FOLLOW $ to PHILLIP JOHNSON

From: Susan Brassfield (susanb@telepath.com)
Date: Sat Jul 29 2000 - 09:33:03 EDT

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    This is a portion of e-Skeptic that I found *most* enlightening!

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    FOLLOW THE MONEY TO PHILLIP JOHNSON

    The following is from our friends at the Americans United for Separation of
    Church and State.

    >From Genesis To Dominion
    Fat-Cat Theocrat Funds Creationism Crusade
    by Steve Benen

    Anti-evolution crusader Phillip Johnson, dedicated his 1997 book,
    Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds, to "Roberta and Howard, who
    understood 'the wedge' because they love the Truth."

    The mysterious reference is apparently a note of thanks to Howard F.
    Ahmanson Jr. and his wife Roberta, a wealthy and secretive Orange
    County, Calif., couple who have generously funded the anti-evolution
    movement and other right-wing causes that advance their fundamentalist
    Christian
    outlook.

    Howard Ahmanson, however, is no ordinary fat-cat. The savings and loan
    heir has maintained a long-time relationship with Christian
    Reconstructionism, an extreme faction of the Religious Right that seeks
    to replace American democracy with a harsh fundamentalist theocracy.

    Reconstructionists believe conservative Christians should take
    "dominion" over American society. Under their version of "biblical law,"
    the death penalty would be required for over a dozen categories of offenders,
    including adulterers, homosexuals, witches, incorrigible children and
    those who spread "false" religions. They regard the teaching of evolution
    as part of a "war against Genesis."

    Ahmanson served for over two decades on the board of directors of the
    Chalcedon Foundation, Rousas J. Rushdoony's Reconstructionist think
    tank that serves as the intellectual center of the movement. Ahmanson has
    also generously supported the Foundation's work.

    As for Ahmanson's interests in opposing evolution, his relationship
    with leaders such as Johnson raises a series of questions about how the
    movement to "defeat" evolution is paid for and what the larger agenda
    might be.

    There is little doubt that the Ahmansons have the resources to help
    finance anti-evolution efforts. The family's wealth grew exponentially
    during the 1950s and '60s when Howard Ahmanson Sr, made billions in the savings
    and loan industry. After his death, his estate was divided between his
    son Howard F. Ahmanson and the Ahmanson Foundation, which had $663 million
    in assets at the end of 1996. (H.F. Ahmanson & Co., the parent company of
    Home Savings of America, had over $47 billion in assets in 1997.)

    With a vast fortune in hand, the Ahmansons are playing an active role
    in ensuring the anti-evolution movement's success.

    According to Reason magazine, promotional materials from the
    Seattle-based Discovery Institute acknowledge that the Ahmanson family
    donated $1.5 million to the Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science
    and Culture for a research and publicity program to "unseat not just
    Darwinism but also Darwinism's cultural legacy." In fact, the August 1999
    issue of
    the Discovery Institute's Journal recognizes an Ahmanson outfit for providing
    the Center's start-up funds.

    With such high-powered assistance, the Center has quickly become a
    leading anti-evolution organization. The center's senior fellows include
    some of the highest profile advocates of "Intelligent Design" creationism,
    including David Berlinski, William Dembski and Michael Behe. Johnson
    himself is listed among the center's two official advisors.

    Additionally, Roberta Green Ahmanson provided the funding for Dembski
    to appear at her alma mater, Calvin College, a conservative Christian
    school in Michigan, to promote his approach to attacking evolution.
    Although he claims to be interested only in the scientific "evidence" against
    evolution, Dembski's appearance was listed as part of the college's
    "Seminars in
    Christian Scholarship."

    Funding from the Ahmansons is not always obvious. For example, the
    Fieldstead Institute is an extension of the Ahmanson empire, which
    frequently provides financial support for creationist causes. Dembski's
    appearance at Calvin was sponsored by a group called Fieldstead and
    Company. (Both appear to derive their name from Howard's middle name,
    Fieldstead.)

    Ahmanson has also taken an interest in providing money for other
    political causes, including support for voucher subsidies for religious
    schools and opposition to gay rights and pornography. In the January/February
    1997 issue of Religion & Liberty, published by the Acton Institute for the
    Study of Religion and Liberty, he argued that the Bible opposes minimum wage
    laws.

    Ahmanson's opposition to evolution remains part of his larger agenda of
    establishing a fundamentalist "Christian nation." In the coming years,
    as different groups and personalities step into the anti-evolution fray,
    Ahmanson's role bears watching.

    Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 2000.
    All rights reserved.
    --------------------------------------
    Copyright 2000 by Michael Shermer and the Skeptics Society. Copies of
    this internet posting may be made and distributed in whole without further
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