Christian agenda worries other faiths | LJWorld.com: "'I'm concerned about where it might lead. Compulsory prayer in schools, whether people might have to acknowledge a common creator -- all these things are waiting to explode, especially if they (conservatives) are successful,' said Bhattacharya, an assistant scientist who does petroleum engineering studies for the Lawrence-based Kansas Geological Survey."

AlterNet: Having Fun With Intelligent Design: "I have just three words for biology teachers who are wringing their hands as school boards from Kansas to Pennsylvania force them to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution: Get over it."

The reader comments at the bottom of this article are pricless.

AlterNet: Having Fun With Intelligent Design: "I have just three words for biology teachers who are wringing their hands as school boards from Kansas to Pennsylvania force them to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution: Get over it.

Here's what I think. Science teachers can comply with the requirement and still offer their students a first-rate education. If done with imagination, the new curriculum could end up stimulating more learning and excitement than their traditional explication of Darwinian theory."

Yes.

York Dispatch Online - LETTERS: "Article Last Updated: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 11:04:27 AM EST

Creationism a topic of philosophy

The teaching of creationism or intelligent design in public high schools does not violate the First Amendment's requirement of separation of church and state.

Students should have a full education about the theories and philosophies that exist concerning the earth's existence. However, intelligent design is not a scientific theory and therefore does not belong in the science classroom. It is a religious theory and should be treated as such; that is, taught in a philosophy or world religion class."

This is a good argument by a cosmologist that discusses the history of the Big Bang theory, and why many theologians believe that the idea of creation falls outside the boundaries of science.

School Boards Want to 'Teach the Controversy.' What Controversy? - New York Times: "While this argument may seem strange, Lemaître was grasping something that is missed in the current public debates about evolution. The Big Bang is not a metaphysical theory, but a scientific one: namely one that derives from equations that have been measured to describe the universe, and that makes predictions that one can test.

It is certainly true that one can reflect on the existence of the Big Bang to validate the notion of creation, and with that the notion of God. But such a metaphysical speculation lies outside of the theory itself."

A discussion of intelligent design debate:

Evolution Dominates Campaign in Pa. Town: "By MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press Writer
May 16, 2005 0516AP-EVOLUTION-DEB


DOVER, Pa. (AP) - On opposite sides of town, two billboards for competing slates of school board candidates illustrate the deep divide here over the teaching of evolution and the origin of life.

One sign shouts, 'It's time for a new school board in Dover!'' The other describes the seven sitting board members as 'the INTELLIGENT choice'' - a reference to the board's decision last fall to require the mention of 'intelligent design'' in class."

LJWorld.com : Christian agenda worries other faiths: "Push for intelligent design seen by some as imposing Christianity on others

By Jim Baker, Journal-World

Thursday, May 12, 2005

It is conservative Christians on the State Board of Education who are sitting today in judgment of evolution instruction in Kansas schools."

In this article some other religions get a voice in the debate.

AAAS - History and Archives: "AAAS Statement on the Kansas State Board of Education Decision on the Education of Students in the Science of Evolution and Cosmology

The American Association for the Advancement of Science deplores the recent decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to remove references to evolution and cosmology from its state education standards and assessments, thereby making central principles for the scientific understanding of the universe and its history optional subjects for science education. "

A few more articles on the topic.

AAAS - AAAS News Release: "AAAS on Monday declined an invitation from the Kansas Board of Education to appear at a May hearing on teaching evolution in public schools after concluding that the event is likely to sow confusion rather than understanding among the public."

A little background to the case in Kansas

AP Wire | 05/08/2005 | A look at hearings on evolution: "A look at hearings on evolution

Associated Press

THE HEARINGS: A three-member subcommittee of the State Board of Education is taking testimony on how evolution should be taught."

Just saw this in the news and thought I would throw it up. The hearings in Kansas are a big deal as far as the public debate is concerned.

News-Leader.com | Columnists | Robert Leger | Kansas hearings aren't about science: "The hearings that began in Topeka last week to decide how evolution should be taught have nothing to do with science."

It has been added to Blogger's entries and the Google search bar has been returned. The blog isn't indexed yet, however it is only a matter of time because Google owns Blogger. Hopefully, this resource can continue to grow. Once the course is over, I am going to open it to additional posters. So that anyone who wants to work on the project can be included.

I am thinking one of the main areas we have largely missed up to this point in the project is artwork depicting creation. The LoC exhibit is a good start, but their are possibly some good texts out there on that. I think Haley's earlier comment that looking at individual cultures and their creation accounts would be one of the main ways that we could get more depth and really start to get a historical perspective on things. As the blog continues to grow, hopefully more contributors will become involved. Expanding the search outside of Davis reference is also a good next move. The databases are a good place to accumulate citations. Many have an export feature where, like in the entry about Education Full Text, whole bibliographies from across the disciplines can be formed. I think that might be my next addition before tackling the artwork.

