| Kitzmiller vs Dover - preface from Dr. B.
|
| More than any other idea in science, the explanation of
human origins by natural mechanisms has provoked controversy and
denial. The reason is clear. The idea is disturbing to
people who feel that such explanations undermine their belief in God,
and also their beliefs in a
divine purpose and meaning for human existence, eternal reward in
heaven, and so on. It need not be so. Many people reconcile
evolution with their concept of God. For example, Alfred Wallace,
the co-discoverer of the principle of Natural Selection, believed in
material evolution, but also in special creation of the human soul. Nonetheless, some people feel that the science of evolution is a willful attempt to undermine their beliefs, rather than an objective attempt to discover reality. They respond to this perception by willfully attempting to undermine the science. There are dozens of websites and books that attack the evidence for evolution. They are not about science, and they don't play by the rules of science (i.e. objective evidence only , hypothesis testing, willingness to let the evidence determine the conclusion). Rather, they start with the conclusion and work backwards to discount everything that isn't consistent with special creation. There are also repeated attempts to substitute religious explanations for earth history and human origins in science classes in schools, most recently under the guise of "Scientific Creationism". In this approach, advocates attempt to dodge the Constitutional prohibition on teaching religion in public schools by disguising supernatural explanations as science. One of the most famous such attempts resulted in a trial in 2004-2005 called "Kitzmiller vs Dover Area School District". Below are a couple of items relating to that trial. Both are interviews with the author of a book (2008)about the case. The article is short & summarizes the case. The podcast interview is ~20 minutes long. Newspaper Interview (San Francisco Chronicle) Podcast: Dogma vs Darwin (if you are interested) |