RE: paleonet Good news for evolution and science teaching

["Dr. Lisa E. Park" <lepark@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree with Jerry about this.  The unfortunate thing is that the ID/Creationist agenda is bundled with a lot of other things that do not necessarily involve the realm of science, yet the religious right views them all as a piece of the greater whole.  Thus, while we scientists are primarily concerned with the integrity of science, especially in the classroom, the people who are trying to restrict the teaching of evolution see it as part of the larger "culture war."  I suspect that this has been our (i.e. the scientific community) problem with respect to evolution, climate change, and environmental pollution.  We see science as an a-political process and others see it as a political/religious/cultural crusade.  In a real sense, we operate under very different paradigms and therefore, it is difficult to "win" other than in a court of law, which is supposed to be blind to bias.

 

Illustrating this point, I pulled this from the Thomas More Law Center's website.  They are the firm representing the Dover, PA School Board.  They are located in Ann Arbor and are doing their work pro-bono (at least that is what they suggest on their site).  If you notice, evolution and creationism aren't even mentioned in this mission statement.  However, as I said before, they see it as all part of what they refer to as a "culture war."  Unfortunately, it seems to me, that when you get religious people involved in a 'holy war' or 'crusade' (some might call it a jihad) a lot of incredulous things can happen.

 

"The Thomas More Law Center is a not-for-profit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life. Our purpose is to be the sword and shield for people of faith, providing legal representation without charge to defend and protect Christians and their religious beliefs in the public square. We achieve this goal principally through litigation, seeking out significant cases, consistent with our mission, where our expertise can be of service to others. We also defend and promote faith and family through media and educational efforts. Above all, the lawyers of the Thomas More Center seek to meet the highest moral and ethical standards of our Christian faith and our legal profession.

                       

Our ministry was inspired by the recognition that the issues of the cultural war being waged across America, issues such as abortion, pornography, school prayer, and the removal of the Ten Commandments from municipal and school buildings, are not being decided by elected legislatures, but by the courts.

 

These court decisions, largely insulated from the democratic process, have been inordinately influenced by legal advocacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which seek to systematically subvert the religious and moral foundations of our nation. Recent examples of the federal courts’ pivotal role in the cultural war are the cases of Stenberg v. Carhart in which the U.S. Supreme Court held Nebraska’s ban on partial birth abortion unconstitutional, in effect nullifying similar bans in 30 other states and Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe which prohibited students from leading stadium crowds in prayer before high school football games."

 

http://www.thomasmore.org/

 

LP

-----Original Message-----
From: paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk [mailto:paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk]On Behalf Of Jere H. Lipps
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 2:53 AM
To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
Subject: Re: paleonet Good news for evolution and science teaching

The evolution/creation-intelligence design school issue deals with only two points, although they are confused by both sides:

1.  Creationism-ID is a specific religious belief (i.e., Genesis is literally true) and therefore cannot be taught in public schools.   This is the constitutional issue in the US designed to protect people of all religions from domination by a few, and should be resisted by all citizens and, particularly, religious people who hold different views.  This is the issue that the courts rule on usually.

The constitution protects the creationists' right to believe anything, however ignorant it may be judged by some, but not the right to force their views on anyone else.

2.  Creationism-ID is a belief without scientific support--an untestable hypothesis--hence should not be taught as science or in science classes.  This is the pedagogical issue that all scientists can address.  But it is not the central issue that the courts deal with.

The educational community at all levels must exercise its authority and not allow non-science subjects in science classes.


Creationism and ID could be taught in religion and philosophy classes without challenge as long as other religions are given equal hearing, more or less.

The creationists should be very careful about forcing their views on Americans, because America is changing in major ways with regard to religion.   One day, they will be without power and another religion will have it, and that could be very bad for them.   They, as much as any other religion, should strongly support the separation of state and religion for their own long-term benefit.   But they seem to be unaware of these things and so intent on pushing their own views now, that they see nothing of the possibilities that a Catholic or Buddist or Hindu president and/or congress could come to power and treat them ill, based  on the precedent they themselves have set with this issue of evolution.  It does not show enlightenment.  Let us all band together to preserve state-religion separation for our own preservation.  We don't want an Iran here, do we?

JHL