Duane Gish

Biography

Early life and education

Gish, a twin, was born in White City, Kansas, the youngest of nine children. He served in World War II, attaining the rank of captain, and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Gish graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor of Science in 1949. He then earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1953. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "I. The application of p-nitrobenzyl chloroformate to peptide synthesis. II. Para-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl derivatives of amino acids. III. A method of synthesis of arginyl peptides".

Career

After receiving his doctorate, Gish worked as an assistant research associate at Berkeley, and as an assistant professor at Cornell University Medical College for eighteen years, joining the Upjohn Company as a research associate in 1960.

Creationism

A Methodist from age ten, and later a fundamentalist Baptist, Gish believed that the Genesis creation narrative was historical fact. After reading the booklet Evolution, "Science Falsely So-called" in the late 1950s, Gish became persuaded that science had produced falsifiable evidence against evolutionary theory, particularly the origin of life, and that various fields of science offered corroborating evidence in support of the Genesis creation narrative. He joined the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), an association of Christian scientists, mistakenly assuming the group supported creationism. Through his affiliation at the ASA, Gish met geneticist and creationist William J. Tinkle, who in 1961 invited Gish to join a newly formed anti-evolution caucus within the ASA.

In 1971, Gish became a member of the faculty at San Diego Christian College, working in its research division before accepting a position at the Institute for Creation Research (independent since 1981). He was the author of several books and articles espousing creationism. His best-known work, Evolution: The Fossils Say No!, published in 1972, has been widely accepted by creationists as an authoritative reference.

At his death on March 5, 2013, Gish held the position of Senior Vice-President Emeritus at the ICR.{{cite web|title=Duane T. Gish dies |url=http://ncse.com/news/2013/03/duane-t-gish-dies-0014753 |publisher=The Skeptical Review|access-date=10 March 2013|date=March 6, 2013

Debates

Main article: Gish gallop

Gish's debating opponents said that he used a rapid-fire approach during a debate, presenting arguments and changing topics quickly. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, dubbed this approach the "Gish gallop", describing it as "where the creationist is allowed to run on for 45 minutes or an hour, spewing forth torrents of error that the evolutionist hasn't a prayer of refuting in the format of a debate". She also criticized Gish for failing to answer objections raised by his opponents.

However, Gish said a similar thing about his debate opponents, especially Kenneth Miller. Gish accused Miller of using spread debating, i.e. speaking very fast and bringing up so many points that there was no chance to answer them all.

Gish was also criticized for using a standardized presentation during debates. While undertaking research for a debate with Gish, Michael Shermer noted that Gish re-used similar openings, assumptions about his opponent, slides, and even jokes. For example, during the debate, Gish attempted to prove that Shermer was indeed an atheist and therefore immoral, even though Shermer said he was not an atheist and was willing to accept the existence of a divine creator. Massimo Pigliucci, who debated Gish five times, said that Gish ignored evidence contrary to his religious beliefs. Robert Schadewald accused Gish of stonewalling arguments with fabricated data.

Works

References

References

1. Looy, Mark. (6 March 2013). "Creation Debater Dr. Duane Gish Passes Away". Answers in Genesis.
2. Hayward, James L.. (1998). "The Creation/Evolution Controversy : an Annotated Bibliography". Scarecrow Press/Salem Press.
3. {{harvnb. Numbers. 2006
4. Henry Morris III. (2013). "Duane Gish: Celebrating a Creation Champion". Acts & Facts.
5. "Duane T. Gish Obituary: View Duane Gish's Obituary by San Diego Union-Tribune". Legacy.com.
6. California (1868-1952), University of. (1953). "Register of the University of California". D.W. Gelwicks, State printer.
7. Smout, Kary D.. (January 2014). "The creation/evolution controversy: a battle for cultural power". Praeger.
8. {{harvnb. Numbers. 2006
9. "Dr. Duane Gish: Crusader", [http://www.creationresearch.org/creation_matters/96/cm9601.html ''Creation Matters'', Volume 1, Number 1] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-07-23 January/February 1996)
10. Gish initially "assigned low priority to the question of [the] age [of the Earth]".{{harvnb. Numbers. 2006
11. Scott, Eugenie. (1994-07-07). "Debates and the Globetrotters". [[Talk Origins Archive]].
12. Scott, Eugenie. (November–December 2004). "Confronting Creationism: When and How". [[National Center for Science Education]].
13. Gish, D.T., ''Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics,'' IRC, 1993
14. Shermer, Michael. (1997). "Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, And Other Confusions Of Our Time". A.W.H. Freeman/Owl Book.
15. Pigliucci, Massimo. (January 2014). ["Denying evolution: creationism, scientism, and the nature of science"](https://archive.org/details/denyingevolution00mass }}{{page needed). Sinauer Associates.
16. Schadewald, Robert J.. "Six Flood Arguments Creationists Can't Answer". Lhup.edu.