I got these recently:
From the UK:
"You noted in one email that we are likely to soon have creationism
here. We have. A couple of years ago, a failing school
district (14% pass grades A-C for GCSEs) was replaced (with Blair's
support) by a Vardy Foundation Emmanuel School. Uniforms are required for
students, and structure is quite pronounced. There is now a 96-98%
pass score. However, Richard Dawkins and Richard Harries, the
Bishop of Oxford, jointly condemned the school, as Creation according to
the bible is being taught as fact. Tony Blair told the two to stop
being so concerned and look at the test score results. So be
it.
It seems that the more rational middle ground of humankind is rapidly
being cought between two diametrically oposed fundalmentalist religious
groups that know all the answers. Universities, where more rational
answers might be sought are overly devoted to business administration and
issuing MBAs, with philosophy, which might provide some insight, either
no longer entertained or pushed so far aside as to make no
contribution."
From the eastern US:
"Sad to be reading about the emboldened right wing bible
thumpers
getting their way to "teach" Intelligent Design and paste
stickers in
school books that "evolution is only a theory." The first steps
only.
Where the hell is the response from our colleagues in paleontology?
I
guess they are willing to sit silently in the ivory towers and plot
against each other. Campaigns against creeping creationism were left
to
Steve Gould, and now that he's dead . . . . "
I suspect it's not creationism that works to improve scores in Britain,
but discipline and charisma. Look, Jim Jones convinced 900
followers to drink poisoned kool aid. Now that is
discipline! What is up with Blair anyway? He
could use a science lesson or two himself! A further decline in the
British Empire.
The way I see it, paleontologists cannot win much against
creationists/ID'ers, except in court, because it is a deeply held
religious belief. Where it can be won, is on the religious front
itself. Most mainstream religions support science and
evolution. But where are they when the creationists and ID'ers
force their brand of extreme Christianity on everyone through the
schools, congress, and courts? The mainstream Christians will
be the big losers as their kids become dumber and less employable, while
their flocks learn or turn to extreme religion that they don't teach
themselves. Those religious leaders will lose their adherents and
their incomes. So someone in some church needs to speak out
very loudly about this. Many should. It is not religious freedom to
force all faiths to believe what one extreme group wants us to
believe. It is a religious battle too. It will also be fought
this way in other countries too, I suspect. Paleontologists and
scientists in general should be sounding the alarm to these other groups
and even teaming up with them to keep religious views out of science and
other classes as well. Almost every scientific society and
the National Academy of Sciences has made studies or statements on these
issues, to little avail in the suppression of this intrusion on
science. Other stakeholders need to get involved big
time.
Maybe you know some church leaders that need to be told about this.
Many are already supporters but they need help. Maybe you
know some captains of industry who believe that a strong education in
science as well as other subjects is the future of this and other
countries. Perhaps you know a politician or two who will speak out
against this take-over. Or maybe you know a "family
values" spokesperson who recognizes that one powerful family value
is a real education.
We need to keep this issue on the front burner of paleontology, as all
paleontologists and scientists are already being impacted one way or
another in all parts of the world. Nothing short of freedom of
religion and scientific literacy are at risk here. We all have a
stake in this fight. I agree we don't need to beat more
dead horses on PaleoNet, but new ideas would certainly be welcomed on
what we as paleontologists can do.
Would the Creation Research Institute, out of fairness, would allow us to
put our own exhibit into their museum in the industrial complex they
inhabit in Santee, near San Diego, California? Sort of like
teaching ID and creationism in science classes, huh?
Jere
Some interesting or useful sites:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/11/30/MNGVNA3PE11.DTL
on the various places creationists/IDers have imposed their views
recently.
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2004/ZZ/333_langdon_gilkey_dies_11_22_2004.asp
L. Gilkey re: creationism in the schools: "This law, I
was convinced -- and this was my subsequent argument -- would serve to
establish a particular form of the Christian religion in the teaching
program of the public schools; therefore, it presented a grave threat to
the free religious life of our country."
http://www.hyahya.org
= Islamic creationism. It's everywhere.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu
a new, prize-winning site for teachers.
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/textbookdisclaimers/ for book stickers.
And of course we can't leave out http://www.ncseweb.org