Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The strangeness of Comfort

New Zealand-born author Ray Comfort, who is now based in the United States, has written his own introduction to Darwin's groundbreaking work on evolution, where he argues for intelligent design. Melissa Day, of Comfort's New Zealand Living Waters Ministry, said the group planned to give away about 10,000 copies of the book today on university campuses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
He's back! Christchurch's gift to Intelligent Design, Ray "bananas" Comfort, takes on the Intelligentsia at a campus near you. 

I, for one, welcome this bold attempt to provide the Origin of Species with an introduction. We can only hope that Mr Comfort's followers notice that there are many other books in the libraries of our universities and encourage him to write further introductions. Perhaps we might soon be able to read his introductions to Middlemarch, The Open Society and its Enemies, Learning from Las Vegas and The Joy of Sex.

4 comments:

Peter in Dundee said...

It's not just his introduction. The version of The Origin he is distributing is edited with various bits especially anathema or just plain inconvenient to Comfort removed completely and without notice or explanation.

So better not let him at any other cherished tomes, goodness knows what he would do to The Joy of Sex and what would be left at the end. That book is apparently solely responsible for encouraging bearded men.

I couldn't say myself, having stopped at a moustache and a soul patch (or so I am informed that the patch of hair under the centre of my bottom lip is called).

If in your capacity of an erstwhile student you should attend one of his talks perhaps you could raise the issue of the excisions?

Paul said...

It was an extraordinary book, the work of Ray Comfort's evil twin - Alex. They published a revised edition in the 90s, in which the participants had more tidy hair.

One could make a thesis from Comfort's excisions from Darwin, asking which parts do not meet Comfort's academic standards and what these standards might be.

Anonymous said...

I'm taking a banana tonight to Dawkins talk - just to give to Comfort if he is handing out free books.

Anonymous said...

Don't encourage the little prat. He was an old sparring partner in my Christchurch days, until he recognised that rather than impersonating a fake Yank surfie, he could actually be one, so he loaded up and moved to Beverly. Hills, that is. With ghastly parvenu Pasadena beauty queens. And he's a rabid phobe and anti-abortionist to boot...

Craig Y
Wellywood