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Evolution's 'Dictatorship' -- Student Struggles to Get Opposite Viewpoint Heard
AgapePress ^ | 16 August 2004 | Ed Vitagliano

Posted on 08/16/2004 9:40:47 AM PDT by PatrickHenry

Samuel Chen was a high school sophomore who believed in freedom of speech and the unfettered pursuit of knowledge. He thought his public high school did, too, but when it came to the subject of evolution -- well, now he's not so sure.

In October 2002, Chen began working to get Dr. Michael Behe, professor of biological sciences at Lehigh University, to give a lecture at Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.

Chen, who was co-chair of a student group that tries to stress the importance of objectivity on controversial issues, knew that Behe would be perfect, since the group was examining evolution as a topic. The author of Darwin's Black Box, a critique of the foundational underpinnings of evolution, Behe had presented his work and debated the subject in universities in the U.S. and England.

Behe agreed to come in February 2004 and give an after-school lecture entitled, "Evolution: Truth or Myth?" As the school year drew to a close in 2003, Chen had all the preliminaries nailed down: he had secured Behe's commitment, received approval from school officials, and reserved the school auditorium.

Then he found out just how entrenched Darwinist orthodoxy was in the science department at Emmaus. By the following August, Chen had entered into a six-month battle to preserve the Behe lecture.

As the struggle unfolded, it became obvious that those who opposed Behe coming to Emmaus didn't seem to care about his credentials. In addition to publishing over 35 articles in refereed biochemical journals, Darwin's Black Box was internationally reviewed in over 100 publications and named by National Review and World magazine as one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century.

Instead, it was Behe's rejection of Darwinism -- in favor of what is called "intelligent design" -- that drove opposition. According to the Discovery Institute, of which Behe is a fellow, this theory holds "that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection."

The head of the science department, John Hnatow, sent a statement to every faculty member in the school stressing that Emmaus held to the official policy of the National Science Teachers Association. That policy states: "There is no longer a debate among scientists about whether evolution has taken place."

It appeared there would be no debate at Emmaus, either. Some of the science teachers would not even allow Chen to address their classes and explain to students what Behe's lecture would be about.

Chen said various tactics were apparently used to undercut the event, including an attempt to cancel the lecture and fold the student organization without the knowledge of Chen and other members; requiring that the necessary funds for the lecture be raised much faster than for other student events; and moving the lecture from the auditorium to the school cafeteria.

One science teacher in particular, Carl Smartschan, seemed particularly riled about the upcoming lecture. Smartschan took it upon himself to talk to every teacher in the science department, insisting that intelligent design was "unscientific" and "scary stuff." He asked the principal to cancel the lecture, and then, when the principal refused, asked the faculty advisor for the student group to halt the lecture. Smartschan even approached Chen and demanded that the student organization pay to have an evolutionist come to lecture later in the year.

Smartschan's campaign to get the Behe lecture canceled was surprising to Chen because the event was scheduled after school, and not during class time, and was sponsored by a student group, not the school itself. Nevertheless, Chen persevered. The lecture was a success, attracting more than 500 people.

In the process, however, Chen's struggle took its toll. His health deteriorated over the course of the controversy, to the point where he collapsed three times in one month, including once at school. "My health has been totally junked," he told AFA Journal.

Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney and senior policy advisor for the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, is advising Chen on his options for the coming year. Fahling said, "Schools are not allowed to interfere with viewpoints with which they disagree, and schools cannot disrupt the right of the students to participate in the academic and intellectual life."

Despite the hardship, Chen said he would do it all over again because the issue is so important. "I feel that there's a dictatorship on academic freedom in our public schools now," he said, adding, "I refer to evolution education as a tyranny .... You can't challenge it in our schools. Kids have been thrown out of class for challenging it."

That tyranny can be intimidating to students. "Some of the students who support me are afraid to speak out, especially because they saw how the science department reacted," Chen said. "They have a fear of speaking out against it in their classes."

On the other hand, he added that some students "are now questioning evolution, some for the first time."

That may be the first step in the overthrow of Darwin's dictatorship.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: behe; crevolist; darwin; evolution; intelligentdesign; scienceeducation
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To: bluejay
How does natural selection reduce the time required for random mutations to occur and to be incorporated into the genome?

Individuals without the mutation will be less likely to procreate. Those with the gene will then pass it on to a higher percentage of offspring than those without. Eventually, the mutation spreads throughout the population.

381 posted on 08/17/2004 1:17:01 PM PDT by Junior (FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC)
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To: The Scourge of Yazid

Ayn was hot. You have probably seen the pictures of her as an old woman, but she got around as a youth.


382 posted on 08/17/2004 1:17:06 PM PDT by js1138 (In a minute there is time, for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. J Forbes Kerry)
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To: Michael_Michaelangelo; Clemenza; Slings and Arrows; Lijahsbubbe; Atlantic Friend; a_Turk; ...
Gay Hitler:

(Flips pink scarf over his right shoulder. Brushes immaculately groomed Hitler mustache. High-steps it to the front of the thread, where he does a succession of high kicks.)

Ach te lieber! Joo do nut sprekende Deutsche?! Zat is unforgivable. I vill not hear uf dis. Excuse me, I must haf a show to go to. Gay Hitler likes his showtunes.

383 posted on 08/17/2004 1:21:48 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid (Oompa-loompa, doopity-doo. I've got another puzzle for you. You can live in happiness too if you...)
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To: Junior
Okay, we'll see. What is your understanding of the theory of evolution?

How long a response are you looking for? I just need to know how much to cut and paste. Or can I just use one of your terse descriptions?

