Dr. Terry C. Maxwell is a professor or Biology at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. He is also a signer of the "Scientists for a Responsible Curriculum in Texas Public Schools" statement from the 21st Century Science Coalition.
So it should come as no surprise that he has seen right through the latest machinations of the antievolutionists on the Texas Board of Education.
The heart of this dispute is not the science in evolution. It has been pointed out elsewhere that there has been no need for a scientific article titled "new evidence for evolution" in the past 100 years. The reality of an evolutionary history of life was settled within mainstream biology and geology at least that long ago, and there remains no scientific debate. The evolution questions today involve details of pattern and process, indicative of an active and vibrant science.
Rather, this dispute is one of ideology between science and certain religious viewpoints about a subject addressed in Scripture. You notice that we aren't sparring over the germ or atomic theories that are not directly addressed in the Bible. It is confusing and misleading to students in science class to single out biology and historical geology as uniquely discredited by a religious-based perspective.
The "strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories" language in the Texas school curriculum is an anti-evolution ploy and everyone knows it.
Rather, this dispute is one of ideology between science and certain religious viewpoints about a subject addressed in Scripture. You notice that we aren't sparring over the germ or atomic theories that are not directly addressed in the Bible. It is confusing and misleading to students in science class to single out biology and historical geology as uniquely discredited by a religious-based perspective.
The "strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories" language in the Texas school curriculum is an anti-evolution ploy and everyone knows it.
Read the rest of Dr. Maxwell's opinion in the The San Angelo Standard-Times.
posted by Jeremy Mohn
