Pizza with the Guys

I dined yesterday with folks in San Francisco. The FASEB coference is going on now there. Larry Moran and John Harshman are attending, so I decided to visit with them. Both Larry and John should be familiar to readers of the talk.origins newsgroup. Harshman and I met before, at the Evolution 2005 conference in Alaska. Nick Matzke and Wesley Elsberry from NCSE came along, too.

John picked the place, Zante’s Pizza on Mission. Why there? “You can get pizza anywhere, and you can get Indian food anywhere, but if you want Indian pizza, you have to come here,” he explained. We got a large non-veggie version, and the rest of the fellows said it was delicious. I’m somewhat upset at how few restaurants there are that provide for my particular dietary needs.

Over dinner, the conversation started with how to make the point that evolutionary biology is not incompatible with faith while not encouraging a double standard on who gets to express their support of evolutionary biology. Larry is concerned that atheists are being told to keep quiet, and even being the targets of criticism, while people of faith loudly proclaim their religiosity when talking on the topic. Then, we discussed the recent breaking news – Pianka under attack by Mims, lies being made about Brian Rehm in the Dover, PA case, and so forth. Oh, and Wesley insisted that we get a picture of the group. He’s funny that way. From left to right, there’s Nick Matzke, Wesley Elsberry, John Harshman, yours truly, and Larry Moran. That John Harshman, he’s such a card. Next time, I’ll give him rabbit ears in the picture and see how he likes it.