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Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design and the Easter Bunny
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Average Rating:  out of 10 Reviews
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Price: $16.95
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Sale: $10.10
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Manufacturer: Sterling & Ross, Cambridge House Press
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780978721305
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Hardcover
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Author: Barrett Brown::Jon P. Alston
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Publisher: Sterling & Ross, Cambridge House Press
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Dewey Decimal Number: 231.7652
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Publication Date: 2007-04-01
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Reading Level: 176
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Description: What is creationism? Is it science, theology, both, neither? Who's behind it? And why should you give a damn in the first place? Ex-National Lampooner Barrett Brown and Professor of Sociology Jon P. Alston, Ph.D, answer these questions - and perhaps one of two more--in a superbly unorthodox, serenely offensive and splendidly hilarious look at the forces behind the most talked-about pseudo-theory in modern history.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: The Wacky World of Creationism Gets Punk'd. |
Date: 2008-10-24 |
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Details: "{T]he leaders of the Intelligent Design movement, as we shall see, are so incredibly dishonest that they could cause a veteran heroin addict to blush - not out of any moral objection on the part of the addict, but rather out of embarassment that anyone could be do damned bad at lying." (Kindle Edition, loc. 40)
Brown and Austin's book, "Flock of Dodos" is a crass and mocking work of rhetoric against creationism and intelligent design. Anyone wanting a scholarly and measured discourse should look elsewhere (there are scores of good anti-ID books at the scholarly level). Anyone wanting a smoking hot and comedic look at lunacy, this is the place for you!
The book starts off making fun of the most easy to make fun of: the "scientific" creationists like Ken Ham and Henry Morris (oddly, Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind is not mentioned. Maybe its because he is in jail.) Our authors make fun of their (as always) futile attempts to find, much less explain the possibility of, Noah's arc, their ignorance of any type of science, and their explanation of last resort - "then, a miracle happened."
Next, we go onto another crew, that of intelligent design. These guys are a bit harder to make fun of - they are creationists who wear ties and speak like scientists. That, of course, doesn't keep our authors from trying their dangdest. This chapter is a more funny and condensed version of Forrest and Gross's "Creationism's Trojan Horse," where the ID crowd is rightly accused of double speak. When talking to scientists (rather, yelling to get their attention), they speak of "irreducible complexity." When talking to Christians (as they do constantly!), they speak of Jesus.
The next several chapters are a humorous but forceful critique of the dangers that creationism in any form poses to science and culture. If a strange brand of Christians can force the courts to demand that a view be taught because it is more friendly to scripture (this has not happened yet), there is no telling what the next move would be. And if Christians can force the courts to decide what is and is not science, then science ceases to be indepenendent.
The authors conclude that "[r]ather than a new and exciting theory, the Intelligent Design movement is nothing less than an attempted coup by which a contingent of Constantne's hopes to overthrow the legitimacy of the Enlightenment." (loc. 1011)
If this sounds like an extreme judgment, bordering on caricaturization, that is because - at least to my eyes - it is. Other reviewers have complained that this book is just an empty work of biting and alarmist rhetoric. Okay. It is certainly no worse that Ann Coulter's "Godless," let alone Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," both of which were gobbled up by the ID crowd in droves.
Rhetoric and humor can be good. It is sometimes fun to laugh at people that deserve to be mocked. This book is proof. (Now, we just need to find that pesky proof of evolution...) |
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Review Summary: A "Must Have" for atheists who don't have time for science! |
Date: 2007-06-28 |
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Details: This book is awesome because it makes fun of people who believe differently than I do...."Dodos"....that's hilarious. I bet they've got cooties too.
I've tried to read books that address the scientific arguments at the center of the origins debate, but they are always over my head. Lately, I've been worried because intelligent design folks seem to be winning the arguments, so I'm glad this book totally changes the subject and makes fun of people who may or may not be part of the debate. Nothing makes me feel more secure in my own personal philosophy.
I was raised a Marxist and an atheist, and I'm starting to realize that those beliefs are totally dependent on evolution being true. You can't spell "Leftist Revolution" without "evolution." (Seriously. You can't.) No wonder Marx dedicated "Das Kapital" to Darwin....duh! The brilliance of this book is that it takes attention away from the evidence and toward the simple art of laughing at strangers...like we used to do in high school. Hats off to the authors. I doubt we'll be hearing any more from the 66% of Americans who believe in creation after this book makes the rounds.
(Dodos.....I'm still laughing about that. So inspired, dude.) |
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Review Summary: There's "tolerance" for you. |
Date: 2007-05-25 |
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Details: "Here's the problem with America's born-again wackos: only a gifted comic is capable of describing them, but no one with a sense of humor can stomach being around them. That's why there are so few books like Flock of Dodos. With their painstaking attention to historical detail and amusingly violent writing style, Brown and Alston have given the religious right exactly the righteous, merciless fragging it deserves. I wish I could tie James Dobson down and make him eat every page." -- Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone Magazine, author of Spanking the Donkey
Is that Matt Taibbi or Matt Taliban? |
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Review Summary: Entertaining and Educational-Perfect Combo! |
Date: 2007-05-22 |
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Details: I just watched this on HBO last night and I was so thrilled to find such a funny, entertaining, and educational documentary!
I think the best point that I walked away with rang so simple but true, even though humans are emotional by nature we have a "higher" mind that we can use and this seperates us from other animals. Intuition is the start of brilliant ideas, but in the end testable meathods prove whether that intuition is right or wrong. This is were "intelligent design" reaches its end. Science is and hopefully always will be about the testability! |
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Review Summary: Hilarious, and just what was needed! |
Date: 2007-05-14 |
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Details: After enduring all the taunts and jokes from ignorance spewing from the mouths and pens of creationists, it is so much fun to read a no-holds-barred counterattack. The buffoons are all paraded before you.
Barrett Brown has written what many want to say but cannot.
Let's laugh these science-fearing fools out of town. Flock of Dodos is a great start. |
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