ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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I see the point that Peter is trying to make. But I have to disagree with
the "ignore them and they'll go away" strategy. The right-wing religious
faction that is pushing an anti-evolution agenda is not some fringe
movement. They're politically and financially very powerful and well
organized. I can't believe that science centers taking a stand against them
would grant them more legitimacy than the sympathetic statements they've
gotten from U.S. Senators. I only wish we were that powerful.

Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
Science Center of Connecticut

"If you hear only one song this year, there's something terribly wrong with
you."
    -They Might Be Giants


-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 3:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: science and evolution statement

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
****************************************************************************
*

Colleagues: As the former project director of Man: A Course of Study I have 
followed this discussion with considerable interest, but I wonder why
science 
museum folks feel that it is necessary to draft statements defending
science. 
Aren't you giving the Creationists just the visibility that they seek? The 
whole strategy of the Creationists and the Religious Right is to try to get
people 
who believe in rational discourse to engage in a dialogue with them -- not
to 
achieve understanding but to create a public platform where they can express

their dogmatic beliefs. Turning a science museum into a forum for such
debates 
only denegrates science. Why not ignore this nonsense and press on with your

good work. Truth reveals itself to each of us in its own sweet way, and I
have 
never met anyone who has a corner on it. Peter Dow

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