Here’s a Chalcedon exclusive I wrote back in 2005, reporting a scientific fraud that had The London Times and a lot of other media completely snowed. But they wanted to believe that “religiosity”–by which the author meant Christian belief–is harmful to society.
Trotted out as someone with an advanced degree in “social science,” author Gregory Paul actually had no advanced degree in anything. He was primarily an illustrator of books about dinosaurs. But no one checked, no one questioned; and soon his alleged “findings” were ballyhooed all over America and Britain as “proof” that Christianity is bad.
The Times reporter who covered it was laudably forthright in admitting to the things she didn’t do, which she should have done, in covering the story. I ought to know: I asked her. Ditto the editor of the “scientific journal”–actually, an amateur journal.
The whole mess was served up to us as “science.” And then they wonder why some of us are skeptical about science.
I offer it as a cautionary tale.