In case you didn’t know, Duane Gish is a prominent YEC proponent and he has a Bachelor’s from UCLA and a PhD from UC Berkeley, both in chemistry. Should UC Berkeley and UCLA rescind the degrees they gave him?
11 Comments Already
May 13th, 2010 @2:52 pm
No cause chemistry isnt reallly related to theology. sounds like ol’ duane’s personal beliefs are his own, and not related to his degrees. however, if ol’ duane thinks he is going to teach YEC in his chemistry classes he should be fired. Can’t really rescind a degree once it’s earned.
May 13th, 2010 @3:51 pm
Why? Isn’t freedom of religion still valid?
May 13th, 2010 @4:46 pm
he earned it due to his hardwork, not due to nepotism
May 13th, 2010 @5:28 pm
Depends on wether or not he’s mixing YEC with the scientific method.
May 13th, 2010 @6:13 pm
Hmmm… I am former military so… would it be right to say a marine is no longer a marine for deciding to conscientiously object? http://whywontgodhealamputees.com
May 13th, 2010 @6:34 pm
NO. Just because he makes some of their other grads look like imbeciles that is no reason to penalize him.
May 13th, 2010 @7:31 pm
Usually the only reason a university would rescind a degree would be in the case of the person doing something wrong in the course of earning the degree. If the student committed fraud for example, in order to obtain the degree, or plagiarized something in their thesis. Generally going on to be a wackjob does not warrant loosing the degree. Why should it? Educated people can be nuts too. Besides, if we start saying “we disagree with you so you can’t have your degree anymore” that would be the kind of thing that could snowball into thought policing. However having a religious agenda usually prevents people such as Gish from getting positions and funding from reputable universities. He may get to keep his degree but he can be denied funding if a university feels he is too biased. Anyway, the short answer to your question is no.
May 13th, 2010 @8:23 pm
Go back to these colleges histories and you will find Christian roots, in fact Christianity is responsible for education dating back eons, only when the United States Government interfererred with education with “Public” school did it corrupt the system in place. When it first interviened it did not want to change anything, it just wanted “school” to be a “right” to all that wanted it, up until 75 years ago most schools used the Bible exclusively at “grammar” school levels, and did not deviate to other “books” until college, and even then it was balanced with the Bible in curriculum, and for you to say what you have is simply ignorant, I wish I could sugar coat it a little for you, but you seem to be oblivious to these universities and their founders and what they built their schools on Faith in the One True God, the God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, and so on. Maybe those who do not believe should have their academic degrees rescinded.
May 13th, 2010 @9:20 pm
These were earned degrees not honorary degrees. So UCLA and UC Berkeley never “gave” Duane Gish any degrees. So there is nothing for them to rescind.
And if Duane Gish can combine YEC with chemistry, I don’t see a problem. That is a far better choice than theistic evolution. A Christian who denies creation, original sin and the Noah flood, cannot really be considered a Christian. Jesus, the Christ, accepted all of these. Hence the necessity for the Christ. How can anyone who says he is a Christian, a follower of Christ, still deny the foundation of the Christain faith by accepting theistic evolution?
May 13th, 2010 @9:47 pm
What would be the point? Not having a degree never stopped a fundy creationist before. I’m sure he’s a fine chemist, anyway. He just has no clue at all when it comes to biology.
Duane Gish earned his degrees fair and square. Sure he made a HORRIBLE decision by subscribing to Young Earth Creationism, but he earned it just like anyone else.