From the Department of Misleading Headlines #23

The Associated Press is usually a pretty reliable outfit. When you read a headline like "Record Gas Prices," you'll find a story about record gas prices.

But today we find the following:

On Darwin's 200th, a theory still in controversy

And yet, nowhere in the subsequent story is there a mention of any current controversy.

There is, of course, an excellent reason for this: Darwin's Theory of Evolution is not, in fact, in controversy. It is as disputable as the Theory of Gravity.

The story does mention the rather sad outfit, "Answers in Genesis," which outright ignores science to promote an exclusively creationist worldview. But that's not controversy. Controversy is when someone with a good reputation and solid academic credentials appropriate to the field under discussion say "A-hem ... there seems to be some problem here: The facts don't fit your theory."

Controversy is not when people jam their fingers in their ears and scream "Nyeah, nyeah, nyeah ... I can't hear you!" Which is what AIG and the horrid and dishonest Discovery Institute (whose mandate rather runs away from discovery) are doing.

Let's be clear: Darwin's Theory of Evolution has nothing to say about a) How life began or b) Whether there's actually a god (although it's definitely another nail in the coffin).

It IS supported by the observable facts. Most interestingly by the continuing research into genetics--a wondrous field that Darwin couldn't even have conceived of when he first took ship on his five-year mission to boldly go where no-one (with quite so many clothes) had gone before.

So: To the AP--you need another headline writer. And for all of us celebrating Darwin's birthday, here's a program from the CBC's terrific Quirks and Quarks, celebrating his work.