Yesterday the film critic Roger Ebert posted an article to his website that reads very much like an endorsement of creationism.
It starts:
Questions and answers on Creationism, which should be discussed in schools as an alternative to the theory of evolution:
Q. When was the earth created?
A. Archbishop James Usher, working out a chronology from the Bible, calculated in 1654 that the earth was created on the night of October 23, 4004 B.C. Other timetables reach back as far as 10,000 years.
The article contains nothing that would indicate satire, so it already has people
scratching their heads, wondering what the deal is. Ebert was never known to have creationist leanings. In fact, he's openly criticized creationism before, such as in
this article from 2005 in which he writes: "Evolution is indeed a theory. Creationism is a belief, not a theory."
I'm guessing it must be some kind of attempt to provoke debate. Either that or he's gone off his rocker. (Thanks, Bob!)
Update: Ebert has revealed that his creationism article was meant to be satirical. He scolds his readers for not realizing this, claiming that we as a culture are losing our sense of irony.
Ebert doesn't seem to appreciate what makes a good hoax, which is that people should fall for it at first, but recognize in hindsight how ridiculous it was. Ebert's hoax fails this test because even in hindsight his article doesn't seem ridiculous. Unfortunately, people
really do believe that crap.
Comments
But Ebert has changed over the years, and his recent health troubles may have given him pause to look at life in a new way. It's hard to say, but I truly, sincerely hope that he's just teasing.
Q. What about bones representing such species as Cro-Magnon Man and Neanderthal Man?
A. Created at the same time as man. They did not survive. In fact, all surviving species and many others were created fully formed at the same time. At that moment they were of various ages and in varying degrees of health. Some individuals died an instant later, others within seconds, minutes or hours.
He claims that God created other species at the same time, yet they were created in varying ages and health conditions, and died in a short period of time! Clearly a stinging repudiation of "intelligent design."
"Q. How long did the Great Flood last?
A. We know that Noah was 600 years, two months and 17 days old when he sailed. Using that as a starting point and counting forward, Genesis tells us it lasted for 40, 150, 253, 314 or 370 days."
He's clearly poking fun by pointing out the multiple accounts in Genesis of the length of the flood.
I agree, though, that this Creationist thing doesn't meet the dictionary definition of "satire."
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/09/this_is_the_dawning_of_the_age.html
It's actually more like an attempt to mess with your mind like the movie F for Fake.
I know about Poe's law but I don't think anyone serious would bring up that bit about the moose.
Normally I like Ebert but he should have googled Landover Baptists to see how it's done.