Acts & Facts - Institute for Creation Research

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Expelled:No Intelligence AllowedBig science has expelled smart new ideas from the classroom....What they forgot is that every generation has its Rebel!In this groundbreaking documentary, economist, actor, lawyer, and columnist Ben Steintravels the world on a quest for truth, and learns that educators and scientists are beingridiculed, denied tenure, and even fired—for merely believing that there might be evidenceof design in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of random chance.This DVD will open your eyes to the shocking suppression of academic freedom inAmerican schools, universities, and media.Only $19.95(plus shipping and handling)Slaughter of the Dissidents:The Shocking Truth about Killingthe Careers of Darwin DoubtersDr. Jerry BergmanSlaughter of the Dissidents is a unique and groundbreaking work exposinghow the careers of Darwin skeptics are being brutally attacked anddestroyed in many academic institutions throughout America. Dr. JerryBergman carefully documents with agonizing detail in his page-turningand mesmerizing case studies the discrimination, bigotry, prejudice,and tactics used against students, professors, and other science practitionerswho dare to question various aspects of Darwinian evolution.If you appreciated the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, thisbook picks up where the film left off. Slaughter of the Dissidents is awake-up call for those who are interested in freedom.$23.95(plus shipping and handling)To order, call 800.628.7640, or visit our online store at www.icr.org/store.18 ACTS&FACTS • NOVEMBER 2008
BOOK REVIEWSlaughter of the Dissidents:The Shocking Truth about Killing the Careers of Darwin Doubtersby Dr. Jerry Bergman(Leafcutter Press, 2008, 477 pages)BRIAN THOMAS, M. S.If Ben Stein’s 2008 documentary filmExpelled: No Intelligence Allowed was thetip, then Dr. Jerry Bergman’s Slaughterof the Dissidents is the rest of the iceberg.With clarity and thoroughness, Bergmanprovides detailed accounts of 17 of the over 300scientists and educators he has interviewed, allof whom have advanced degrees. Though theirviews range from creation science to intelligentdesign to evolution, all of them expressed somedoubt regarding neo-Darwinism, observingthat selection of mutations is not creating life’sdiversity. And all of them have received someform of discrimination.Dr. Bergman has observed thatevolutionary elitists incorrectly lumpall “Darwin Doubters” into one group,“creationists,” who are then categoricallyridiculed. Though highly qualified, thesescientists and educators are verbally andphysically threatened, lose privileges, loseopportunities for promotion, and losejobs and whole careers, just for expressingsome measure of doubt about the standardevolutionary story.One example is Rodney LeVake, the onlyhigh school biology teacher in his Faribault,Minnesota, public school with a master’s degreein biology, who was displaced in 1998 strictly forthe inadequacies he noticed in evolution. Hisschool administration required (only) him towrite a “position paper,” wherein LeVake notedthat “life’s complexity and the fossil record do notsupport the theory of macroevolution” (p. 217).Another biology teacher stated that evolution “isa fact like gravity, and a teacher who questionsDarwinism is blatantly incompetent and shouldbe fired” (p. 220). LeVake made it clear that hewas “not interested in teaching creationism inbiology class” (p. 219), but he was reassignedto teach chemistry. In June 2000, the RiceCounty District Court ruled that LeVake “hasno constitutional right to teach his proposedcriticisms of evolutionary theory, though theymay be scientifically meritorious” (p. 221).Dr. Bergman points out that if teacherswere required to believe all that they teach, thenWhen freedom of speechis revoked from one group,then the precedent is set torevoke it from others. Whoknows what group will betargeted next for academic“slaughter,” and who knowswhen the “slaughtering” willexpand beyond academia?history teachers would have to believe Marxismand Christianity when those subjects are covered,and religion teachers would have to believe allthe different religions that they survey. Bergmanquotes legal scholar Francis Beckwith’s opinionthat “since the court concedes that Mr. LeVake’sreassignment was based on his beliefs, an actthat is de facto unconstitutional, therefore, theCourt should have ruled in his favor on thesegrounds” (pp. 223-224).The purpose of Slaughter is to call usto “recognize that the pendulum has swungtoo far away from a reasonable center andagainst Christians.” It is “a plea that readers andsupporters will work to move the pendulumtoward…accommodation of Darwin skeptics inline with the principles of a free and just society”(p.15). Slaughter firmly verifies the theme ofExpelled, that our rights to free speech are beingtaken away. When freedom of speech is revokedfrom one group, then the precedent is set torevoke it from others. Who knows what groupwill be targeted next for academic “slaughter,”and who knows when the “slaughtering” willexpand beyond academia? Slaughter calls us todo the work of defending the innocent now,before such a task grows monumental or evenimpossible.With a total of 477 pages, Slaughtercontains 386 pages that recount and analyzecases of discrimination, a useful index, anda 68-page bibliography. This first of threevolumes has an accompanying website,SlaughteroftheDissidents.com. The secondvolume will detail the means by whichdiscrimination is carried out, and the thirdwill focus specifically on cataloging censorship.Slaughter provides ample evidence that “Darwinfundamentalists,” a phrase penned by Stephen J.Gould, are determined to punish others who donot agree with their beliefs.Well-documented, well-referenced, andwell-analyzed, Slaughter of the Dissidentspresents a clarion wake-up call for those whoare interested in freedom.Mr. Thomas is Science Writer.NOVEMBER 2008 • ACTS&FACTS19
Page 1 and 2: ACTS&FACTSVOL. 37 NO. 11INSTITUTE F
Page 3 and 4: FROM THE PRESIDENTCreation Evangeli
Page 5 and 6: the earth, ancient Chinese people w
Page 7 and 8: EVENTSNOVEMBER 2008NOVEMBER 6-7Mesa
Page 9 and 10: GreatTeachingPoster!Natural Disaste
Page 11 and 12: IntroductionMan-made carbon dioxide
Page 13 and 14: BACK TO GENESISThe Contrasting Reli
Page 15 and 16: The Gaps in “The God of the Gaps
Page 17: STEWARDSHIPA Heritage ofTHANKSGIVIN

Acts & Facts - Institute for Creation Research

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