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I think the National Center for Science Education site is:
http://www.ncseweb.org
Chris Puchalla
G.WIZ, The Hands-On Science Museum
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of martin weiss
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 8:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RENEWED CONCERN ABOUT CREATIONISM AT GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
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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For those interested in the creationists book for sale at the Grand
Canyon National Park the following is from the National Center for
Science Education (http://www.ncse.org).
It is long and has links following it but it is accurate.
Martin
There is renewed controversy about the sale of a young-earth creationist
book in bookstores at Grand Canyon National Park. Meanwhile, Ronald L.
Numbers is interviewed in Salon, and Brian Alters's export witness
statement from Selman v. Cobb County is now available on-line.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility -- "a national
non-profit alliance of local, state and federal scientists, law
enforcement officers, land managers and other professionals dedicated to
upholding environmental laws and values" -- is charging the National
Park Service with stalling on a promised review of a creationist book
sold at the bookstores at Grand Canyon National Park. Although the
park's bookstores are operated by a separate non-profit organization,
the Grand Canyon Association, the National Park Service is responsible
for approving the items that are sold there. In August 2003, the NPS
approved the sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View, edited by Tom Vail
and published by Master Books, the publishing arm of the Institute for
Creation Research. A Different View expounds a young-earth creationist
view of the geology of the canyon, and proclaims that "all contributions
have been peer-reviewed to ensure a consistent and biblical
perspective." In his review of the book, the geologist Wilfred Elders
described it as "'Exhibit A' of a new, slick strategy by biblical
literalists to proselytize using a beautifully illustrated,
multi-authored book about a spectacular and world-famous geological
feature," adding, "Allowing the sale of this book within the National
Park was unfortunate. In the minds of some buyers, this could imply NPS
approval of young-earth creationists and their religious proselytizing."
After the sale of A Different View was approved, the superintendent of
the park appealed to the NPS headquarters for "a review of the book in
terms of its appropriateness," and the Chief of the Park Service's
Geologic Resources Division recommended its removal, saying that it
"does not use accurate, professional and scholarly knowledge; is not
based on science but a specific religious doctrine; does not further the
public's understanding of the Grand Canyon's existence; [and] does not
further the mission of the National Park Service." Meanwhile, the sale
of the book became a matter of public controversy: Elders's review
appeared in Eos (the weekly newsletter of the American Geophysical
Union); the presidents of the American Paleontological Society, the
American Geophysical Union, the National Association of Geoscience
Teachers, the Association of American State Geologists, the Society for
Vertebrate Paleontology, the American Geological Institute, and the
Geological Society of America signed a joint letter to the NPS, urging
that A Different View be removed "from shelves where buyers are given
the impression that the book is about earth science and its content
endorsed by the National Park Service"; and stories about the
controversy appeared in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. A
spokesperson for the NPS repeatedly assured the press and Congress that
the promised review would be forthcoming.
In a December 28, 2006, press release, however, PEER charged, "Despite
promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand
Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more
than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains
on sale at the park." Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER, commented,
"As one park geologist said, this is equivalent of Yellowstone National
Park selling a book entitled Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of
Satan." In a December 28, 2006, letter, PEER urged the new director of
NPS, Mary Bomar, to remove the book from sale at the park's bookstores
and museums as well as to "[p]rovide training to the interpretive staff
at Grand Canyon NP regarding how to answer questions from the public
concerning the geologic age of the Canyon and related matters; and ...
[a]pprove an updated version of the long-stalled pamphlet 'National Park
Service Geologic Interpretive
Programs: Distinguishing Science from Religion' for distribution to
agency interpretive staff." It ought to be noted that PEER is not
charging the NPS with forbidding its interpretive staff to present the
scientific facts about the canyon's age and geology, but only with not
providing its staff with the resources it needs to do so effectively,
especially when faced with park visitors who have questions about, or
even embrace, views that reject those facts on religious grounds.
Prompted by PEER's press release, the controversy over the sale of A
Different View is beginning to attract attention again in the media,
with the Arizona Daily Sun (January 4, 2007) offering a report in which
a spokesperson for the NPS was quoted as saying, "We do not use the
creationist text in our teaching, nor do we endorse its content.
However, it is not our place to censor alternate beliefs." But the
Sacramento Bee (January 4, 2007) suggested, in a forceful and cogent
editorial entitled "Don't use parks to promote creationism," "A new year
and a new National Park Service director mark an opportunity for change.
Here's an easy one. Settle the 3-year-old controversy about a
creationist account of the Grand Canyon." The editorial argued that
"Mary Bomar, the new National Park Service director, should send a
message that programs and materials in national parks present the best
scientific evidence and don't endorse any particular religious beliefs,"
and concluded by urging Bomar to "fix this easily and quickly: Remove
the book from sale from within the park; its proper place is for sale in
private bookstores outside the public park. Equally important, finish
the long-delayed pamphlet 'National Park Service Geologic Interpretive
Program: Distinguishing Science from Religion' and distribute it to park
rangers. The nation's public parks are not the place to promote
religious theories about the formation and development of Earth."
A spokesperson for the NPS, David Barna, told The New York Times
(January 5, 2007) that there was no formal review of whether the
bookstores ought to discontinue selling A Different View in part because
of differences among the NPS's specialists. According to the Times,
"When officials got together to discuss the book, the geologists and
natural resource specialists would say, 'Get this book out of here,' Mr.
Barna said. 'But the education and interpretation people would say:
'Wait a minute. If your science is so sound, the fact that there are
differences of opinion should not scare you away.'" In a written
statement, the Times reported, Barna "notes that Park Service management
policies require reliance on 'the best scientific evidence available'
and, as a result, rangers tell visitors that "the Colorado River basin
has developed in the past 40 million years." But the Times also
reported that "the guidelines also say that material available from
concessionaires in national parks should adhere to
the standards used to evaluate Park Service materials." PEER's
executive
director Jeff Ruch was quoted as contending that selling the book
promoted fundamentalist Christian views: "This is government
establishment of religion in a fairly fundamental way, if you pardon the
pun."
For Wilfred Elders's review of the book at issue, visit:
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/rncse_content/vol24/4521_bibliolatry_re
visited_review__12_30_1899.asp
For a discussion of the controversy over its sale, visit:
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/rncse_content/vol24/5100_flood_geology_
in_the_grand_can_12_30_1899.asp
For PEER's press release, visit:
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=801
For PEER's letter to the new director of the NPS (PDF), visit:
http://www.peer.org/docs/nps/06_28_12_peer_ltr_Bomar.pdf
For the story in the Arizona Daily Sun, visit:
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/163166
For the editorial in the Sacramento Bee, visit:
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/102565.html
And for the story in The New York Times, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/05/washington/05canyon.html
--
Martin Weiss, PhD
VP, Science
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111 th Street
Corona, NY 11368
ph 718 699 0005 x 356
fax 718 699 5227
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