Editorial

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It's too bad members of the Florida Board of Education had not seen Ben Stein's forthcoming movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" before its Feb. 19 vote to reject an academic freedom amendment to the state's science standards. If the members ever do see the movie, I have to believe at least one of the four who voted against academic freedom will wish he or she had another opportunity to fix the standards' silence concerning permitting scientific critiques of Darwinian evolution in the state's K-12 public schools.

After months of contentious debate in which Florida Baptists played prominent roles, both within the Board of Education and among those seeking to change the science standards' dogmatic approach to evolution, the Board failed to satisfactorily address concerns of citizens who merely requested an explicit provision protecting academic freedom. The proposal sought to amend wording in the diversity and evolution of living organisms section of the standards by changing "the" to "a" in its assertion that evolution is "the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence," and by adding the clause, "and teachers should be permitted to engage students in a critical analysis of that evidence."

Only Board member Donna Callaway, whose comments to me published in a December editorial were largely responsible for igniting the statewide controversy about the evolution-as-dogma treatment in the science standards, was willing to champion the academic freedom proposal. Her courage and efforts are worthy of praise, but frequently she got precisely the opposite.

Because Callaway is a committed Christian and had the temerity to offer her views to this newspaper, her opposition to the evolution-as-dogma standards made her the subject of extreme ridicule and attacks. One Florida newspaper called on her to resign because she failed to keep her religious views separate from her duties as a public officeholder. Oddly, that newspaper does not apply such thinking to advocates of Darwinian evolution who routinely argue that their views are compatible with their religious convictions. But if an evangelical Christian seeks to apply her religious convictions, she is a danger to the Republic.

Call the ACLU, because she has done it again in this issue on page three. Readers should avail themselves of Callaway's reflections on the evolution debate before the Board of Education and note her concern for children who will not be exposed to scientific critiques of Darwinian evolution.

Covering the science standards debate, including attending four public hearings around the state, I personally witnessed the disdain for those who disagree with Darwin, and the arrogance of Darwin's advocates. I also saw the anger—and the fear—of those persons who wish to squelch any contrary discussion of Darwinian evolution.

Disdain, arrogance, anger and fear—those same attitudes were strikingly present in Ben Stein's compelling documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," which I saw at a screening Feb. 23 in Tampa.

"Expelled" is a major motion picture documentary set for nationwide release April 18 and styled somewhat along the lines of Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" or Michael Moore's documentaries, with the notable exception that Stein's film actually allows the other side of the debate to be heard—something that will not be the case about the teaching of evolution in Florida's schools.

Indeed, some of the most notable advocates of Darwinian evolution are prominently featured in interviews throughout "Expelled," and their own words brilliantly prove Stein's point that "Big Science" is censoring serious scientific inquiry that sheds doubt on Darwin—and that censorship is taking the form of scientists losing their jobs and being denied tenure at major universities merely because they offer contradictory views about Darwinism.

Stein is something of a renaissance man—lawyer, former presidential speechwriter, economist, actor and comedian—who is staking his own celebrity status on this controversial subject that has already cost him several close friends, he noted in a conference call with reporters recently.

In addition to focusing attention on the suppression of academic freedom regarding evolution, "Expelled" demonstrates the moral implications of Darwinism, compellingly connecting the philosophical underpinnings of Darwinian evolution to how Nazi Germany applied such views in its horrific campaign to exterminate the Jewish race. Stein visits several Nazi concentration camps—and most chillingly, the gas chambers—noting Nazism's "survival of the fittest" eugenics program found its philosophical basis in Darwinism.

Stein, who is a Jew, noted in the January conference call with reporters, "Darwinism is not a sufficient condition for the Holocaust, but it is a necessary condition," echoing the comments of David Berlinski, a secular Jewish philosopher he interviewed in "Expelled."

"I am compelled by the idea that if I had been living in Europe during the era of Hitler, I would have been deprived of life by virtue of a Darwinist thought, which was that I was inferior and was competing for valuable resources of people who were my biological superior," he said.

Stein hopes "Expelled" can help address America's moral crisis.

"I think we're missing something extremely basic in our understanding of the world and how it got created, and I'd like us to return to that. And, I think by returning to those bigger subjects of how the world got created and what our place in the world is, we will find a new moral fence which is very much lacking. ... We're a terribly rich country, we're a very technologically advanced country, but we're a country that's lost its way morally and we may be able to take a tiny, little contribution towards helping it finding its way back morally, improving the lives of people as they have a bigger morality—bigger and clearer and more sure moral compass in their lives."

As for the state's science standards, the Board of Education has acted, but the debate continues. This matter is now in the hands of the Legislature.

There are some encouraging signs that the Legislature may be open to fixing the newly adopted science standards' dogmatic approach on Darwinian evolution. House Speaker Marco Rubio told me he thinks there may be enough votes for an academic freedom bill in the House. (See the news story on page four.) The question is whether he and other House and Senate leaders have the political will to make sure it happens.

If legislative leaders have the opportunity to see "Expelled" I believe any wavering in their political will that may exist will vanish. Florida should not become the latest example of Big Science's censorship of scientific critiques of Darwinian evolution.

For the sake of children who need to be exposed to the legitimate scientific questions being raised against Darwinism and for the teachers who are charged with properly instructing our children, let's urge the Legislature to not permit expulsion of critiques of Darwin from our public schools by adopting legislation to protect academic freedom.