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Commentary Too - Feb 4, 2006 - Printable Version
- This Used to be a Helluva Good Country **
by Robin Buckallew
**Jack Nicholson, Easy Rider A friend of mine was complaining recently about all the distractions in this country. A lot of the articles she'd been reading lately were pointing out that too many "liberals" were misdirecting our attention by focusing on evolution, abortion, and other things like that, issues which were near and dear to the heart of what she called the "establishment liberals", but were really just a distraction from the important issues that were being ignored. She had to agree, she told me, flipping her hair complacently. Evolution, she said, would never be displaced in the schools by creationism. It's just a red herring. Besides, would it really be that devastating if a handful of students learned about creationism instead of evolution? It really wouldn't have any bearing, she said, on the overall health and welfare of the country as a whole, and we should stop pressing the issue. Just let it be. I sighed. It was going to be yet another one of "those" weeks, I could tell already.
First of all, let me explain something. The "establishment liberals" are not particularly interested in evolution. They are interested in maintaining the status quo - which really means their seats in Congress or their committee appointments. They are also interested in maintaining their donations from business and industry. Evolution is not considered a key issue by the Democratic Party. The "Evolution Wars" are mostly being fought by a handful of dedicated organizations such as the ACLU and the National Academy of Sciences. They spend most of their time and energy, not to mention money, putting out brush fires that crop up all over the country in first one school district and then another. They get little to no help from the national political establishment, who prefer to give very little attention to an issue that is considered such a political "hot potato" that they are afraid to even pay it much lip service. Most of the distraction in the evolution arena is being done by the religious right, who are determined to ride the wave of emotion all the way to the crest of national prominence.
I would also like to address the common misperception that dismisses this issue as "something that will never happen". For the last three decades, the scientific establishment approached the issue of creationism and intelligent design with detachment and disinterest, convinced that "it will never happen". They declined to get involved, feeling that the research they were doing was much more important than flying all over the country to debate creationists. There are still many of them who say it will never happen. Most of us know better. Most of us, particularly those who are teaching science in the nation's universities, know it has already happened. While we weren't looking, while we were busy with research and education, creationism has silently slipped into our public schools with little notice. Many teachers just simply began teaching it. They downloaded the materials that are widely available on the web, they passed them out in class, and they began discussing intelligent design and sometimes even creationism. Other teachers dealt with the issue by simply ignoring it altogether. A handful of school districts have written creationism into their school standards. When the Supreme Court declared that unconstitutional, they went back to the drawing board, came up with "intelligent design", and have now managed to place that in some school standards. A recent decision in Dover, PA, has declared this also a violation of the constitution; the world is still watching to see what sort of impact that will have on other school districts. In Kansas, the Board of Education has implemented a program to teach the "scientific" criticisms of evolution - criticisms which aren't scientific at all, but are simply religious arguments dressed up in scientific lingo. This is just another round in the "Evolution Wars", a shot that is meant to clear the way for the teaching of intelligent design, and eventually, creationism. Many schools, however, recognizing that putting their cards out on the table makes it easier to defeat their plans, have satisfied themselves with teaching creationism without official sanction, and without a great deal of public proclamation. In short, they have slipped it in through the backdoor. As a result, in the university where I teach science, I find that nearly every student I encounter has rather thorough knowledge of the tenets of intelligent design and creationism. It is not unusual, however, for me to go 2 or 3 years without encountering a single student, even among those majoring in science, who can give even the most basic definition of evolution, let alone understand the mechanisms and the theories that are involved.
Of course, it could be that many of you think, like my friend, that it really doesn't matter that much. If Americans don't understand evolution, and don't care, is it really that big a problem? Aren't there much more important things to be thinking about, and spending our attention on? This seems like an elitist discussion to most people, and they dismiss it as just another bit of intellectualism that doesn't apply to the everyday lives of ordinary Americans. Outside the walls of the university, it simply doesn't matter. Unfortunately, it does matter. America, once a world leader in many areas, is slipping from her position, and is quickly headed down the ladder to the unique status of a Third World nation with a First World economy.
Recent studies have been done that have revealed some startling figures, especially startling to those who believe that America is the "greatest country on Earth". For many years, America has been a world leader in science, first among nations in published papers, leading the pack in breakthrough discoveries, with some of the world's leading scientists proud to point to their American education. Now, the number of students we are graduating in the field of science has declined sharply, and we are far behind the nations of Western Europe in scientific professionals. For some reason, our students aren't choosing science. The number of papers we are publishing is following the same trend, and we are no longer at the forefront of many discoveries. America is being left behind in the scientific world, and we are beginning to "eat the dust" of not only Western Europe, but also many of the up-and-coming Asian nations, who value science highly and are investing large amounts of money, energy and talent in furthering their futures as scientific world leaders. As their scientific star is rising, ours has gone supernova, burning itself out in the heated dispute over science and religion. Many of our top scientists have withdrawn in disgust, choosing to remain above the fray, refusing to get involved. Other scientists have simply pulled up stakes, taking their education and their talent to countries that are more welcoming. Through it all, journalists proclaim their absolute commitment to "fair and objective" reporting, insistently reporting all sides of a highly unequal debate as if they were totally equal in all aspects of evidence. The rest of America just sleeps through the whole thing, firm in their conviction that it really doesn't matter, that it isn't germane to their lives, and it's all just a silly turf war. The awakening will one day be painful.
As America's leadership role in science declines, her leadership role in many other fields will not be far behind. Much of what science has produced has led to increases in human health and welfare, in longevity, in comfort and convenience. Much of our economy turns on the contributions of science. Most of the things you take for granted in your daily routine have been brought to you by science. Now, science is being sacrificed on the altar of public opinion. If we continue on this path of contempt for intellectual pursuits, and disdain for scientific endeavor, we had better start praying that God has plenty of manna to send us. We're going to need it.
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