I am really disappointed. You would think Tolkien's theories would at least be mentioned in most of the books on fantasy, but alas they are not. Entries on Tolkien mention his theories, but only a few have entries devoted to any of his concepts. Otherwise, cosmology, creation, etc. don't appear to be mentioned at all. One notable exception from the Science Fiction books is the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (Call Number: PN3433.4 .E53 1993). This text has an extensive entry on cosmology. This entry discusses the use of alternative cosmologies in science fiction writing. It gives numerous examples and tracks the history of cosmology in science fiction (p. 267-268). It would probably be one of the more useful places to start looking at creation in literature.

Chronology of Science: From Stonehenge to the Human Genome Project Call Number: Q125 .C482 2002

One mention of creationism: In 1898 the french nauralist Antonio Snider-Pellegrini published Creation and its Mysteries Unveiled in which he explained the formation of the continents using the biblical account of creation (p. 165).

Magic Universe: the Oxford Guide to Modern Science Call Number: Q125 .C275 2003

This one talks about the debate and explicately states that "neo-Darwinists" have largely hijacked evolution as an atheist concept by oversimplifying the theory to natural selection, thus framing the debate as either or. This is by far the most concise and to the point article that I have yet found stating this one of the major problems evolution as a theory faces. It is good to see it mentioned so clearly (p. 274-275).

Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abduction to Zone Therapy Call Number: Q157 .E57 2000

Includes entries for Cosmologies, variant; Creation Research Society (mentioned in almost all I have looked at); Creation Science; Creative Evolution; and so on...

"Cosmologies, variant" discusses creation myths. It gives a brief overview of some of the characteristics similar to most creation accounts and mentions some of the key variations and then concludes with a discussion of sciences slow entry into the study of cosmology. It doesn't state an opinion, but just the facts. (p. 60-61)

"Creative evolution" is discussed in the entry on Henri Bergson as that is the title of a book where he challenged the ability of "natural selection" to be the only driving force in evolution. It then says that scientists have debunked his theories and that "natural selection" is in fact king. The authors of this entry should have looked at the Magic Universe, because that certainly tells a different story. (p. 30)

Science and Its Times: Understanding the Social Significance of Scientific Discovery v.7 (1950-Present) Call Number: Q175.46 S35 2000 v.7

The entry us titled "Evolution and Creationism in American Public Schools." I wonder if the volumes covering early time periods mention in more detail some of the historical debates uncovered in the chronologies above. In the future, that might be worth looking into. (p. 80-83)

Social Issues in Science and Technology Call Number: Q 175.5 N49 1999

Only has an entry on "Creationism" and discusses the same old political stuff (p. 48-51).

HW Wilson Results: "


Cook, G. Evolution or intelligent design? Science and faith meet school policy. The American School Board Journal v. 192 no. 4 (April 2005) p. 8, 10-11



Phillips, S. Darwin in danger of extinction. The Times Educational Supplement no. 4626 (March 18 2005) p. 20



Klein, J.G., et. al., Rigid and Dogmatic [Discussion of 'One nation, under the designer,' by Mark Terry]. Phi Delta Kappan v. 86 no. 7 (March 2005) p. 559-61"

CiteNow!: "Masci, D. (1997, August 22). Evolution vs. creationism. The CQ Researcher Online, 7. Retrieved May 8, 2005, from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1997082200. Document ID: cqresrre1997082200."

This article has an a good bibliography and strives to cover both sides of the issues. I figured that I might as well find a few articles that are from an outright political perspective.

The subtitle pretty much says it - "historical,philosophical, and scientific foundations of modern cosmology". It includes entries for all modes of thought that have played a role in creating our current cosmological (how the universe is ordered) understanding. For example, there are entries for greek and egyptian cosmologies.

This resource is scientific in nature and a lot less mythical/religious, but it does explain how older cultures scientifically perceived the universe and how it was ordered.

Related entries are under Entries listed under anthropic principle, cosmology, cosmogony, creator, creation, and creation in cosmology.

Entries to follow in this resource are listed under creation, creationism, creation science, design, design argument, divine action, god, intelligent design, scopes trial, scriptural interpretation, darwin.

A lead one could follow to begin research on teaching intelligent design vs. evolution in schools is the Scopes Trial. This is the definitive trial that made the decision to teach evolution in schools.

This would be a good source to find key issues and further reference sources.

Another good aspect is that it includes the view of creationism from other cultures.

