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Of course, ideally science centers would not to give in to this kind of
pressure.  I can, however, understand how it happens.  We are in the
process of developing new life science experiences including at least
one that explicitly deals with evolution, but we also are in a hotbed of
support for ID, including our junior Senator.  You can stand on
principles, but in the current funding climate, you could end up
standing on the street corner, out of a job.  It is also clear to me
that trying to argue or debate evolution vs ID is a fruitless endeavor.
The faith that leads to ID is not based on misunderstandings of the
facts, it is based on a belief system that provides the people who hold
those beliefs with great value.  It is not amenable to persuasion.  

I have found the discussion of this issue by Cobern (1994) to be very
helpful.  See an online preprint at http://www.wmich.edu/slcsp/112.htm.
Too many science centers present the "school" version of science, giving
science special privilege in the realm of knowing and placing it
superior to other ways of knowing.  By focusing on knowing instead of
understanding, we miss the opportunity to engage in a real dialog. 

Creationists are not idiots and they do not suffer from a lack of facts.
If they did, decades of repeated attempts to present the facts more
clearly and directly would certainly have had some impact.  Scientists
and science centers that want to make progress in this area need to
start from that premise and they need to be honest about the nature of
science as a human construction and a belief system.  Simply presenting
the "facts," as we see them, more clearly, more directly, more often,
etc. is not likely to move the dialog forward.


David L Smith
Director of Professional Development 
Da Vinci DiscoveryCenter of Science and Technology
http://www.discovery-center.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jonah Cohen
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 6:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: IMAX and evolution

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

-----Original Message-----
From: Carolyn Levi [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 4:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: IMAX and evolution


This is a direct quote direct from the article -- boldface is mine: 
"Hyman Field, who as a science foundation official had a role in the 
financing of "Volcanoes," said he understood that theaters must be 
responsive to their audiences. But Dr. Field he said he was "furious" 
that a science museum would decide not to show a scientifically 
accurate documentary like "Volcanoes" because it mentioned evolution. 
"
=====================
And you know, I think Dr. Field is right to be furious. If science
centers
are willing to knuckle under to religious fundamentalists and give
science
the short end of the stick... then what's that say about us? Who can be
expected to stand up for science if not us? If we are not for ourselves,
who
will be for us?

Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
Science Center of Connecticut

"God grant me the company of those who seek the truth, and God deliver
me
from those who have found it."

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