Saul Renderfrance |
Friday evening’s premiere of the film "Icons of Evolution" met with dissension from people within and without the bounds of SPU.
These dissenters include members of the SPU biology department and a group called Burlington-Edison Committee for Science Education (BECSE).
Prior to the event, in the stairwell inside Gwinn, members of BECSE handed out packets of information about Jonathan Wells, a biologist featured in the film.
The event, which was sponsored by the Political Union Club, the SPU political science department and the Discovery Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan education group based in Seattle, was attended by approximately 500 people, according to John West, Discovery Institute senior fellow and SPU political science chair.
After the film presentation, panelists answered questions posed by 15 to 20 people. The panelists included Wells, Discovery Institute President Bruce Chapman and Roger DeHart, former biology teacher at Burlington-Edison High School, who got reassigned by his school district for teaching biological evidence against evolution and telling students about scientists who were skeptical of Darwin’s theory.
According to an email from Carl Johnson, a member of BECSE, he handed out literature between 6:30 and 7:15 p.m. prior to the 7:30 p.m. event.
Saul Renderfrance |
Chapman said that this is incorrect and that he was happy to have the protestors at the event. He talked to them when he walked into Gwinn and was given some of their materials. According to Chapman, he did not call security.
"I was happy to have them there. Unwittingly they served a useful purpose," Chapman said. He also said that the packets of information consisted of personal attacks aimed at Wells, rather than the discussion of issues.
The two packets were entitled; "The Talented Mr. Wells" and "Jonathan Wells: Who is He, What Is He Doing Here, and Why?".
West pointed out the irony in that this same group whose protesting helped get DeHart into trouble with his school district were allowed free speech at Friday’s event. West emphasized the importance of the group members being permitted to have free speech.
"SPU is a university and we should prize discussion of different points of veiw."
According to Director of SPU Safety and Security Mark Reid, security responded to the scene after someone who was concerned that the protestors would disrupt the event alerted security. West said that security responded because he had asked that they be called in case the group decided to disrupt the event by shouting or yelling. He said however, that handing out information was fine with him.
Saul Renderfrance |
"We were fine with that," Reid said. "They were not asked to leave campus."
"There were no real difficulties with these guys," Reid said.
Members of BECSE, including Johnson, attended the event.
The film shown at the event presented scientific evidence that questioned the accuracy of evidence that has been used to support Darwinian evolution. One piece of evidence discussed was Darwin’s Galapagos finches. The finches have been used as an example of how changes in the environment can bring about alterations in species’ physical attributes.
According to information presented in the film, the evidence collected to date only shows fluctuations in the finches’ beak size. These fluctuations are dependent on climate and have not produced long-term changes.
SPU senior biology major Nathan Brouwer attended the event.
"I thought it was a really well-made movie," Brouwer said.
However, Brouwer thought that the event used science as a guise for a political agenda of reintroducing God into public school science curriculum.
West commented on this.
"The point of Friday’s event was not about having God in the classroom but about good science education," West said. "[Students] should be exposed to the diversity of scientific opinion about the key evidences for Darwin’s theory."
West said that schools should not teach Darwinian evolution as "unquestioned fact, when it’s not."
Biology Department Chair Rick Ridgway identifies himself as a theistic evolutionist, which means that God as a creator could use evolution to bring about the diversity of organisms.
About a month prior to the event, West sent Ridgway and other faculty members invitations to participate in the panel at the event.
All of the faculty members declined to be panelists.
Ridgway said that he felt it was odd that SPU faculty were invited to be on the panel, but scientists such as Eugenie Scott and Ken Miller, who represented evolutionary support in the film, were not asked to attend.
According to Ridgway, if they had been given around six months’ notice, the science department may have been able to generate funds for bringing one or both of the scientists to the event.
West said that planning for the event only began about six to eight weeks ago, so he could not have given Ridgway six months’ notice. Also, because Darwinian biologists have the majority view, he did not think it would be difficult to get some of them to attend the event.
When Ridgway asked about having Scott or Miller attend the event, West told him that he did not have the money to pay for either of the scientists to attend the event and be part of the panel. However, he said he would have liked for them to attend.
According to West, the Discovery Institute did not have to pay for Wells and DeHart to attend the event because they live in the area. But Scott and Miller live in San Francisco and Rhode Island, respectively, according to West.
West said that he did not feel that the presence of Scott and Miller was necessary for having a meaningful discussion at the event.
According to Ridgway, the goal of the Discovery Institute is to remove evolutionary theory from high schools and substitute intelligent design theory, or at least make the theories equal.
West said that this is an incorrect assertion. "The goal of the Discovery Institute is far from wanting evolution removed from the classroom," West said. "Discovery Institute adopts the approach that we ought to teach more about evolution and not less, and that includes problems with [evolutionary] theory."
Ridgway said that as a field, science is designed to look at the natural world and not to take a stand on whether or not God exists. He said that so far there is no empirical evidence to support intelligent design theory.
According to West, the theory of intelligent design is that "the specified complexity that we see [in the universe] is best explained as a product of an intellectual cause rather than being caused by chance and necessity," West said.
According to Ridgway, prior to the event, he sent an email to West and copied it to President Phil Eaton and other members of the administration.
According to Ridgway, his email said, "My concern here is simply that SPU and the Discovery Institute be seen as separate entities, and more specifically that the underlying political objectives of the Discovery Institute Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture not be assumed to be the official stance of the university."
"The university does not take an official stance on evolution," Ridgway said.
According to Ridgway, after he sent out the email, West contacted him and said that he would be happy to make an announcement at the event saying that the views of the Discovery Institute are not necessarily the views of SPU. "I was happy to do that," West said.
However, West said that he did not recall any other event at SPU in which that kind of announcement has been made. He pointed out that at a university there are many events that espouse differing points of view.
SPU sophomore Mackensie Rogers attended the film premiere. Rogers is a biology major who plans to teach high school biology.
Rogers agreed with West that evolution is only a theory.
"A lot of the high school text books have it (evolution) as being the total truth and it’s not, it’s just a theory," Rogers said. "It isn’t science if you’re only seeing one side."
"I’m just really glad I was able to go to [the event]."