Having been through the sociology section and finding nothing relevant to our topic, I am a little disappointed. After finding nothing, my first thought was to take a step back and look for terms such as god, religion, big bang, evolution, supernatural, mythology, intelligent design and spiritual. But none of these worked either. They weren't really entries that weren't specifically related to our subject matter. As a result, I believe the best route would be to look at the bibliographies and references made in other reference works from the religion, mythology, folklore, and philosophy sections.

It just occurred to me that all of these scientific texts have been talking about "Creationism" and "Creation Science" and completely ignoring the use of the term "Intelligent Design" which the fundamentalists have been using themselves. This is the opposite of the proponents of "Intelligent Design" who adamantly try to frame evolution as just another "theory" that is no more justified by science than their own. This is very similar to the usage of language in the debate over abortion. Pro-choice advocates refer to themselves as "Pro-choice" and their opponents as "Anti-choice", while Pro-life advocates refer to themselves as "Pro-life" or "Anti-abortion" and their opponents as "Pro-abortion" or "Murderers". While not quite so blatant, a similar subtle use of language in the debate over evolution and creation is clearly apparent. Language is a very powerful tool in political discourse.

Habib,

here's a little info i got yesterday about our topic. It's mostly preliminary ish, like finding words/phrases that work and publications that have some leading info in them.

Some related words -
creationism, mythology, cosmology, cosmogony, cosmogenesis, mythosgenesis

People mentioned -
Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell

Publications -
Encyclopedia of Religion
} These have had the most so far in my search Mythology of All Races Key Ideas in Human Thought Dictionary of Ethics, Theology, and Society Dictionary of Ideas

It's not the most detailed info I could sent you but it's a start.

Haley

Creation myths in society, Thu 3/3/2005 7:46 PM
Fellow classmates and Dr. Carr,

Haley and I will be studying the topic of creation across the social sciences and humanities. At this point, we plan to begin with a two pronged approach. First we will be exploring the idea of creation from the perspective of religion, mythology, philosophy and literature; and second we will be exploring the place of creation theory in social and political discourse. It is our hope that these strands will cross one another frequently as the religious theory adapts to outside pressures. By following this method we hope to see the development, and possibly evolution, of creation theory throughout human history. For example, the recent push to teach theories of “intelligent design” as alternatives to the theory of evolution demonstrates how the language of creation has changed in accord with the political and social climate. Thus, one clue we will be observant for is changes in the language of creation. Looking at different cultures may also uncover important clues as we compare the symbols and metaphors used by different cultures. Of course, as we pursue this study, what we discover may be different from our initial assumptions. At least at first, we will be working exclusively with the print reference collections in Davis , to avoid getting too lost in a single discipline. However, as promising patterns emerge, and as time allows, we may expand our search further. Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated. We apologize for the tardiness of our topic, but have been working towards developing a common theme to frame our study. So far, we have been determining useful terms (creationism, mythology, cosmology, cosmogony, cosmogenesis, mythosgenesis, etc.) and individual works (Encyclopedia of Religion) to begin with.

Sincerely,
Michael and Haley

Wed 3/9/2005 11:59 AM

Habib,

I have an idea about how we can turn our project in for 224. It would basically be like a log or diary (for lack of a better term) about our experience while looking through resources. It would be done day by day, or an entry for each time we did some work for the project. Documented would be our experiences, what questions came up, our thoughts and so on... Also, there could be information about what either of us wanted to show or explain to the other, what we found together, and why we think something we found is important or relevant to our subject. Experiences could be documented separately and together making it so we don't always have to be in ref at the same time. And as a supplement, we could turn in the database melissa sent out over the listserv. What do you think??

Haley

Okay, so here are the definitions for mythology and religion.


- from a new dictionary of religions
Mythology - ...they are used to refer to the use of stories and the interpretation of stories and events as employed in religions to convey truths or truths that vernacular forms of spech cannot alwys convey. ...Myths are believed to 'make up a body of "assumed knowledge" about the universe, the natural and supernatural worlds, and ma's place in the totality.

In essence what this means is that mythology is used to describe events placed in a religious context such as the crucifixion of Jesus interpreted as a divine act of salvation.

-from a new dictionary of religions
Religion - A general term used in most modern European languages to designate all concepts concerning the belief in God(s) and Goddess(es) as well as other spiritual beings or transcendental ultimate concerns.

There is a heck of a lot more in the entry for relgion. Interestingly enough, what it has really made me aware of is that there is already an existing debate on how to define religion and how to classify different spiritual practices from different cultures. I suppose this could be another angle to approach creationism. How and why differnt thoughts of creation are treated as myth or relgion.

