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SEN. NELSON'S LETTER

Re-election bid

U.S Senator Bill Nelson's letter in the Jan. 27, 2005, issue of Florida Baptist Witness was interesting. Unfortunately, it appears his main interest in the tsunami victims and Baptists in the state of Florida is to gain support for his re-election to the Senate in 2006. As mentioned in Executive Editor James Smith's editorial of March 20, 2003, Senator Nelson voted with pro-abortion minorities three times in an attempt to prevent the passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. In addition, he voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. As a Democrat, Mr. Nelson also supports his party’s position on same-sex “marriage.” These issues are not only non-Baptist, they are also non-biblical. Senator Nelson not only doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve, he wears it in his pocket, out of sight. Beware of wolves in sheep skin! I have been praying for Bill Nelson for 15 years and will continue to do so.

Bert Messer Tallahassee

ORIGINS OF LIFE

Suggested policy

According to John G. West, associate director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture: “Although we think discussion of intelligent design should not be prohibited, we don’t think intelligent design should be required in public schools. ...What should be required is full disclosure of the scientific evidence for and against Darwin’s theory” (“ACLU & AU sue school board over intelligent design,” Florida Baptist Witness, Jan. 27). The following suggested Origins of Life policy, which first appeared in the Buckna/ Laidlaw article, “Should evolution be immune from critical analysis in the science classroom?” (www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-282.htm), is a realistic, practical and legal way for local and state school boards to achieve a win-win with regard to evolution teaching. Even the ACLU, the NCSE, and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State should find the policy acceptable: “As no theory in science is immune from critical examination and evaluation, and recognizing that evolutionary theory is the only approved theory of origins that can be taught in the [province/state] science curriculum: whenever evolutionary theory is taught, students and teachers are encouraged to discuss the scientific information that supports and questions evolution and its underlying assumptions, in order to promote the development of critical thinking skills. This discussion would include only the scientific evidence/information for and against evolutionary theory, as it seeks to explain the origin of the universe and the diversity of life on our planet.” To read further on the subject, refer to my recent essay, “Should Evolution Be Immune From Critical Analysis?” at (www.rae.org/critanl.html). If science is a search for truth, no scientific theory should be allowed to freeze into dogma, immune from critical examination and evaluation.

David Buckna Kelowna, BC, Canada