The Purdue Debate: #DrayerVSanders

“Is biological evolution a fact?”

This question, hurled downward by a professor strutting up the stairs of a tiered classroom at Purdue University, briefly made me wonder whether I’d stumbled into the wrong lecture hall.

Aubrie and I had returned to Purdue three years after my debate with Dr. Ralph Webb, Professor of Communications, for a new faceoff—this time with Dr. David Sanders, Associate Professor of Biology. Bracing myself for a discussion this time grounded in hard science, Aubrie and I invested hours drilling through issues I predicted Sanders might address.

But as soon as cross-examination began, I realized this event—while boasting theatrical flair I’ve not seen in other formal debates, from Dr. Sanders’s signature hat to his style of circling the room and sitting down next to students while speaking—reflected the same elevation of ideology over fact we’ve seen countless times before.

Dr. Sanders argued that macro-evolution—which we have not observed—is a proven fact while rejecting evidence for when life begins—which we have observed. He proved himself out of the mainstream by rejecting every peer-reviewed journal article or embryological textbook I offered to support the claim life begins at fertilization.

He went on to pepper his speeches with ad hominem attacks, such as asserting my case fell apart because I don’t speak Hebrew. He relied upon red herrings, suggesting, for example, that Created Equal outreach efforts amount to “child pornography”—a comment which attracted the attention of national media, from The Blaze to Milo Yiannopoulos.

But while all of this was intended to discredit me, it was his own credibility he undercut—because it became clear he was not interested in an honest exchange of ideas. He held a conclusion from which no objective evidence could sway him.

This is not an honest consideration of the facts. It’s closed-minded dogmatism, clinging to a position in spite of the facts.

There is much to be done in this battle! Thank you to all who prayed for us prior to and during the debate!