After realizing how most books only mention fundamentalist Christian versions of Creation I am starting to see just why they are so effective in getting people to believe in there version of creation. Even scientists write like that is the only version out there. You would think that scientists, many of whom believe creation and evolution are not mutually exclusive, would take a more even handed approach when writing about creation. Certainly, you would think that they would at least mention, if not highlight, that the current debate is only between one specific view of the world creation and that other views do not necessarily discount evolution. This constant focus on creationism and creation science of fundamentalists frames the entire debate in terms of either/or. I wonder if Ruse performed an examination of how scientists frame the debate when he was writing his The Evolution-Creation Struggle. As I go through the various entries in different science encyclopedias, I am starting to see where he has a very strong argument that it is the scientific community itself that is prolonging the argument by largely framing the discussion as creation or evolution. I wonder if the only scientists who care enough about the debate are those who are adamantly against all creation accounts and not just fundamentalism. Those that see no disagreeing between creation and evolution might be the ones writing the articles. Ideally creation shouldn't be in science books at all, and most scientists who believe that they are not mutually exclusive also believe that they belong in two separate places. For example in the Catholic view evolution is a matter of the body, while biblical creation is a matter of the soul, thus outside of the sphere of science. If creation is going to be included in most scientific texts, then a well rounded perspective should be presented and not just the fundamentalist.

Another issue that continues to manifest in my mind is the way our reference collection treats the major religions as opposed to smaller modes of spiritual thought, referred to otherwise as mythology. Where is the line between mythology and religion? What puts one mode of thought in the religion category and another in the mythology category? The reason I pose this question is because something being classified as a religion gives it validity, and something being classified as a mythology makes it seem to be only stories created by lesser intelligent people. No sources that i have found treat any of the major religions as mythologies. Perhaps I should consult a dictionary to see what the defined difference is.

In my mind, the distinction comes from what is commonly viewed and accepted as the dominant religion or mode of spiritual thought. The collection and the people who write or contribute to the books are likely to be created by someone who is more familiar/accepting of the major religions. We understandably have a huuuuuuge section on several aspects of christianity as a result of being in the bible belt and christianity being one of the most influential religions in the country. I just feel that we should view all concepts of spiritual beliefs from the same angle. It's ok to have more of one subect than another, but we should be careful about how and why we categorize something as mythology.

Another angle that a person could come from to search for information on creationsm is the roles and purposes of specific heroes and archetypes in creation myths. The folklore section would be a great place to go for that. For example, the source called "Folklore" has an entry under cosmology that also refers the reader to culture hero; myth.

So here's an issue about creationism that I came across that may help someone with their search. There are "true" creation myths and just regular creation myths. A true creation myth deals with the belief that a higher form created the universe and all that is in it out of nothing. As opposed to creation myths that deal with how the universe is ordered. For example, there are peoples that consider this reality to be a rebuilt version of a reality that existed before. That idea should be considered when searching for information. What kind of creation myth are you looking for?? (I know, dangling participle)

So my personal interests are in the different myths of how things were created and the recurring archetypes that exist cross-culturally. A book I've been trying to read on that subject is called Hamlet's Mill, but that's beside the point. The question I end up asking when looking at different creation myths and the recurring archetypes is "why do these images and meanings continue to appear in cultures that have had no contact?", "Does the explanation have to do with the human psyche or some common origin?", and "If there is one common origin, what is it and what other vestiges has it left?". Or I will ask myself "If many of the symbols and archetypes are similar is it possible that they mostly recount similar events from different perspectives?". With that being said, I found a couple of references that may add to my own deeper interests and with an avenue the subject matter of creationism may take. They are:

Motif - Index of Folk Literature (this is several several volumes)

Type and Motif-Index of the Folktales of England and North America (this too is several volumes)

Folklife Sourcebook - (this may help me in my further adventures after library school. I'm interested in becoming affiliated with a cultural institution that deals with folklore and mythology)

Okay, so here's how i start out when perusing the reference area in davis. First, I lookat the lc subject lists Dr, Carr has posted to his website. Then i methodically go through a subject area and write down books that I feel may have some relevant information. Then with the best intentions, I go into the stacks to search for what i have written down. As I start to make my way to where I think i should start, something will catch my eye before I even get to my predeterminded destination. And so i set my list down and go "Wow, what's this? This looks cool and relevant", and just completely forget about what I have written down. And then I begin to start thinking about my own interests which is somewhat relevant to the subject matter of this project, but not directly related. That is a bit frustrating, yet still amusing every time it happens. It is definately hard tostay on task when there is so much information and you have a curious or wandering mind.

Hit and Run: "God Made Man, But A Monkey Supplied the Glue

You'll be relieved to learn that Sunday's B.C., which took on Charles Darwin in some of the most arrythmic rhyming verse ever carved in stone, was not dropped by any of the comic strip's 1,200 client newspapers. 'Anyone who runs 'B.C.' at this point knows Johnny Hart's philosophy, so I don't think anyone was surprised,' Creators Syndicate president Rick Newcombe tells Editor And Publisher. Complaints about the strip have been few and far between."

