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The Threat from Creationism to the Rational Teaching of Biology

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The Threat from Creationism to the Rational Teaching of Biology CORNISH-BOWDEN & CÁRDENAS Biol Res 40, 2007, 113-122 113 Biol Res 40: 113-122, 2007 BR The threat from creationism to the rational teaching of biology ATHEL CORNISH-BOWDEN and MARÍA LUZ CÁRDENAS Laboratoire de Bioénérgétique et Ingénierie des Protéines, CNRS, Marseille, France ABSTRACT Most biologists outside the USA and a few other countries, like Australia and Canada, are under the impression that the threat to the teaching of biology represented by creationism does not concern them directly. This is unfortunately no longer true: the recent growth of creationism, especially in its pseudo- scientific manifestation known as “intelligent design”, has been obvious in several countries of Western Europe, especially the UK, Germany and Poland, and it is beginning to be noticeable in Brazil, and maybe elsewhere in Latin America. The problem is complicated by the fact that there are not just two possibilities, evolution and creationism, because creationism comes in various incompatible varieties. Turkey is now a major source of creationist propaganda outside the USA, and is especially significant in relation to its influence on Muslim populations in Europe. The time for biologists to address the creationist threat is now. Key terms: education, creationism, intelligent design, fundamentalism, evolution, natural selection. INTRODUCTION little problem is apparent at present, and to emphasize that the moment to plan how to Virtually all biologists now accept respond to creationism is now. evolution as a reality that is no longer We should comment at the outset on the worth discussing. In the words of Medawar, fact that nearly all of our references are to as quoted by Carroll (2006), “for a web-sites. In a scholarly journal this is far biologist, the alternative to thinking in from ideal, because material on the web can evolutionary terms is not to think at all”. and does change without warning or This universal acceptance makes it easy for indication from one day to another, and it is biologists to forget that the situation in the often difficult to identify the author or world at large is very different, not only determine the date of last revision. among non-scientists but also to a Moreover, there is no certainty –and even surprising extent among scientists in non- in some cases no more than a low biological fields. Even those who are aware probability– that any citation that is correct of the creationist threat to the rational at the moment of submitting the article will teaching of biology in the USA often fail to still be correct when it is published and realize that in recent years the problem has read. However, much as modern teachers spread far beyond the USA, driven in some might wish their students to read permanent countries not by Christian fundamentalism published documents such as books and but by Islamic fundamentalism. The journal articles, they all know that what purpose of this article, therefore, is to make students actually read much of the time, biologists conscious of the existence of a whether at high school or in the univer- serious threat to their subject, even if they sity, is what they see on their computer work in countries such as Chile where very screens. Teachers need, therefore, to Correspondence to: Dr. A. Cornish-Bowden, CNRS-BIP, 31 chemin Joseph-Aiguier, B.P. 71, 13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France, E-mail: [email protected], Fax: 33 491 16 46 61 Received: June 20, 2007. Accepted: July 1, 2007 114 CORNISH-BOWDEN & CÁRDENAS Biol Res 40, 2007, 113-122 familiarize themselves with the sort of CREATIONISM AND BIOLOGY IN THE USA nonsense that is purveyed as biological information on the web, and even if the The creationist threat to biology in the USA specific sites that we refer to have changed is so well known that it requires little by the time this article is printed, they discussion here, but it is worthwhile to remain valid as examples of the sort of correct a widespread misapprehension. The material that is in circulation. Biologists trial of John T. Scopes in 1925 is often who have not examined creationist web- regarded as a de facto victory for the sites may find it difficult to credit how bad rational teaching of biology in the USA, much of the statements offered as biology because, although the fundamentalists won are, so it may be useful to quote from an the case, their spokesmen made themselves article about kangaroos at Conservapedia, so ridiculous in the process that other states set up as “a much-needed alternative to were discouraged from proposing laws Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti- similar to the Tennessee law that Scopes Christian and anti-American” (Anonymous, had violated. This is the conventional view 2007a): of the