Ohio is debating whether to teach evolution and/or intelligent design in schools.
Historically, I think that both sides in the school debate have reason to be defensive.
The scientific side has ample evidence of religious blindness going back
to the Scopes trial. But what is less known is that the religious side
also has good reason to be on the defensive. As Thomas Dubay points out
in his book, "Faith and Certitude': "members of the secular academe are
assumed to be free to think and say and publish just what they wish. Not
so. Scholars must hew the officially accepted line in their fields or
they are consigned to the sidelines by their peers who organize
convention programs and publish journals....The eminent physicist and
astronomer Robert Jastrow finds strange the reaction of scientific minds
to the accumulating evidence that the universe did begin with the 'big
bang'. 'All recent evidence points to this scenario', says Jastrow, 'but
scientists are unhappy with it. It turns out that the man of science
reacts as the rest of us do when our beliefs conflict with the evidence.
We paper it over with meaningless phrases.'"
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