A pretty straight forward encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of Creation Myths spans a wide range of peoples many of whom I have never heard. A unique aspect of this encyclopeda is that it explains what a creation myth is. No other source I have seen at this point has done that. That in itself makes this a commendable source. It shouldn't be assumed that a person knows why certain stories of certain cultures are included and why others are not.

I really like this one because it speaks to my interests. The entries of gods, saints, and ideas (among other things) are not only explained, but their archetypal imagery is also explained. It also relates ancient mythologies to their more recent manifestations in judeo-christian beliefs. Of course one can tell from the title that this is mostly from the perspective of women and their importance mythological thought. Something I would like to own and see more recent versions of. Though it seems to be alittle anti-christian, it is still a cool source.

This book has an entry on creation myths, explaining how they vary from culture to culture. Only older civiliztions are dealt with in this source. There aren't any entries related to current events. The entry for creation myths isn't too stunning, but it does suggest terms that I hadn't before considered such as "primordial sea". That term may be a good lead when dealing with symbolism or comparisons of creation myths.

World Mythology, An Annotated Guide to Collections and Anthologies is definately a source I would use when looking for sources concerned with creation myths. There's a huuge entry in the index for creation myths. This book includes bibliographies of sources that deal with the subject of mythology and in those bibliographies are explanations of each source. Very, very cool.

Booring! Yet another entry on the conflict between science and religion. At least the user is referred to another entry under "social science and religion". A name that is beginning to crop up repeatedly is Emile Durkheim. I remember his name from my undergraduate anthropology classes, but I can't quite remember why he is important as far as religion and creationism are concerned. The social science and religion entry also mentions some other names that may be worthy of exploration.

Yet another source with a sizeable section on the conflict between relgion and science. The conflict between evolutionism and creationism seems to be a matter widely researched. That would be an obvious path to send a student down, even though it's probably been done so much that it wouldn't be very exciting. On a side note, I was a bit confused at first while I was trying to figure out how to use the source. Eventually, I figured out that the index is in the last volume. That could be a slight issue for the unsuspecting library patron.

If one is researching theories and varying aspects of creation, I suppose it would be natural for one to explore the disbelief of the involvement of higher powers in the creation of all things. And so, here enters the Encyclopedia of Unbelief. This encyclopedia has a substantial entry under "evolution and unbelief". This entry starts from the classical period where early speculations of evolution begins. It then proceeds to cover the ways evolution has been explored up to the present. It is curious however that at the end of the entry, the encyclopedia doesn't champion either side of the debate. That is definately sign of a good source to use. It simply presents the facts and not opinion. At the end is also a reference to another entry under "Universe, Origin of the, and Unbelief".

Terms to look for when attempting to search for creationism and politics?

prayer in school
scopes trial
relgion and science
evolution being taught in school
religion and evolution

For the sake of this project, I believe excluding dictionaries would be a wise move. They rarely go into depth and mostly give a definition that plainly means "the belief that the world's creation can be attributed to a higher power". Or if it is a dictionary of a certain religion, it would only be useful when comparing the cut and dry of how each religion views how the world was created. For this exercise this would be too gruelling. I would refer a student who was intending to do a research paper on a certain religion and creationism to a dictionary, but it would only be a starting point to begin formulating terms and ideas.

As I am going through reference sections, I am beginning to see more and more angles that can be used to approach the subject of creationism. One could lookat it from a political and historical view, a mythological view from older religions/myths (though I'm still not quite sure where the line is between religion and mythology), individual relgions, symbolism in creationsim, comparisons of symbolism in different religions, etc. etc. It's crazy there's so much here to consider. The amount of information is almost overwhelming.

The Encyclopedia of Religion is almost the antithesis of the Mythology of All Races. It is in one volume and was published in 2005 as opposed to the Mythology of All Races that is 13 volumes and last published in 1932. Included in the entries for mythology and creation in the Encyclopedia of Religion are entries under cosmogony and cosmology. The Encyclopedia of Religion divides cosmology into different ethnic understandings of creation, including a scientific entry. Another good aspect of this book is the fact that it gives an explanation of the books it includes in its bibliographies. For instance, it explains what a book in the bibliography would be relevant to and for what it is useful. Also included are newly published sources that would be relevant. It would be a good source to use in order to compare authoritative understandings of the past and present of other culture's ideas on creationism.

The natural places to begin with a question of this sort are the religion and mythology sections. One source that automatically jumps out is the Mythology of All Races. This is a 13 volume set that includes hoardes of information on countless cultures and peoples. It's easy to tell from the title what the book is about, so it would be an obvious choice to pick up and thumb through. However, I would have to warn the user that the information in this source is not current with the last one being published in 1932. Even with that being said, this is not a dead source. This huuuge source can be used to compare our older understandings of ideas and concepts of different cultures to newer ones that can be found elsewhere.

