Abstract
Although it has few genuinely new arguments, the revived creationism discussion (particularly that based on the young-earth creationism) in America since the 1960s significantly differs from the early 1920s anti-evolution crusade in many ways, including its strategy, organizational base, and practice of public debates. The public debates in particular became a distinctive promotional activity to spread creationism. Debates, mostly held on university campuses, have brought creationists publicity and respectability, and made a significant contribution to the advancement of the movement. I will discuss how this new method of spreading creationism started, how creationists managed to manipulate the debate to serve their own cause, and how evolution defenders responded to this challenge. Creationists deliberately used the debate as a vehicle to change public perception of their image from one of backwoods ignorance associated with the old anti-evolution crusade to a respectable alternative to evolution. The popular success of this tactic explains, in part, the surprising popularity of strict creationism in American society.
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