| Evolution in the News - January 2006 |
| by Do-While Jones |
Evolutionists are trying to use copyright law, which regulates who may print and sell information, as a means to regulate who can purchase and read information.
Effectively saying, “If I can’t be quarterback, I’m taking my football and going home,” evolutionists have taken a remarkably immature approach to science censorship—and they are proud of it! In an email sent to all members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the CEO of AAAS boasted,
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When the Kansas State Board of Education voted 6-4 to redefine science and introduce intelligent design, we [the AAAS] backed two highly respected science organizations that denied permission for continued use of their copyrighted materials. 1 |
Think about it. The evolutionists don’t want the Kansas public schools to use textbooks written by evolutionists! [Please see our correction to this statement in the February newsletter.] Why do you suppose that is? We believe that it is because the actual “evidence” for evolution in these textbooks is so unscientific and easily refuted that they don’t want teachers who will teach science critically to use them. They only want teachers who will not question anything in them to use them. They want their textbooks used only by teachers who will answer student’s questions with, “It is true, but it is a little bit too complicated for me to explain to you right now. Trust me. You’ll find out why it is true in a more advanced science course.”
It is illegal in America for a publisher to send a notice to bookstores telling them, “You may sell this textbook only to white students. Under no circumstances should you sell it to a minority student.” Clearly, this would be illegal discrimination because it would keep minority students ignorant and give an advantage to white students. The court would not allow it.
But here the AAAS, and two other unspecified “highly respected science organizations” are trying to get the court to prevent the sale of science textbooks to Kansas public schools, in order to keep Kansas students ignorant of biology.
This approach could really backfire on evolutionists. Elementary school science books are purchased only by schools. College science textbooks are purchased by students, but specified by schools. Evolutionists have had control of organizations that select textbooks. Publishers know that books which ignore evolution, or are critical of evolution, will not be selected. Therefore, since there isn’t much of a market for fair and balanced textbooks, they don’t publish them.
If Kansas schools aren’t allowed to use standard evolutionary textbooks, then somebody will have to publish textbooks not protected by the evolutionists’ copyrights. Once these textbooks become available, they will be bought not only by Kansas schools, but also Ohio schools, and other smart schools. This will create a market for textbooks not written by evolutionists.
Evolutionary textbooks are filled with statements of the form, “Over millions of years, animal X evolved the ability to live in environment Y.” Christian textbooks say, “God created animal X to live in environment Y.” Both forms of expression mix fact with religious belief. The theologically-neutral, purely scientific thing to say is, “Animal X lives in environment Y.” Unfortunately, we don’t know of any purely theologically-neutral biology textbooks. Every publisher seems to want to grind one side of the axe or the other.
There is, however, a biology textbook that is NEARLY theologically-neutral. It is Biology: A Search for Order in Complexity published by Christian Liberty Press. You can see from the on-line table of contents 2 that it covers all the subjects a high school biology textbook should. Except for three paragraphs on page 3, and the Epilog on pages 375-376, we could find no references in it to God or Intelligent Design. This means that, with very little trouble and very quickly, they could create a public school version of the book with mass market appeal.
This book contains Unit 9 – Theories of Biological Change. This 50-page unit contains chapters on Weakness of Geologic Evidence, Evidences from Similarities, Early Man, Problems for Evolutionists, and Limited Variation verses Unlimited Change. It fairly presents both sides of the scientific controversy on these subjects. Evolutionists don’t want young people exposed to these things.
The time is ripe for religiously-neutral science textbooks. The use of copyright law to prevent schools from using science textbooks espousing the evolutionists’ religion will simply accelerate the acceptance of pure science textbooks. Maybe the AAAS isn’t as smart as it thinks it is.
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Footnotes:
1
Alan I. Leshner, CEO, AAAS aaas-response@ eloop.goldlasso.com , December 15, 2005, “Message to Members: Evolution on the Front Line”
(Ev+)
2
Go to www.christianbook.com and search for "Biology: A Search for Order in Complexity". Click on the title it finds, and you will be presented with a page that has a link to the Table of Contents.