While talking to several classmates about our subject, I was referred to look into Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung for some interesting information. Though I know who Carl Jung is, I'm not exactly sure how his research is connected to creationism. And I have no idea who Joseph Campbell is. Two very interesting leads...

Here are other words i found that may help in the search for information on creationism.

mythology, cosmology, cosmogony, cosmos, cosmogenisis, mythosynthesis, creation myths

The question we are posting is rather broad for a reason. Having worked at several reference desks, I have come to accept the fact that people will often come to the desk with really broad questions and not know that the question has to be refined to be researched. And once they are made aware of the broadness of their question, they are not sure how to refine it. I can imagine someone coming to the desk asking for information on creationism alone. You would have to probe into the question trying to get the patron to think about and refine this question into something that approaches creationism from a particular angle such as: creationism in certain cultures, symbolism in creationism, creationism vs. evolution, similarities and differences in creationism and evolution, etc. So, understanding these sources and how they treat creationism would allow the knowledgeable reference librarian to help the patron refine their question and identify useable sources.

Ok, so here's my reasoning for choosing this topic for our project. First I should let it be known that my undergrad is in anthropology, so I'm always interested in how and why people understand and behave the way they do. I was probably always interested in stories and ideas of creation when I was young because those stories provided some sort of magic, possibility, and otherness to life. As I matured from the young kid reading Greek and Roman myths to the young adult probing for answers to life, I began to intellectualize and understand the importance of stories of creation. I now understand how they provide continuity and purpose while serving as a sort of reference point for a given culture. I also now understand that stories of creation often contain some traceable truth to them, which also plays into my interest into prehistory.

Just as I learned in undergrad, my intention is to approach this topic as objectively as possible. The point here will be to simply find and understand information on the topic of creationism and how it is treated in different areas of social science, not to prove one idea over another. However, if there was a student whose intention was to find information that leans toward one idea related to creationism, the sources discussed here should be of some value to him/her.

This blog has been created with the intention of discussing social science reference books related to the idea of creationism found in Davis library.

I just noticed a link to this L.A. Times article on Arts & Letters Daily.

Not Intelligent, and Surely Not Science: "In fact, invoking intelligent design as God's place-filler can only result in the naturalization of the deity. God becomes just another part of the natural world, and thereby loses the transcendent mystery and divinity that define the boundary between religion and science."

When I get a chance, I am going to run through the various accounts from the LoC site and the Wikipedia entry, and try to assemble a brief list of texts describing creation for these various accounts. I think it will be useful to have a list of primary sources. Many of these accounts are not related to written texts, but there still may be a name for the story.

Before I do this however, I want to finish up recording my background with this topic. J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories" and his book The Silmarillion. are a literary theory partially based in the idea of creation, and an implementation of this theory. The Silmarillion is one of the most in depth stories of creation written in recent history. The Silmarillion is available at any decent library, and "On Fairy Stories" can be found in The Tolkien Reader:

Title : The Tolkien reader, by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Author : Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973.
Publisher : New York, Ballantine Books [1966]
Edition : [1st ed.]
Description : 1 v. (various pagings) illus. 18 cm.
Contents : Tolkien's magic ring [by P. Beagle]--The Homecoming of Beorhtaoth,
Beorhthelm's son.--Tree and leaf.--Farmer Giles of Ham.--The adventures of Tom Bombadil.
OCLC No . : 00309963
Location : Davis, Call Number : PR6039.O32 T6
Location : UL, Call Number : PR6039.O32 T6


The day Joan taught class, I looked these topics up in the MLA and some other databases. The best hits came from the MLA. Some of those appear below:

The search: silmarillion and creation in the database(s) MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02, MLA Bibliography 1981-1993, MLA Bibliography 1963-1980 returned 7 records

Those records that appear relevant to the topic of creation are:

Record 1 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: 'Ainulindale': Tolkien's Commitment to an Aesthetic Ontology
AU: Collins,-Robert-A.
SO: Journal-of-the-Fantastic-in-the-Arts (JFA). 2000; 11(3 (43)): 257-65
AN: 2001270091

Record 2 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Tolkien's Creation Myth in The Silmarillion: Northern or Not?
AU: Gough,-John
SO: Children'-s-Literature-in-Education (CLE). 1999 Mar; 30(1): 1-8
AN: 1999028365

Record 3 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: The Mythology of the 'Ainulindale': Tolkien's Creation of Hope
AU: Whittingham,-Elizabeth-A.
SO: Journal-of-the-Fantastic-in-the-Arts (JFA). 1998; 9(3 (35)): 212-28
AN: 1998005915

