We Will Not Tolerate Your Religion!’ School Fires Scientist for Questioning Evolution

LOS ANGELES – A legal defense organization filed a lawsuit this week against California State University, alleging that the school fired a biologist for discovering scientific evidence that contradicted evolutionary theory.

Mark Armitage was a scientist at California State University—Northridge (CSUN), where he worked as a researcher and supervised the school’s electron microscope laboratory. He was also a member of several scientific organizations, including the Microscopy Society of America, the American Society of Parasitologists, and the Southern California Academy of Sciences.

However, CSUN suddenly terminated Armitage’s employment two years ago after he discovered soft tissue on a Triceratops fossil. Evolutionists at the university were evidently displeased by Armitage’s discovery, since they were convinced that the fossil was tens of millions of years old.

I’ve read several reports about this incident and been thinking about the challenge Armitage and his attorneys will face.

What strikes me most is Armitage’s claim that he can date a specimen from soft tissue alone, placing the specimen from the Hells Creek geologic formation at 4 thousand years.

The attorneys for the university will say that even as a creationist, considering that he has a 30-year background in science, he surly must know that a fossil’s age is determined by the age of the rock it is found in, and not by the fossil itself. This is done through the science of Stratigraphy and radiometric dating, which in this case puts the rock matrix at roughly 66 million years.

They will probably use his Creationist beliefs to create a conundrum, especially for a scientist researching fossils. He believes in God, and believes God created the universe. That would mean he believes that God created the laws of physics, of which Stratigraphy and radiometric dating are a part. It’s these laws, given to us by God, which give us that date of 66 million years for the fossils at Hell’s Creek. So in effect, Armitage’s denying that age of 66 million years old would in effect, to be denying the existence of God. Attorneys are ruthless and will attempt to use this disparity to maximum effect.

Regarding Armitage’s attorneys, from the statements I’ve seen by Brad Dacus, their allegation is based entirely upon hearsay, “a discovery Dacus said stunned members of the school’s biology department and even some students.” While such a statement sounds rather sensational, considering that Dacus is president of the Pacific Justice Institute and Defends Religious Freedoms, unless he can document this claim, his statement will be seen by the court as merely subjective opinion, which doesn’t carry much weight in a trial.

Same thing with, “a CSUN official told Armitage, ‘We are not going to tolerate your religion in this department!’” If there is no confession, and no compelling evidence as to the accuracy of the statement

Then there’s, “Armitage’s work vindicated his view that these dinosaurs roamed the planet relatively recently.” While it’s fine for Armitage to feel a sense of justification, the attorneys for CSUN will bring in expert witnesses who will say that while Armitage is entitled to his personal beliefs, the evidence is based on opinion and not valid scientific research.

Depending on the judge’s discretion, they may also do something like allow Creationist commentary on the Internet, as an example of character. Published work that is political in nature, especially with denigrations, will not be seen well as compared to mainstream research, which by nature is absent of prejudice.

And of course, dealing with CSUN’s claim of his position as being only temporary, and his termination a coincidence will also be a problem. It would be different if he were a professor or research scientist, but as a lab technician, it will be more difficult to persuade a judge or jury.

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