I want to share a recent example with you of how the secular world is closely watching [our ministry] and is trying to suppress our Biblical message.
But as you read, don’t be discouraged—instead, be excited to learn that [creationist ministry] is seen as a serious threat by the ‘world.’
Earlier this month, [CMI] scientist Dr Jonathan Sarfati wrote a comprehensive point-by-point rebuttal of a recent anti-creationist article in the prestigious magazine Scientific American. He reproduced the text of the SA article in full, and responded to each argument with a rebuttal—carefully showing the SA text in a different color (to avoid being accused of misquoting/misrepresenting).
This is all perfectly permissible under the copyright doctrine of what’s called ‘fair use,’ since we were commenting on the item we were reproducing. And, as always, we consulted an attorney specializing in copyright law about this.
Very soon, Scientific American sent an e-mail to Dr Sarfati and accused him and [our ministry] of infringing their copyright for reproducing the text of its article and also for allegedly illegally reproducing an illustration from their magazine. They said they were prepared to ‘settle the matter amicably,’ provided that we immediately removed the article and Dr Sarfati’s rebuttal from our Web site. (The only illustration we can think of that they’re referring to is of a bacterial flagellum produced by [a CMI] staff person many years ago—it was not ‘lifted.’)
I can only presume that this reaction was the result of the wind being taken out of the magazine’s sails by Dr Sarfati’s devastating rebuttal. The speed at which [we were] able to post a hard-hitting critique of what was supposed to be the latest and greatest attack on Biblical authority was probably not expected by evolutionists at SA.
Our copyright attorney has written to Scientific American, informing them of the legitimate nature of what we did, and that we will NOT be removing the article. (As we compose this e-mail, we have not heard back from SA.)
I am thrilled to report that through the cooperation between the US and Australian [ministry] offices, we were able to produce a high-tech, fully formatted and highly detailed Web response available to the world within about 72 hours of the first appearance of the attack! And it appears to have struck a nerve!
I must admit that I get tired of the secular world’s attacks on Christianity—and in particular against the creation movement, which is fighting this battle at a foundational level.
And the more effective [we are] becoming at countering evolutionary propaganda, the more we will see the secular world trying any means to attempt to suppress us.
With your financial and prayer support, you will be in the front-line trenches in an enormous spiritual battle for the minds of people everywhere.
Comments are automatically closed 14 days after publication.
Feedback Guidelines
Be constructive & courteous. Don't attack individuals, denominations, or other organizations.
Stay on-topic. We're not here to debate matters like eschatology, baptism, or Bible translation.
Links to external sites and articles will be removed from your submission.
Privacy & Content Ownership
Comments become the property of Creation Ministries International upon submission and may be edited for brevity and clarity.
CMI may choose not to publish your comment depending on how well it fits the guidelines outlined above.
By submitting your comment you are agreeing to receive email updates from Creation Ministries International. You may unsubscribe at any time.
CMI records your real name, email address, and country as a sign of good faith. Privacy Policy
If your comment is published, your name will be displayed as ""
Cancel
Accept & Continue
Close
You are leaving CREATION.com
We have supplied this link to an article on an external website in good faith. But we cannot assume responsibility for, nor be taken as endorsing in any way, any other content or links on any such site. Even the article we are directing you to could, in principle, change without notice on sites we do not control.
Readers’ comments
Comments are automatically closed 14 days after publication.