Why… When it’s Islamic Creationism, of course!
Especially as it’s explained by our old buddy Adnan Oktar (aka Harun Yahya) in his book:
Harun Yahya’s Islamic creationist book pops up in Scotland
Atlas of Creation, [a] lavishly illustrated Islamic creationist book that first turned up in Turkey, then France and other European countries and prompted a disapproving resolution by the Council of Europe? It’s now being mailed to universities in Scotland, the Sunday Herald there reports:
According to Taner Edis, a physicist at Truman State University in the US who has written several books on Islam and science, Oktar is “the leader of a small religious sect and an art school drop-out.”
Copies of Atlas Of Creation began appearing in American universities last year. Edis has two in his office. He said they caught academics’ eyes because of their high production value, but also because the book argued for creationism from a Muslim perspective, as opposed to the more widely heard Protestant Christian tradition.
“I find it quite staggering,” said Aubrey Manning, emeritus professor of natural history at the University of Edinburgh. He houses his seven copies in a cupboard in the zoology department’s staff room. “Every academic I know says they’ve got one of those. And it’s peddling an absolute, downright lie…”
The Evangelical Church in Germany, the main Protestant church association there, issued a warning last week against teaching creationism in schools. It didn’t mention Atlas of Creation but it’s been reported to have been distributed there.
The mysterious Istanbul writer Harun Yahya (actually Adnan Oktar) is clearly spending large amounts of money sending this unwelcome book around Europe. Where does he get it from?
I too, would like to know who is funding Oktar.
Ali Eteraz presents a long chain of reasoning which he believes shows that:
Harun Yahya is most likely a front [update: or ally] for Christian right-wing’s version of Creationism.
Eteraz, of course, doesn’t bring up the fact that many of the Evangelical Christians of whom he speaks are staunch defenders of Israel, and Oktar is a fervent anti-Semite and anti-Zionist.
Heh.
Anyway, one thing that is certain, though, is that this Oktar guy is crazy.
Dj Konservo is best viewed with the 
2 Comments
Peculiar. You don’t encounter Islamic creationists very often. I suspect that the reason academics are keeping them is the sheer novelty.
I’ve got one of these in my office, and people stop by all the time to have a look. Sergei is right- it’s a real novelty item, and good for hours of laughs (it has, for example, a fishing lure that’s been mistaken for a real insect, and some terrible yet fascinating photoshopped images of bunnies).
You’ll never be able to buy one of these in a legitimate economy, however, as many of the images were obtained illegally. A bookseller would be sued for copyright infringement as soon as one hit the shelf. So it’s got a bit of a mysterious black-market feel to it.
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