We have had plenty of opportunities to mention the website RenewAmerica already, and we will most likely have plenty of new opportunities in the future. RenewAmerica is a fringe-right conspiracy website that promotes Christian fundamentalism, and that consistently seeks to defend the fringiest and silliest positions possible on any topic, possibly in an effort to make websites like Townhall come across as reasonable (there is significant overlap among the writers).
A.J. Castellitto is a freelance writer who has helped shape RenewAmerica’s science profile. Castellitto is a creationist, and tends to repeat any – in particular the dumbest – arguments against the theory of evolution he can come across. According to Castellitto, “years of personal study and online debate” have taught him that evolution is based on “vast amount of unfounded speculation, fantastical thinking, and unproven, inconsistent theory”. One of the problems that “evolutionary theorists have never been able to clear”, according to Castellitto, is “the idea that one species can naturally progress into a higher or more advanced life form” (no, he hasn’t looked at the answers, of course, because he doesn’t understand the theory of evolution and commits the standard idiotic fallacy of confusing it with a normative theory in the process), something that he happily asserts “has never been observed” and that “goes against the observed and testable laws of nature” – yes, it’s the Second Law of Thermodynamics gambit, no less. Evolution is, according to Castellitto, a theory in crisis, and only the nefarious efforts of “disciples of evolution” to distort the facts to the masses for ideological reasons has stood in the way of further recognition of this situation (that he might be wrong and has misunderstood the science never crosses his mind). It is worth pointing out that Castellitto is a major fan of the movie Expelled.
But evolution isn’t the only “vital question” on which Castellitto thinks the public might have become the victims of misleading propaganda from the scientific establishment. Others include:
- “Should the science of climate change (global warming) be deemed ‘settled’?” (ooh, we know the answer to that one!)
- “Are scientific studies related to vaccines affects on autism, the necessity of embryonic stemcell research, GMOs, etc. wholly comprehensive and objective?”
- “Are Godly principles AND government compatible or even necessary?”
So, there!
Diagnosis: All-purpose science denialist and conspiracy theorist. “RenewAmerica” material is diagnosis enough.