story, but it gives a wrong reason for the lack of conflict in the USA for a According to the origins model used by generation after 1925: this is better creation scientists, modern kangaroos, explained by the fact that there was like all modern animals, originated in essentially no teaching of evolution in the Middle East and are the descendants schools in the USA during this period, and of the two founding members of the consequently no laws to forbid it were modern kangaroo baramin that were perceived as necessary. This only changed taken aboard Noah’s Ark prior to the after the launching of the Sputnik by the Great Flood... USSR in 1957, which made it clear that the gap in scientific achievement between the Also according to creation science, after USA and the USSR was much narrower the Flood, kangaroos bred from the Ark than had been thought, so that serious passengers migrated to Australia... attention needed to be given to the teaching of science, including biology, in schools. Other views on kangaroo origins include The reappearance of evolution as an the belief of some Australian aborigines essential part of the teaching of biology that kangaroos were sung into existence brought with it a reawakening of vehement by their ancestors during the opposition to it from Christian “Dreamtime” and the evolutionary view fundamentalists. Starting with Arkansas in that kangaroos and the other marsupials 1981, several states have proposed laws that evolved from a common marsupial would require “balanced” teaching of ancestor which lived hundreds of biology, with “creation science” taught in millions of years ago. secondary schools on an equal basis with evolution. One may suspect that this is just The principal source given for this a delaying tactic, and that once the battle information is a web page written by the for equal time is won the creationists will Australian creationist Ken Ham (1996), proceed to their real objective of entitled “Kangaroos, dinosaurs and Eden”. eliminating the teaching of evolution Readers should remember that the entries at altogether. As quoted by Stephen Jay Gould Conservapedia are frequently updated, so (1984), the anti-evolution activist Paul although the quotation is correct at the time Ellwanger made this quite clear in a letter of writing it may not survive subsequent to a state legislator. The wording of the editing. In addition, the term baramin is Arkansas law is worth noting: as part of the unlikely to be familiar to most biologists: it state’s efforts “to protect academic refers to an attempt to place the biblical freedom” it will “require balanced notion of a “kind” of animal on a scientific treatment of creation science and evolution footing. science in public schools” – a novel CORNISH-BOWDEN & CÁRDENAS Biol Res 40, 2007, 113-122 115 interpretation of the idea of academic agree with it”. In other words, the Bible freedom to mean that teachers must be provides the criterion by which the truth or forced to teach material that they do not otherwise of scientific hypotheses must be believe in! assessed. By 2006, the American Society for The British Magazine The New Biochemistry and Molecular Biology had Humanist has reported on a discussion in become sufficiently concerned to organize a Parliament about Emmanuel College and symposium on “Teaching the Science of other similar schools (Wheen, 2003). When Evolution under the Threat of Alternative the Prime Minister was asked if he was Views” at its annual meeting, to “happy to allow the teaching of creationism complement a symposium on “Current alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution in Themes in Molecular Evolution” during the state schools”, he replied merely that “in same meeting. Speakers at the former of the end a more diverse school system will these emphasized that “anti-evolution deliver better results for our children”. This activity is nationwide,” but, as we shall reply should be carefully noted by anyone discuss, it is now far more than just who is tempted to believe that political “nationwide”. leaders can be trusted to protect academic standards, and we shall show below that the lack of concern of political leaders for CREATIONISM AND BIOLOGY IN EUROPE academic standards is no less evident in other countries, such as Germany, Poland The UK and Brazil. The consequence in the UK may be judged from the results of a survey In April 2006 the Royal Society (effectively published in the British newspaper The the Academy of Sciences of the UK) issued Guardian (Anonymous, 2006b) in August a statement that evolution is “recognised as 2006: more than 12% of UK students the best explanation for the development of questioned preferred creationism to any life on Earth from its beginnings and for the other explanation of human origins, and diversity of species” and that it is “rightly another 19% favoured the theory of taught as an essential part of biology and “intelligent design”.
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