Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, June 23, 2005
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■ Guest commentary
Creationism evolves wrong way
Christian fundamentalists have often
been accused of wanting to radically
alter the laws and institutions of the
United States. Actually, it is usually the
other way around; most of the time
those fundamentalists only try to pre
vent America’s laws and institutions
from being radically altered. For in
stance, fundamentalists may insist on
the preservation of Christmas symbols
and celebrations.
However, there is one area in which
many Christian fundamentalists do in
deed want to impose radical change:
the teaching of Biblical creationism vs.
evolution in public schools.
After losing favor since 1925 be
cause of Tennessee v. John Scopes, the
creationist movement is beginning to
once again make serious inroads. For
example, IMAX theaters in several
southern cities are refusing to show
“Volcanoes of the Deep Sea” for fear of
offending patrons, because the film
makes a reference to evolution. In
Dover, Pa., school administrators earli
er this year ordered biology teachers to
declare in class that “Darwin’s theory...
is a theory, not a fact. Gaps in the theo
ry exist for which there is no evi
dence.” In an Atlanta suburb in 2002,
stickers were placed on textbooks stat
ing that “evolution is a theory, not a
fact.” In January, a judge ruled the
stickers unconstitutional.
In 1999, the Kansas state board of
education voted to remove most refer
ences to evolution from state education
standards, a decision that was reversed
two years later.
According to a CBS poll conducted
last fall, two-thirds of Americans favor
teaching creationism in public schools
together with evolution and 37 percent
want to completely replace the teach
ing of evolution with creationism.
Saying that evolution is a theory is
like saying that the earth revolving
around the sun is a theory. Or that
plate tectonics (continental drift) is a
theory. Or that the idea of atoms mak
ing up our world is a theory. Just be
cause such scientific elements are not
apparent to the human eye doesn’t
mean they aren’t factual.
Evolution is a fact. It simply happens
that because it involves time periods
spanning hundreds or thousands
of generations, evolutionary change is
often much too slow for humans
to perceive.
In some cases, however, natural se
lection does occur quickly enough for
us to perceive. Through mutations,
new strains of antidote-resistant
viruses are always emerging. The
same holds true for pesticide-resistant
insects. There is also the famous ex
ample of the peppered moth near
Manchester, England. Starting out
with light-colored wings, they were
camouflaged as they rested on tree
trunks of the same color. But, as in
dustrial pollution made the trees
dark, birds picked off the lighter-col
ored moths. Mutant moths born with
black wings survived, reproduced,
and multiplied.
Through observing a petri dish of
bacteria, evolution can be witnessed
in a matter of hours. Adding a certain
antibiotic kills the majority of the bac
teria, but some of the bacteria are im
mune and go on to mass-reproduce.
To take a human example, it is re
vealing that Nepalese Sherpas are gen
erally much better at climbing Mt.
Everest than anyone else. It is not just
because of skill, but because their bod
ies seem to have adapted genetically to
the extreme environment, according to
scientists. How did this adaptation take
place? Not because God decided one
day to give all Sherpas a better oxygen
processing capability than other popu
lations, but because of natural selec
tion: The people whose bodies could
not process oxygen in a high-altitude
environment failed to survive, and
failed to reproduce.
Suppressing the teaching of evolu
tion or presenting it as a controversial
“theory” would be a huge step back
ward in education.
Meanwhile, proponents of a con
cept called intelligent design argue
that it is difficult to imagine how cer
tain complex phenomena could have
been constructed gradually through
evolution, and conclude that an intel
ligent being must have played a part.
If science cannot explain how cer
tain biological components were con
structed (a big if in itself), then that
point could be made in class. It would
be up to students to draw their own
conclusions as to how such unex
plainable things came about, just as it
is tip to them to draw their own con
clusions as to what causes gravity.
(Could it be God?)
I think we can all agree that ques
tioning the study of evolution, and
instead teaching that the world as we
know it was created some 6,000 years
ago, in six days, would certainly
be foolhardy.
Patrick D. Chisholm is principal of
Accentance, LLC, a writing and editing
firm in Chantilly, Virginia.
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■ Editorial
Oregonians
have history
of rebelling
against Feds
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
the federal government could prosecute med
ical marijuana users, those citizens who rely
on cannabis to live a normal life became a lit
tle nervous. Elderly cancer patients could face
serious consequences for the possession
of what is, by the laws of their state, a perfectly
legal medicine.
Fortunately for many marijuana users,
they live in Oregon. After the Supreme
Court’s attempt to override the decisions of
individual states, the Oregon State Depart
ment of Human Services consulted our State
Attorney General and determined that the
medical marijuana program should contin
ue to run as normal. For thousands of can
cer patients, AIDS victims, and other users
who rely on the medicinal value of the
cannabis plant, Oregon’s gung-ho attitude
means that the lives of these patients can
continue to run as normal. Cliched though it
may be, the truth remains that without Ore
gon’s insistence on medical marijuana pro
grams, sick grandmothers would be forced
to buy their medicine in unsafe, possibly ille
gal environments. The federal government
should remember, as Oregon obviously has,
that making medical marijuana illegal has
little effect on drug dealers and harms those
with real, medical needs.
Aitnougn the federal government still
has the right to seize and prosecute those
medical marijuana users, Oregon is taking
a huge step in the right direction by run
ning this state by the will of the people
rather than the ill-thought out approach of
our national officials.
The medical marijuana situation is not the
first time our state has taken a rebellious and
important stand. Oregon legalized physician
assisted suicide, and has continued that tra
dition despite the undercutting of John
Ashcroft. After being approved by voters
three times, the Death with Dignity Act re
mains strong thanks to citizens and politi
cians alike who refuse to let their voices be
silenced by an overzealous attorney general.
Issues related to health policy have histori
cally been delegated to the states, and Ore
gon did not hesitate to remind the Bush Ad
ministration of this fact.
Multnomah County handed out marriage
licenses to gay couples during a time of na
tional unrest over the meaning of marriage.
As with medical marijuana and the Death
with Dignity Act, our state once again made
its individual views known to the nation. Al
though those marriage licenses were eventu
ally revoked (as per the new statewide opin
ion that marriage was a union between man
and woman), it was at the time exciting to
see Oregon take a bold, individual stand.
In another act of defiance, Portland was
the first city in the country to pull out of the
FBI-led anti-terrorism effort in April. Instead,
the FBI agent in charge of Oregon, Robert
Jordan, aimed to provide all of Portland’s of
ficers with anti-terrorism training.
Oregon might be a humble representative
of the Pacific Northwest, but it is a brave
one. Oregonians should be proud of their
state’s ability and willingness to fight.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Shadra Beesley Ailee Slater
Editor in Chief Commentary Editor
Tim Boboksy
Photo and Online Editor