Who simply can’t stop lying:
“I beat a puppy, I believe, simply from enjoying the sense of power;”
– Charles DarwinHere’s where the quote came from, and it carries a rather different message than Cordova communicated.
“Once as a very little boy whilst at the day school, or before that time, I acted cruelly, for I beat a puppy, I believe, simply from enjoying the sense of power; but the beating could not have been severe, for the puppy did not howl, of which I feel sure, as the spot was near the house. This act lay heavily on my conscience, as is shown by my remembering the exact spot where the crime was committed. It probably lay all the heavier from my love of dogs being then, and for a long time afterwards, a passion. Dogs seemed to know this, for I was an adept in robbing their love from their masters.”
Why do creationists lie so? It must be something in their upbringing.
Accurately quoting is not a lie. Darwin did beat a puppy. He did enjoy it. The quote is accurate. To be sure, he regretted it and did not continue to do so, but it doesn’t change the fact that the quote is precisely accurate and within context.
One could reasonably argue that the quote is used unfairly. To describe it as a lie, however, which is to claim that Darwin never said or wrote such a thing, is demonstrably untrue. It is, in other words, a lie.
But one really can’t expect any better of an irrational and amoral atheist, can one?
Personally, I see little point in quote mining to prove that 19th century individuals held beliefs considered unacceptable by 21st century individuals. This strikes me as tantamount to attempting to prove the wetness of water.