Stephen Taylor
Stephen Taylor is a senior lecturer in electrical engineering at Liverpool University in the Northwest of England. He is also a hard-line and active religious fundamentalist associated with the US fundamentalist organisation Answers in Genesis. Taylor has been active in trying to get creationism taught in sciences lessons in the UK even though he has no background at all in biology and is an engineer, not a scientist.
Many will find it deeply disturbing that Taylor has been trying to get his religion taught to children in biology lessons who will subsequently take exams which Liverpool University uses as entrance criteria into such subjects as biology, geology, biochemistry, archeology and anthropology.
Others will not doubt be concerned about the close links with local secondary schools in Liverpool being influenced by such creationist views. The leading girl's independent school in the city, Belvedere, has, as its head of science, a fundamentalist, Moira Cowan. Her husband, Nick Cowan, who holds the same religious views, is head of chemistry in the city’s best known, and highly respected, state school, Bluecoat and has been openly bragging that one of his ex-pupil is a fundamentalist now studying for her PhD in geology at Cambridge University.
Taylor, like the Cowans, believes in the literal interpretation of the bible; in particular they believe that the world was created 6,000-10,000 years ago in six days and the story of Noah (usually recognised by scholars as a re-hash of Gilgemesh – tell this to a fundamentalist and they go wild – it's not just biology they hate, its everything that contradicts their opinions on religion) is absolutely true. Any evidence that contradicts their religious beliefs are therefore wrong.
Taylor's opinions are detailed on the web site of Answers in Genesis. He has claimed there that there is no evidence at all that contradicts the bible.
"….there is no proven fact of science that can be shown to contradict the biblical account. When scientific theories appear to contradict, it is important to examine the evidence for and interpretation behind such ideas. Scientists are subject to error and bias…”
In other words, any evidence that contradicts his opinion on religion is a result of incompetent science and foolish scientists.
Taylor was one of the 50 people in the book "In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation” by John Ashton. Whilst some have objected that Taylor is not a scientist, it does appear from this work that Taylor has some serious intellectual difficulties in understanding science.
Taylor, unfortunately, accepts the, and practices, the notorious fundamentalist practice of misquoting, or quoting out of context, others to support his opinions. Rather than present a scientific theory of creationism (which he can’t), Taylor turns to intellectual charlatanism.
For example, Taylor argues that Professor Michael Behe presents evidence to support Taylor's opinions on science because Behe has raised some doubts about the origins of life (and not mainstream evolutionary theory). Yet Behe's work utterly and completely contradicts what Taylor believes in. Behe simply does not believe in six day creationism and believes in the old age of the earth. Far from being a major fellow dissenter on science, Behe’s views are largely in accordance with mainstream science.
Taylor also draws in the late Fred Hoyle as an authoritative source to show his views are right. Sadly Hoyle was not a young earth creationist and, again, his views utterly contradict Taylor's. They are completely incompatible and massively contradict each other.
Remember Taylor is an academic and should be aware of the latest position of other academics in areas where he believes he has competence. Yet Taylor quotes Dr Michael Denton's 1965 book, "Evolution, a Theory in Crisis" as stating molecular biology "lends no support to the theory of evolution." Well, Denton stated the complete opposite in his 1998 work "Nature's Destiny." Talk about selective quoting to deceive.
Taylor then goes on to quote mine Dr. Lee Spetner as offering further evidence in support of his creationist opinions. But Spetner is a Jewish supporter of intelligent design, not a fundamentalist Christian. Never, mind, though, as Taylor doesn't point out that Spetner is notorious for having been completely out of his depth and wrong in claiming that the Archaeopteryx (bird-like) fossil was a fake. He's that good on biology and geology.
This is Taylor's opinion on religion: "Why shouldn’t creation take six 24-hour days? He could have done it in six hours or six seconds if He had chosen to. Such a God can do whatever He chooses, whenever He likes, consistent with His own nature."
It seems to me that in essence, a university is, by definition, a liberal institution by necessity. Such institutions are based on rationality of thought – making sense of the otherwise randomness of facts and evidence though theories, models and other tools. The liberal idea and thoroughness of thought are the essential lifetime skills taught by universities to enable their graduates to consider alternatives, accept criticism and make group decisions. By another name it is called intellectual integrity.
It seems astonishing that a university academic believes that his non-academic religious opinions be foisted on all in sundry. If Taylor does believe so, may I suggest that he go and teach at a university that is in accord with his religious opinions. Bob Jones University, that sink of segregation and ignorance might be a start. Or how about Patrick Henry College; that’s got a pile of staff vacancies at present because of its fundamentalist interference in academic teaching.
