Re: paleonet Moral Values Means Anti-Science

[Danita Brandt <brandt@xxxxxxx>]

What can we do?

For starters, anyone who is concerned about the issues Lisa raised can keep tabs on threats to science education through the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) website: www.ncseweb.org/

From the NCSE homepage, here's a description of why the organization exists and what it does. Note especially the last bullet point:

(NCSE) defends the teaching of evolution in public schools. We are a nationally-recognized clearinghouse for information and advice to keep evolution in the science classroom and "scientific creationism" out. NCSE is the only national organization to specialize in this issue. We provide:

• Reviews of current anti-evolution activity in the United States and around the world
• Background to the fundamentally creationist and anti-evolution movement known as "Intelligent Design"
• Detailed information on the Creation/Evolution controversy from 1859 to the present
• Resources for parents, teachers, school boards, and the general public
Contact NCSE if you need advice, information, or help in defending the teaching of evolution. We also work to increase public understanding of evolution and of the nature of scientific knowledge




On Nov 4, 2004, at 10:18 AM, Lisa Park wrote:

Dear Paleonetters and all people interested in Science---

 

On Tuesday, George Bush was re-elected President of the United States.  Whether or not you supported him is inconsequential.  What will have extreme consequences to those interested in paleontology and the study of evolution is WHY he got elected.  Despite an unpopular war in Iraq and an underperforming economy, millions of people turned out at the polls to vote for Mr. Bush.  The reason they cited was “moral values.”  Most pundits define this as meaning anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage, but it runs a little deeper than that.  It is also anti-science, and for us, anti-evolution.  With 4 Supreme Court Justice nominations looming in the next 4 years, Mr. Bush could appoint very extreme right-wing justices who could effectively put prayer in school, the Ten Commandments in public places and Creationism in the classroom.

 

The time is now for all of us to come together and realize what is happening.  One THIRD of Americans are evangelical Christians.  They interpret the Bible literally, which means that they do not believe Earth is 4.6 billion years old, but do believe that the Flood caused the Grand Canyon.  What was once thought of as a “fringe” element in American society has become the majority and, as witnessed on Tuesday, they VOTE.

 

The question is…..what are we going to do?  To borrow from two recent campaign ads: there ARE wolves lurking in the forest…are we going to bury our heads in the sand?

 

Sincerely,
Lisa Park

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Lisa E. Park, Associate Professor

Department of Geology

Crouse Hall

252 Buchtel Commons

University of Akron

Akron, OH 44325-4101  USA

001-330-972-7633 (phone)

001-330-972-7611 (fax)

lepark@uakron.edu

 

Damnant quod non intelligunt

(they condemn what they do not understand)

 

Dr. Danita Brandt
Department of Geological Sciences
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
brandt@msu.edu