Gilder attacks "Darwinian storm troopers"

Since it's impossible for anti-evolution conservatives to win a debate on the merits, George Gilder is trying to smear proponents of evolution instead:

Skeptics of Darwinism like William F. Buckley, Mr. West and Mr. Gilder also object. The notion that "the whole universe contains no intelligence," Mr. Gilder said at Thursday's conference, is perpetuated by "Darwinian storm troopers."

"Both Nazism and communism were inspired by Darwinism," he continued. "Why conservatives should toady to these storm troopers is beyond me."

Essentially, Gilder is saying, "Nazism and communism are bad. They were inspired by evolution. Therefore, evolution is bad." You won't find a more pure example of the guilt by association fallacy.

Update 5/5 2:38 PM: As Jason points out in comments below, Gilder's claim about Communism is also factually wrong:

[A]pparently "Darwinism" can time travel. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, while Origin of the Species was published in 1859.

And as he points out, it's especially sad that three Republican presidential candidates indicated that they don't believe in evolution in the first GOP debate:

Two legitimate candidates for President (sorry Tancredo) made it a point on Thursday to indicate they don't believe in evolution. I wish I could wordsmith something that indicates my outrage.

Comments

[Jason]

But, apparently "Darwinism" can time travel. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, while Origin of the Species was published in 1859.

Two legitimate candidates for President (sorry Tancredo) made it a point on Thursday to indicate they don't believe in evolution. I wish I could wordsmith something that indicates my outrage.