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Georgia Scientists File Legal Brief in Evolution Lawsuit, Defend Open-Minded Approach to Teaching Evolution
ATLANTA, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The courts should not prevent
educators from encouraging students to approach the study of evolution with an
open mind according to over 30 scientists, including 25 from Georgia, who have
submitted a legal brief to the US District Court in the Northern District of
Georgia.
The court begins hearing testimony today in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU
challenging the Cobb Co. school district's right to insert a sticker into high
school biology textbooks which states: "This textbook contains material on
evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living
things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied
carefully, and critically considered."
"Frankly, it's astonishing that the ACLU opposes having students study
evolution 'with an open mind,'" says attorney Seth Cooper, an expert on the
legal aspects of teaching evolution. "The ACLU is supposed to be against
censorship and favor the free marketplace of ideas, but here it is
dogmatically trying to censor a school district from encouraging an
open-minded approach to teaching evolution."
Cooper points out that the textbook sticker does not deal with creationism
or even alternative scientific theories to evolution: "It merely encourages
students to avoid dogmatism when studying evolution by carefully and
critically examining the evidence with an open mind," explains Cooper. "That
sort of critical inquiry is the heart of what science is supposed to be
about."
While the ACLU claims there is no debate among scientists over Darwinian
evolution, Cooper, a program officer with the Discovery Institute's Center for
Science & Culture, explains that this is simply not true.
"There is a robust and growing scientific controversy surrounding
neo-Darwinian theory," says Cooper. "The scientists listed in this brief
wanted to correct the ACLU's patently erroneous claim that no scientists
question Darwinian evolution."
The brief states "that the science education necessary to equip students
for the 21st Century should not censor relevant scientific information about
important scientific controversies (such as neo-Darwinian and chemical
evolutionary theories), but should fully inform students about such debates."
Scientists joining the legal brief include biologists and biochemists from
state schools such as University of Georgia, Georgia Southern University,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Kennesaw State University, Stanford
University, and Ohio State University. Many of the scientists are signatories
of the national "Scientific Dissent from Darwinism" list of over
300 scientists who are "skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation
and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful
examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."
SOURCE Discovery Institute
Web Site: http://www.discovery.org