By ALEX PIAZZA
Traverse City -- Bill Wiesner bought more than 250 copies of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" this month.
But he disagrees with the theory of evolution.
Wiesner spent more than $300 on special edition versions of the book that include a 50-page introduction that instead supports the creationism-based theory of intelligent design.
He plans on giving away 700 copies of the special edition today on Northwestern Michigan College's campus, five days before the 150th anniversary of Origin's release.
"The kids should have an opportunity to see both sides of the issue," Wiesner said. "We're doing this because we believe in creationism."
Wiesner created TCFamily.org, a Web site that features religion-oriented articles.
Ray Comfort, head of the Living Waters ministry in California, will lead a campaign today to disperse 170,000 copies of the special edition at 100 college campuses across the nation.
The special edition includes the unabridged edition of "Origin of Species," with an introduction that provides evidence for intelligent design, Wiesner said. The 50-page introduction is available on www.LivingWaters.com.
Comfort contends atheist groups threatened to burn copies of the special edition today at the University of California Berkeley.
But Arlene Marie doesn't foresee any such protests today at NMC, or at UC Berkeley.
Many atheists disagree with today's campaign, but book-burning would be "entirely out of order," said Marie, director of Michigan Atheists Affiliate. Membership in the Michigan Atheists Affiliate exceeds 2,000, she said.
And although Marie, of Allen Park, doesn't plan on attending today's campaign at NMC, she disagrees with it.
"Darwin might not have been right, but who are they to rewrite what Darwin said," she said. "If they want to do their own book, that would be great. Distorting Darwin is not the approach to understanding religious diversity."
NMC spokesman Paul Heaton said he doesn't expect any book burnings to take place today, but he did notify campus security officials of the campaign.
"We do allow people to solicit on campus, so long as they're not impeding people's path or disrupting activity," Heaton said.
Bill Smith, a pastor at Zion Baptist Church in Traverse City, also plans to pass out books today at NMC.
Smith said the special edition is beneficial to readers because it can "challenge one's thinking," but he doesn't anticipate much opposition from students.
"I don't think there will be as much opposition from the students as there is from some faculty members that would be against the passing out of books," he said.