Record 4 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Augustine and the Ainulindale
AU: Houghton,-John
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and
-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1995 Summer; 21(1 (79)): 4-8
AN: 1995032236

Record 5 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: Tolkien's World-Creation: Degenerative Recurrence
AU: Evans,-Robley
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and
-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1987 Autumn; 14(1 (51)): 5-8, 47
AN: 1989023130

Record 7 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: The Ainulindale: Music of Creation
AU: Davis,-Howard
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and
-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1982 Summer; 9(2 (32)): 6-8
AN: 1982027747

The search: On-Fairy-Stories in DE in the database(s) MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02, MLA Bibliography 1981-1993, MLA Bibliography 1963-1980 returned 23 records

Those records that appear relevant to the topic of creation are:

Record 3 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Magic vs. Enchantment
AU: Curry,-Patrick
SO: Mallorn:-The-Journal-of-the-Tolkien-Society (Mallorn). 2001 Jan; 38: 5-10
AN: 2001701754

Record 4 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Is Man a Myth? Mere Christian Perspectives on the Human
AU: Williams,-Donald-T.
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and-Mythopoeic-Literature (MythloreJ). 2000 Summer-Fall; 23(1 (87)): 4-19
AN: 2000025648

Record 5 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Meeting Morgan le Fay: J. R. R. Tolkien's Theory of Subcreation and the Secondary World of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
AU: Adderley,-C.-M.
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and -Mythopoeic-Literature (MythloreJ). 2000 Spring; 22(4 (86)): 48-58
AN: 2000004924

Record 6 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Fantasy and Reality: J. R. R. Tolkien's World and the Fairy-Story Essay
AU: Flieger,-Verlyn
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and -Mythopoeic-Literature (MythloreJ). 1999 Winter; 22(3 (85)): 4-13
AN: 2000004902

Record 7 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: 'Leaf by Niggle': The Worth of the Work
AU: Manganiello,-Dominic
SO: English-Studies-in-Canada (ESC). 1998 June; 24(2): 121-37
AN: 1999059396

Record 11 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Sub-Creation in William Golding's The Inheritors
AU: Timmons,-Daniel
SO: English-Studies-in-Canada (ESC). 1996 Dec; 22(4): 399-412
AN: 1996068002

Record 12 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Quid Hinieldus cum Christo? New Perspectives on Tolkien's Theological Dilemma and His Sub-Creation Theory
AU: Agoy,-Nils-Ivar
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1996 Winter; (1995); 21; 33(2(80)): 31-38
AN: 1996027398

Record 18 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: Dynamic Metahistory and the Model of Christopher Dawson
AU: Ryan,-J.-S.
SO: Minas-Tirith-Evening-Star:-Journal-of-the-American-Tolkien-Society. 1989 Fall; 18(3): 10-14
AN: 1990025953

Record 23 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: Folktale, Fairy Tale, and the Creation of a Story
AU: Ryan,-J.-S.
PB: 19-39 IN Isaacs,-Neil-D. (ed.); Zimbardo,-Rose-A. (ed.). Tolkien: New Critical Perspectives. Lexington : UP of Kentucky, 1981. vii, 175 pp.
AN: 1981000655

Another poem about creation from the texts in docsouth. There were a few other hits for creation on docsouth, but most of them simply were refering to God as the Creator, and not discussing creation itelf.
George Moses Horton, 1798?-ca. 1880. The Hope of Liberty. Containing a Number of Poetical Pieces: "PRAISE OF CREATION.


Creation fires my tongue!
Nature thy anthems raise;
And spread the universal song
Of thy Creator's praise! (p. 5)"

I began reviewing the various creation accounts from the LoC Exihibit I mentioned in my first post. Off a hunch I looked for this one on docsouth, and there it was.

James Weldon Johnson, 1871-1938, Aaron Douglas, Illustrated by, and C. B. Falls (Charles Buckles), 1874-1960, Illustrated by. God's Trombones. Seven Negro Sermons in Verse: "The Creation


And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I'm lonely --
I'll make me a world. (p. 17)"

The regular Wikipedia also has an extensive article. It contains blurbs on about a dozen different belief systems as well.

Creation belief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Many creation beliefs share broadly similar themes. Common motifs include the fractionation of the things of the world from a primordial chaos; the separation of the mother and father gods; land emerging from an infinite and timeless ocean; and so on."

There is a whole wiki devoted to creatonism. Who would have thought?

I guess there are two types of creationism. I had come up against the young earth terminology before, but I never new what it meant. This is a fairly straightforward distinction and clears up a lot of what I was confused about. I was never quite sure why someone could be denied the title creationist if they believed the Big Bang was an act of creation. According to this distinction, that could fall under "Old Earth" creationism. My guess is that this is a term mostly used by the "Young Earth" creationists.

