The Crafty Attacks on Evolution

The New York Slimes ^ | 23 January 2005 | EDITORIAL

[rdb3]

January 23, 2005

EDITORIAL

The Crafty Attacks on Evolution

ritics of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution become more wily with each passing year. Creationists who believe that God made the world and everything in it pretty much as described in the Bible were frustrated when their efforts to ban the teaching of evolution in the public schools or inject the teaching of creationism were judged unconstitutional by the courts. But over the past decade or more a new generation of critics has emerged with a softer, more roundabout approach that they hope can pass constitutional muster.

One line of attack - on display in Cobb County, Ga., in recent weeks - is to discredit evolution as little more than a theory that is open to question. Another strategy - now playing out in Dover, Pa. - is to make students aware of an alternative theory called "intelligent design," which infers the existence of an intelligent agent without any specific reference to God. These new approaches may seem harmless to a casual observer, but they still constitute an improper effort by religious advocates to impose their own slant on the teaching of evolution.•

The Cobb County fight centers on a sticker that the board inserted into a new biology textbook to placate opponents of evolution. The school board, to its credit, was trying to strengthen the teaching of evolution after years in which it banned study of human origins in the elementary and middle schools and sidelined the topic as an elective in high school, in apparent violation of state curriculum standards. When the new course of study raised hackles among parents and citizens (more than 2,300 signed a petition), the board sought to quiet the controversy by placing a three-sentence sticker in the textbooks:

"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

Although the board clearly thought this was a reasonable compromise, and many readers might think it unexceptional, it is actually an insidious effort to undermine the science curriculum. The first sentence sounds like a warning to parents that the film they are about to watch with their children contains pornography. Evolution is so awful that the reader must be warned that it is discussed inside the textbook. The second sentence makes it sound as though evolution is little more than a hunch, the popular understanding of the word "theory," whereas theories in science are carefully constructed frameworks for understanding a vast array of facts. The National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific organization, has declared evolution "one of the strongest and most useful scientific theories we have" and says it is supported by an overwhelming scientific consensus.

The third sentence, urging that evolution be studied carefully and critically, seems like a fine idea. The only problem is, it singles out evolution as the only subject so shaky it needs critical judgment. Every subject in the curriculum should be studied carefully and critically. Indeed, the interpretations taught in history, economics, sociology, political science, literature and other fields of study are far less grounded in fact and professional consensus than is evolutionary biology.

A more honest sticker would describe evolution as the dominant theory in the field and an extremely fruitful scientific tool. The sad fact is, the school board, in its zeal to be accommodating, swallowed the language of the anti-evolution crowd. Although the sticker makes no mention of religion and the school board as a whole was not trying to advance religion, a federal judge in Georgia ruled that the sticker amounted to an unconstitutional endorsement of religion because it was rooted in long-running religious challenges to evolution. In particular, the sticker's assertion that "evolution is a theory, not a fact" adopted the latest tactical language used by anti-evolutionists to dilute Darwinism, thereby putting the school board on the side of religious critics of evolution. That court decision is being appealed. Supporters of sound science education can only hope that the courts, and school districts, find a way to repel this latest assault on the most well-grounded theory in modern biology.•

In the Pennsylvania case, the school board went further and became the first in the nation to require, albeit somewhat circuitously, that attention be paid in school to "intelligent design." This is the notion that some things in nature, such as the workings of the cell and intricate organs like the eye, are so complex that they could not have developed gradually through the force of Darwinian natural selection acting on genetic variations. Instead, it is argued, they must have been designed by some sort of higher intelligence. Leading expositors of intelligent design accept that the theory of evolution can explain what they consider small changes in a species over time, but they infer a designer's hand at work in what they consider big evolutionary jumps.

The Dover Area School District in Pennsylvania became the first in the country to place intelligent design before its students, albeit mostly one step removed from the classroom. Last week school administrators read a brief statement to ninth-grade biology classes (the teachers refused to do it) asserting that evolution was a theory, not a fact, that it had gaps for which there was no evidence, that intelligent design was a differing explanation of the origin of life, and that a book on intelligent design was available for interested students, who were, of course, encouraged to keep an open mind. That policy, which is being challenged in the courts, suffers from some of the same defects found in the Georgia sticker. It denigrates evolution as a theory, not a fact, and adds weight to that message by having administrators deliver it aloud. •

Districts around the country are pondering whether to inject intelligent design into science classes, and the constitutional problems are underscored by practical issues. There is little enough time to discuss mainstream evolution in most schools; the Dover students get two 90-minute classes devoted to the subject. Before installing intelligent design in the already jam-packed science curriculum, school boards and citizens need to be aware that it is not a recognized field of science. There is no body of research to support its claims nor even a real plan to conduct such research. In 2002, more than a decade after the movement began, a pioneer of intelligent design lamented that the movement had many sympathizers but few research workers, no biology texts and no sustained curriculum to offer educators. Another leading expositor told a Christian magazine last year that the field had no theory of biological design to guide research, just "a bag of powerful intuitions, and a handful of notions." If evolution is derided as "only a theory," intelligent design needs to be recognized as "not even a theory" or "not yet a theory." It should not be taught or even described as a scientific alternative to one of the crowning theories of modern science.

