UK scientist helps Christian cult to promote creationism
The Jehovah’s Witness bagged themselves a Big One when they got Professor Raj Kalaria, above, to speak about his belief in creationism in a new video posted online by the cult.
Keralia is currently a deputy director of the Newcastle Centre for Brain Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle, and a professor of neuropathology at Newcastle University, UK.
When ex-Jehovah’s Witness Lloyd Evans, who runs JWsurvey, discovered that an April 2016 JW Broadcasting episode featured Keralia, he decided to:
Reach out to Newcastle University to find out whether it endorses the academic’s stance on evolution, and found myself in a rather frustrating email exchange with Helen Rae, the Media Relations Manager at the University’s Faculty of Medical Sciences .
After much to-ing and fro-ing, an official statement was finally forthcoming …
Dear Lloyd,
Please see the comment below.
A Newcastle University spokesperson said: ‘Academic freedom, which is written into Newcastle University’s statutes, allows all academic staff freedom to put forward opinions that do not necessarily represent the University.’
Best wishes, Helen.
Evans replied…
Thank you Helen.
Forgive me, but do you have any comment on Professor Kalaria saying ‘we’, thereby implying the support of his colleagues for his findings?
And does Newcastle University support Professor Kalaria’s anti-evolution views, or not?
The answer?
We have nothing further to add other than the statement provided.
Said Lloyd:
Though I can understand Helen’s awkward position as someone who shares a payroll with Professor Kalaria, I do feel saddened that, in this age of political correctness, Newcastle University is not able to be more robust in distancing itself from a piece of propaganda aimed at indoctrinating an entire generation to view science with suspicion.
In the video – which also features Ukrainian zoologist Yaroslav Dovhanych, above – Kalaria, born into a Hindu family, said he could not get his head around the battalions of gods that form the basis of Hinduism, so, after reading the Bible, decided that there could only be One True God, and this was the one that created things as complex as the human brain. Also:
The Bible also gives us peace of mind and a purpose in life.
Meanwhile, Dovhanych claims that the Bible is “very old … thousands of years old” yet:
It’s contents are accurate and authentic to this day. And the Bible contains many prophesies which history confirms have been fulfilled exactly as the Bible foretold. So these predictions must have been made by someone whose abilities are far greater than man’s.