Creationism - CreationWiki: " There are two broad perspectives of creationism known as young earth, and old-earth.

* The Young earth creationism (YEC) perspective results from a literal interpretation of the history of the early earth in Genesis, and the Islamic Qur'an, which both contain nearly parallel accounts of a six-day creation, Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and Noah's flood.

* The Old earth creationism (OEC) perspective accepts the secular scientific community's assessment of the age of the earth and universe, and assumes the creation periods were undefined lengths of time or there were large gaps of history in Genesis"

A human indexed directory on creation:

Open Directory - Society: Religion and Spirituality: Christianity: Perspectives: Origins and Creation

While it only seems to cover Christianity, it is interesting to look at the number of sites devoted to different issues.

This book edited by Louis P. Pojman has some of the main essays arguing for or against the teleological argument from Paley and Hume to the current day. I took a Philosophy of Religion course that used this book, which led me to make the earlier statement that this argument has not progressed in any significant ways.

Amazon.com: Books: Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology: "Product Description:
The most comprehensive text in its field, this anthology includes over 70 articles in 10 areas of philosophy of religion: Traditional Arguments for the Existence of God, Religious Experience, The Problem of Evil, The Attributes of God, Miracles and Revelation, Death and Immortality, Faith and Reason, Religious Pluralism, and Ethics and Religion. "

As promised here are some links to the current discussion. This is a piece I read last semester that I had a little trouble tracking down. It is a lively debate between the leading proponents on either side of the issue. Each expert offers a mini-bibliography of important sources to read.

Intelligent Design? A Special Report from Natural History Magazine: "evolution: science and belief
Intelligent Design?
a special report reprinted from
Natural History magazine"

I saw one of these creation proponents, Michael J. Behe, speak at Boston College when he was on a book tour in 1998 or 1999. At that talk, he was relatively unsuccesful in his attempts to convince a room full of Catholic Priests that his argument is scientificly valid. You could tell that some of them wanted to believe, but just couldn't because the science was so weak.

Amazon.com: Books: DARWINS BLACK BOX: THE BIOCHEMICAL CHALLENGE TO EVOLUTION: "But he thinks that the essential randomness of this process can explain evolutionary development only at the macro level, not at the micro level of his expertise. Within the biochemistry of living cells, he argues, life is 'irreducibly complex.'"

This first link is the original formulation of the teleological argument from William Paley's Natural Theology, 1800. This passage is the famous one concerning the "Clockmaker God". David Hume quickly responded with his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which is covered in the second link. It always surprises me that this argument is still coming up in both pop-culture and academia. In pop-culture, the debate in the schools is a good example. Academics proposing the argument are now rogue biologists instead of philosophers. The argument still exists in Philosophy, but, in my opinion it has not progressed. I will discuss them in my next post. Right now, I am primarily working to research:

1. The current dialogue within society.
2. My background in philosophy.
3. How these too strands relate and demonstrate the evolution of how creation is discussed.

I am considering all of this background research. Before I pursue new directions, I feel it is important to articulate my current perspective.

Paley's formulation of the teleological argument:
Paley's formulation of the teleological argument: "But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place, I should hardly think of the answer which I had before given, that for anything I knew the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch as well as for the stone?"

David Hume on the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments
David Hume on the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments: "The Dialogues are considered by many to have provided a definitive critique of the argument from design."

This video clip interviews leading proponents on either side of the Intelligent design/evolution argument:

Online NewsHour: Teachers, Parents Grapple with Evolution-Creationism Debate -- March 28, 2005: "CREATION CONFLICT IN SCHOOLS

March 28, 2005


Correspondent Jeffrey Brown investigates how some biology teachers are handling the hot button debate over the theory of evolution, creationism and intelligent design."

At least one other world religion's creation myth is in the news.

THE SPEAKING TREE: Rites of passage and beyond - The Times of India: "The Creation story narrates how Mahavishnu stayed afloat on a banyan leaf after the Great Deluge. He was the only survivor, and hence is known as Seshan. He then created Brahmn to help him recreate the 86,000 species inclu-ding humans. Srishti-karta Narayanan is known as the protector of all species.
"

I think this is the article I saw.

The Observer | International | Creationists take their fight to the really big screen

This is an editorial about an article that I noticed a few weeks back:

The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Censorship in the Science Museums

I was looking for an image that could be used for the blog and through google images I discovered this exhibit at the the Library of Congress:

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/world-creating.html

It is part of an exhibit on beginnings through World Treasures of the Library of Congress. It covers every major world religion and some not so major.

This is just a test to see if this works. I will post some comments about what we are trying to accomplish later. There will also be comments about ref books I've found relevant to our topic of creation.