That said, in districts where evolution is a burning issue, there ought to be some place in school where the religious and cultural criticisms of evolution can be discussed, perhaps in a comparative religion class or a history or current events course. But school boards need to recognize that neither creationism nor intelligent design is an alternative to Darwinism as a scientific explanation of the evolution of life.

[xm177e2]

Well, don't you just love yourself some big words?

I've ascertained by syllabic enumeration your relative inferiority.
I counted syllables and you are using smaller words...

[xm177e2]

Classic myopic projectionism, emblematic of the power of secular humanismreligion to collapse on itself with its symptomatic hypocrisy..."Silly fascists, moral relativity is for genocidal maniacs." {/Trix wabbit}

That was such a useful post, that I can use it for anything!

[Outraged]

What does moral relativity have to do with evolution?

They oft go hand-in-hand...The expositors of one tend to advocate tuther.

[Outraged]

Well, don't you just love yourself some big words?

Yup...momma done learnt me gooooood.

[xm177e2]

Oorgle.

Huh?

Explanation for statement #1:

ID has no place in science class

Because it's not scientific.

Those of you that advocate its value are hurting science education

Because you want to teach something that isn't scientific.

and turning intelligent people away from Christ.

Most intelligent people don't believe in Intelligent Design. If you try to claim that evolution is incompatible with Christianity, and they come to believe you, they will turn away from Christianity. There's a lot more reason/evidence out there to believe in evo than Jesus! That's why they call it faith.

Explanation for statement #1:

ID is a money making con

Intelligent design is a con (confidence game, a scam) designed to make money

by people who prey on the scientifically ignorant

The fraudsters target the scientifically ignorant (you?) because you'll believe whatever you want to believe, they just have to make it sound like science and you'll go along with it.

Thanks for tuning in this week, where we learned how to read a sentence.

In next week's post, we will teach you how to make fire!

[Outraged]

Stalinists, Maoists, Ba'athists, Pacifists: Why are they always on the same side?

Because they reject God...It seems like the world's greatest intellectual perverts have been Godless secular humanists...All hail the human mind!

[Thatcherite]

Sorry to hear. I am pleased to report that all that I hear in my head is the Sound of Silence.

You must have been listening to the rational parts of a gobucks post.

[Smartaleck]

"It was to make so-called Hebrew Scholars look goofy"

They wrote the book, they should know?

[Junior]

Aaargh!

[Junior]

The expositors of one tend to advocate tuther.

So, all those thousands of biologists and biology teachers must be living lawless licentious lives (say that three times fast). You'd think they'd make the headlines more often, wouldn't you. Instead, we're inundated with stories of mothers killing their kids because they thought God wanted them to. Go figure.

[PatrickHenry]

I think you slipped over this one. I believe the implication is that evolutionists are atheists and therefore cannot be moral.

That's one prong of the "evolution is immoral" argument, and I chose to ignore it because it's so untrue. The other approach they take is: "Of course our kids behave like animals, because you teach them that they are related to animals!" That's what I was driving at. I may have aimed at the wrong target. Doesn't matter, really.

[Junior]

Tell me, what kind of moral teachings do you take away from the theory of gravity?

What goes up, must come down. Know this and ye shall know yourself (or at least avoid being hit on the head by falling objects).

[rdb3]

When they realize how devastating this tactic will be, you may be certain that at every press conference that every Republican candidate has in the future, the press will ask him his views on evolution vs. creationism. And if the guy says he's a creationist, he'll be ridiculed as an idiot out of the Dark Ages. Creationism has the potential to destroy the Republican party.

---

Pump your brakes.

Let's say that I'm the Republican politician running for office, and the evolution/creation question gets asked of me. I will answer in the affirmative. Yes, I believe in creation.

Am I supposed to impugn my own integrity because of this? I think not.

And you or they can call me any name under the sun because of it if you wish. My stance still wouldn't change.

[shubi]

Creationism does not belong in the church, either. It is worse theology than it is science and the science in their claims is non-existant.

Of course, science doesn't send you to hell if you get it wrong.

[shubi]

Behe is a nutty biochemist that is the watchmaker argument redux. He is a creationist with no science behind him, as Dawkins pulverized his ideas in The Blind Watchmaker.

[shubi]

I was just trying to be as ridiculous in illogic as she, but didn't quite make it. ;-)

[shubi]

LOL I guess your "logic" is just too sophisticated for me to follow.

[shubi]

Assuming this is really a scientific paper and not from some creationist crap site, all it shows is a wrong hypothesis. Now the scientists are rethinking.

I would advise all creationists to start rethinking their theology, because it is vacuous.

[shubi]

Another good reason to distrust a literal take on Genesis.
Thank you for pointing that out.

Hebrew scholars didn't write Genesis. They just study it in the original language it was written (if you don't count the translations of earlier tales like Adam and Eve and Noah).

[shubi]

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