Richard Buggs
Buggs is a former member of the scientific panel of Truth in Science. Its web site says that he “holds a DPhil in plant ecology and evolution from the University of Oxford”. His 1st degree is from Cambridge, where he graduated with a 1st in Plant Sciences (within the Natural Sciences Tripos) in 2000.
Our understanding is that he completed his post-graduate degree at Oxford in 2006. The following press release from the university, dated May 2006, refers to him: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/news/2005-06/may/23.shtml. It shows that he is working in the Department of Plant Sciences.
For those interested in some of the creationist claims about information in genetics, Buggs is understood to be an expert on polyploidy. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060531082654.htm.
There was also a reference for him at http://www.dunelmsystems.co.uk/creation/. [Access to this page is denied as from at least 22nd April 2007 Dunelm Systems is a business owned by David Walton of the Christian Institute in Newcastle. Walton was a signatory to the 2002 Estelle Morris letter]]
Buggs was signatory to a letter which also suggests that he comes from Newcastle and worshipped at St Stephen Church in Elswick. This is very significant because George Curry is vicar of St Stephen in Elswick. Curry is involved with Truth in Science and heavily involved in the Christian Institute (Council Member) and Emmanuel College. Yet again this confirms just how intertwined the fundamentalist movement is in the UK. .
It is understood that whilst at Oxford, Buggs was involved in the Woodstock Road Baptist Church in Summertown. The pastor there is believed to be a creationist.
Buggs is a young earth creationist, confirmed by an e-mail received in 2007 from a friend of his. While at Oxford, he was involved in the Woodstock Road Baptist Church. The pastor at this church is a Dr Keith Stokes who is on the Council of Reference of Biblical Creation Ministries.
According to the church’s web site, Stokes has been with the church since 1977. It is believed that his PhD is in geology and is from the University of London. It is also understood that at least until recently, one of the assistant pastors believed in theistic evolution as did many of the congregation even though creationism was taught by the church. However, one source has suggested to us that the Church became more extreme a few years ago.
Woodstock Road Church is a member of the hard-line Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. Stokes acts as a visitor to FIEC churches in Oxfordshire and surrounding areas (see http://www.wrbc.org.uk/pastors/keith.stm). One of the church elders, David Evans, is a biology lecturer at Oxford Brookes University. It is not known if he is a creationist.
We now have two sources from his days at Oxford who state that Buggs is a religious fanatic – one says he has been since childhood. One, now an academic in his own right, has told me that Buggs “refuses to believe that science (either the method or the result) can be correct if it contradicts a literal interpretation of the Bible. i.e. he will accept scientific results only insofar as they do not contradict a literal interpretation.”
The same academic suggests that his ambition in obtaining what are essentially world class qualifications in the biological sciences, were never to develop a mainstream scientific career but “tout creationism from a position of authority.”
The same source told the author in a telephone conversation that it was well known amongst his colleagues at Oxford that Buggs was a creationist. My other source was somewhat less polite, describing him as “very, VERY mad indeed”. I also understand that Buggs was at one stage interested in getting involved in politics at local government level (often a stepping stone to higher levels).
Apparently, though, Woodstock Road Baptist Church is not the most fundamentalist in Oxford – that title may go the Albert Street Chapel (pastor David Cooke) in Jericho which advertises itself as an independent reformed church “practising restricted communion”. (see http://www.albertstreetchapel.org.uk and also http://www.albertstreetchapel.org.uk/C-Beliefs-appendix.pdf for some of its more reactionary opinions.) Don’t bother turning up if you are gay, have had sex outside of marriage, are divorced, charismatic/Pentecostal or are female and teach males or are female want to be an ordained minister. In this model of morality, Kent Hovind is though, no doubt, welcome when he gets out of gaol.
The church is located very close to the centre of Oxford in a very gentrified and upmarket part of the City. In contrast Woodstock Road Baptist Church is some 30 minutes walk from the city centre in Sommertown. We have no evidence to suggest that Albert Street Chapel pushes creationism.
One of the elders there was, until 2003, Greg Welty who appears to be a dominionist. He was until 2003 a doctoral student in philosphical theology at Oriel College, Oxford. There is an article by him on the web site of the Chalcedon foundation at http://www.chalcedon.edu/articles/0110/011025welty.php
greg.welty@oriel.oxford.ac.uk.
http://www.swbts.edu/faculty/gwelty
He is a founding member of the Van Til Society and current assistant professor of philosophy at the at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas. It is associated with the fundamentalist Southern Baptist Convention. Welty appears not to have been awarded his PhD.
The Oxford suburb of Headington looks likely to be a regular venue for the professional creationists. Ken Ham was there on 2nd September 2006. Philip Bell, then of Answers in Genesis, was presenting there in 2002 at what was called the Oxford Creation Day. However, it isn’t clear who is inviting them. The 2006 venue appears to be a local state secondary (comprehensive) school (Cheney School). Such schools tend to hire our space in the evenings purely for commercial reasons.
The contact for the 2006 event was a Tim Lazenby of Mt Calvary Baptist Church (www.mcbc-baptist.org) . It is believed to be heavily into creationism and is associated with the creationist West Basingstoke Baptist Church (see http://www.cryer.co.uk/wbbc/faq/fellowshipchurches.htm). Lazenby is understood to be pastor for the church which is based in Botley in Oxford.
John Mackay’s web site claims that in 1991 he addressed the Association of Geological and Earth Sciences at Oxford on the topic "The Evidence for Noah's Flood". However, I can find no trace of this organisation whatsoever (see http://www.creationresearch.net/team/whoAUST.htm and http://www.amen.org.uk/cr/who/index.htm).
Buggs is currently employed at the Soltis Labs of Florida Museum of Natural History - well, at least according it its web site at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/soltislab/Members.htm. He is a postdoctorial associate.
A correspondent with Dr Buggs from The Times regarding the launch of Truth in Science and inaccuracies on their web site can be seen here
