stand up for REAL science

The teaching of Creationism in American public schools has been soundly defeated in court case after court case. However, if there is one thing that Creationists are good at, it is evolving new strategies to promote their religious beliefs as "science" in publicly-funded venues.

Having consistenly failed to demonstrate the educational value of their religiously-inspired pseudoscience, Creationists are now turning to the fallback strategy of attacking evolution without explicitly mentioning any specific Creationist alternatives. So far, this strategy has been moderately successful. The Louisiana Science Education Act is an example of this strategy, as are the recent struggles over the treatment of evolution in state science standards in Kansas and Texas.

According to Glenn Branch, the deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, the ultimate fate of this fallback strategy is unclear, as it is yet to be tested in the legal arena.

Writing in U.S. News and World Report, Branch identified the most serious damage done by American Creationism: it creates a cycle of ignorance.

In the meantime, creationism contributes to a climate of hostility toward, skepticism about, and ignorance of evolution - and, indeed, science - in America. Teachers often don't teach evolution or don't teach it properly because they are creationists themselves, because of pressure from creationists, or because they lack training. The sad consequence is students cheated of a chance to attain a proper understanding of the central principle of the biological sciences. In a global marketplace increasingly driven by medical, biotechnological, and environmental challenges, scientific literacy is not a luxury. Yet among developed countries, the United States is next to last - ahead of only Turkey - in its public acceptance of evolution.

I think Branch has made an important point. The cycle of ignorance created by the anti-evolution movement will be difficult to break. What's worse, it doesn't really matter whether their latest fallback strategy is ultimately successful. The ruckus raised by the implementation of the strategy is enough to ensure that many students will be cheated out of their only real chance to learn about evolution.

This is why it is so crucial that supporters of REAL science continue to educate the public about the importance and value of understanding evolution. Ultimately, education is the most effective tool we have to break the cycle of scientific ignorance in this country.

I sincerely hope we can do it before China and India do it for us.