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>>
>> From: Maureen McConnell <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: March 29, 2005 5:59:44 PM EST
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: science/religion
>>
>>
>> Frames of Reference-
>> Maureen McConnell, Museum of Science, Boston
>>
>> Reading the discussion on this listserv about science and religion 
>> reminds me of the early days of the Enola Gay exhibition debate among 
>> museum professionals.
>>
>> I feel that our discussion is taking place in a very narrow frame of 
>> reference. If I block out both issues in levels (see below), most of 
>> what I read on the listserv is at level 1 or 2. In the Enola Gay 
>> debate we also stayed at level 1 or 2 for a long time—too long, and 
>> the museum field suffered from our limited view and reluctance to 
>> take a wider perspective.
>>
>> I feel it is foolish—utterly foolish-- for us not to learn from our 
>> history.
>>
>> As the historian Mike Wallace wrote in “History Wars: The Enola Gay 
>> and Other Battles for the American Past”—
>>
>> “But isolated institutions can only do so much.  There must be a 
>> commitment by the larger museum community to help out. An attack on 
>> one museum’s freedom of expression should be seen as an attack on 
>> all. Most Americans believe museums are dedicated to the pursuit and 
>> display of truth. They enjoy a rare reputation among our cultural and 
>> political establishments. Any capitulation to political or commercial 
>> pressures tarnishes that image.”
>>
>>
>>
>> Evolution/ Religion debate-
>>
>> Level 1-
>> Personal-
>> Do I believe in a Higher Power? Do I feel that scientific evidence 
>> for evolution is incompatible with belief in a Higher Power?
>>
>> Level 2-
>> Ideological-
>> Scientific theory vs. religion
>>
>> Level 3-
>> National view-
>> To what extent is the science/ religion debate of view fueled by U.S. 
>> party politics?
>>
>> Level 4-
>> International view-
>> To what degree is the debate over Darwinism vs. fundamentalist 
>> religious beliefs strictly an American issue?
>>
>> Level 5-
>> World view-
>> To what extent is the US debate over religion and science a 
>> reflection of the rise of religious fundamentalism in many countries 
>> worldwide?
>>
>>
>> Enola Gay Exhibit-
>>
>> Level 1-
>> Personal-
>> Do I think that dropping the atomic bomb was justified in order to 
>> bring an end to WW II?
>>
>> Level 2-
>> Ideological-
>> Historical scholarship vs. public remembrance
>>
>> Level 3-
>> National view-
>> To what extent was the public controversy over the Smithsonian’s 
>> planned exhibition of the bomber Enola Gay affected by the US 
>> congress?
>>
>> Level 4-
>> International view-
>> To what extent was the furor over the Enola Gay exhibition in the US 
>> another example of the difficulty of any nation in acknowledging its 
>> wartime activities? (Nazi death camps for Germany, Pearl Harbor for 
>> the Japanese etc.)
>>
>> Level 5-
>> World view- How did the Atomic Age, ushered in by the dropping of the 
>> atomic bomb on Hiroshima, begin a new era in world affairs?
>>
>> (Note to younger museum professionals: The exhibition “Crossroads: 
>> The End of WWII, the Atomic Bomb, and The Origin of the Cold War” 
>> popularly called “the Enola Gay exhibit” was an exhibition planned by 
>> the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in 
>> 1994. The exhibition was never mounted in its original form because 
>> of public controversy that involved the Air Force Association, and 
>> eventually the US Congress. It opened in a highly modified form in 
>> 1995.)
>>
>> For a museum controversy timeline, visit:
>> http://www.austmus.gov.au/amarc/contested/timeline.htm
>>
>>
>>
>>

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