World Magazine and Evangelicals’ Double Standard
The evangelical WORLD Magazine is increasingly known for targeting fellow Christians. This week, they took aim at the pro-evolution Christian advocacy group BioLogos. After attending a BioLogos gathering at the Harvard Club in New York City, WORLD writer Warren Cole Smith lamented that the event only featured speakers presenting arguments in favor of evolution—a theory almost universally accepted among scientists—and how it is compatible with the Bible. In a column titled, “Unscientific Method,” he mourned that anti-evolution perspectives were “strikingly absent” at the gathering.
“Doesn’t the scientific method include presenting theories to skeptics so the theories can be confirmed, refuted, or made better?” Smith asked.
But Smith's question raises an even better one: “Why do evangelicals hold such blatant double-standards when it comes to public debate?”
Does WORLD also believe that Reformed theology conferences should give stage time to those who oppose Calvinism? I assume not. Do they think that complementarian Christian conferences should invite speakers who support gender equality? Doubtful. Would they expect that conservative evangelicals invite pro-gay Christians to conferences on marriage and sexuality? No way.
Or—for a closer analogy—what about the pro-creationist organization Answers in Genesis (AIG)? They host numerous conferences where not a single evolutionist is offered a chance to give the opposing side. Is WORLD concerned that AIG “excludes its most prominent critics from the dialogue?”