Now Evolving in Biology Classes: A Testier Climate
Some science teachers say they're encountering fresh resistance to the topic of evolution - and it's coming from their students. Originally published at The Christian Science MonitorThis article, published by The Christian Science Monitor, quotes Discovery Institute Senior Fellow John West:
Continue Reading at The Christian Science MonitorThe Seattle-based Discovery Institute distributes a DVD, "Icons of Evolution," that encourages viewers to doubt Darwinian theory.
One example from related promotional literature: "Why don't textbooks discuss the 'Cambrian explosion,' in which all major animal groups appear together in the fossil record fully formed instead of branching from a common ancestor - thus contradicting the evolutionary tree of life?"
Such questions too often get routinely dismissed from the classroom, says senior fellow John West, adding that teachers who advance such questions can be rebuked - or worse.
"Teachers should not be pressured or intimidated," says Mr. West, "but what about all the teachers who are being intimidated and in some cases losing their jobs because they simply want to present a few scientific criticisms of Darwin's theory?"