384 posted on 08/17/2004 1:27:08 PM PDT by hopespringseternal
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To: js1138; aynrandfreak; Fedora; lavrenti; Watery Tart; SandyInSeattle; tiamat
Nathaniel Branden:

Ayn is like, so friggin' hot man! She's like totally babe-a-licious!

Ooh! Look at that!

-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)

385 posted on 08/17/2004 1:28:44 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid (Oompa-loompa, doopity-doo. I've got another puzzle for you. You can live in happiness too if you...)
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To: Junior
Name one. Explain the evidence supporting it. Explain how it is falsifiable. Give an example of a prediction that can test this theory.

Care to point out where I started defending creation science or claimed to be a proponent? If you have never seen a creation science post, you haven't been around here very long.

386 posted on 08/17/2004 1:29:52 PM PDT by hopespringseternal
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To: hopespringseternal

Evolution can be summed up in a single sentence.


387 posted on 08/17/2004 1:31:00 PM PDT by Junior (FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC)
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To: hopespringseternal

You're the one who claimed creationist "theories" were constantly being proposed on these threads. So, put up or shut up.


388 posted on 08/17/2004 1:31:57 PM PDT by Junior (FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC)
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To: The Scourge of Yazid
I realize that scientists would encounter some difficulties at first. I for one, have some wicked allergic reactions to cats and they would probably need to invent some sort of woman that didn't have the body hair/fur that you'd customarily expect to see on a cat.

Yeah, but... Then she'd look something like this. Ewwww..

Then again, there's that http://www.livenudecats.com/ thing.

However, once they've got all the kinks worked out

More to the point, once they've got all the kinks worked *in*...

389 posted on 08/17/2004 1:32:16 PM PDT by Ichneumon ("...she might as well have been a space alien." - Bill Clinton, on Hillary, "My Life", p. 182)
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To: The Scourge of Yazid

Dude, I thought I'd mastered the art of eccentricity.


390 posted on 08/17/2004 1:34:09 PM PDT by Junior (FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC)
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To: bluejay
One of the problems I have with evolution as a doctrine is a surprising lack of calculations that demonstrate that given the rate of mutation, the impact of natural selection, and the amount of time available the odds of life developing is X.

Such calculations are way beyond our current capabilities; and the simplistic numbers you see from creationists simply reflect their failure to appreciate the complexity of the problem.

391 posted on 08/17/2004 1:35:02 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor (www.swiftvets.com)
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To: Ichneumon; Tabi Katz; Jet Jaguar; Darksheare; DannyTN; RepublicanHippy; BulletBobCo
NASHVILLE CATS

-Lovin' Spoonful

392 posted on 08/17/2004 1:35:52 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid (Oompa-loompa, doopity-doo. I've got another puzzle for you. You can live in happiness too if you...)
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To: nasamn777
The mechanism can be treated as a black box, which is one of the uses of thermodynamics. It can also be used to analyze the mechanism. The reality is that you need a mechanism to go from state 1 (p1,v1,T1) to state 2(p2,v2,T2) -- except in rare circumstances (e.g. natural weather conditions).

You said earlier something like "I work in one of the sciences related to thermodynamics." I'm curious: which field are you educated in, and which are you working in, if the two are diffent?
393 posted on 08/17/2004 1:36:21 PM PDT by aNYCguy
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To: Junior
Dude, I thought I'd mastered the art of eccentricity.

Try inhaling next time.

394 posted on 08/17/2004 1:38:46 PM PDT by Michael_Michaelangelo
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To: aNYCguy

I don't think we really do disagree. This lecture was after school and attendance was optional. Obviously, ID doesn't have a place (as of now) in the normal curriculum of a secondary science class. As an after school exercise, though, I think it had a place.

Aside from working in a scientific area, I also do a little tutoring on the side. The kids that really need tutoring in high school level chemistry and physics are the kids that want the class credit but are apathetic about the subject. Give me an science-excited math dummy and in 6 months I can get the kid nearly up to speed. The science-apathetic kid with average math skills is a bear to teach!

My hope is that the lecture got kids talking and that a few of the talkers did some reading and that a few of the readers started thinking and asking questions. Anything that propels kids down that road seems positive.


395 posted on 08/17/2004 1:40:18 PM PDT by Gingersnap
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To: Michael_Michaelangelo

Naw. Never liked the idea of smoking (makes me cough). Drugs should be administered orally or through a patch -- it's healthier that way.


396 posted on 08/17/2004 1:40:50 PM PDT by Junior (FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC)
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To: Junior
Evolution can be summed up in a single sentence.

In contrast to Creation Science which has already been totaled.

397 posted on 08/17/2004 1:42:10 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: Michael_Michaelangelo; Junior; Kafka
Eugene Ionesco:

(Disinterested glance at this thread.)

I believe that I mastered that art in 1962.

398 posted on 08/17/2004 1:42:20 PM PDT by The Scourge of Yazid (Oompa-loompa, doopity-doo. I've got another puzzle for you. You can live in happiness too if you...)
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To: Dimensio; nasamn777
nasamn777: Jorge Fernandez hits the nail on the head.

Dimensio: So a full-blown explanation fo just exactly how trueorigins is lying about talkorigins is offered, and your only response is to completely ignore the evidence given and reassert that Talk Origins is nothing but a propaganda site?

Sounds like creation science to me:

Back again dumb as a stump with just what we said earlier. Never mind what you said.

What could be more convincing?
399 posted on 08/17/2004 1:42:33 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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To: js1138
It's been a few years since I read Ayn Rand, but I seem to recall her fantasy of perfect sex to be catlike.

Cats like their sex very rough, but I guess Ayn wasn't a feminist icon anyway.

400 posted on 08/17/2004 1:45:15 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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