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The Defend Science Statement aims to rally
broad opposition and resistance to the mounting attacks on science and
scientific thinking which are unfolding in the United States. Our basic
aim now is to run the Defend Science Statement, signed by scientists,
as an ad in major newspapers, reaching millions. (At this point the
Statement is signed by over 2300 scientists and members of the
scientific community.) sign the statement...
view a selected list of
signatories...
The Statement begins:
IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY SCIENCE, AS
SCIENCE, IS UNDER ATTACK AS NEVER BEFORE.
“The signs of this are everywhere. The
attacks are coming at an accelerating pace, and include frequent
interventions by powerful forces, in and out of the Bush
Administration, who seem all too willing to deny scientific truths,
disrupt scientific investigations, block scientific progress, undermine
scientific education, and sacrifice the very integrity of the
scientific process itself -- all in the pursuit of implementing their
particular political agenda. And today this dominant political agenda
is profoundly allied and intertwined with an extremist (and extremely
anti-science) ideological agenda put forward by powerful fundamentalist
religious forces commonly known as the Religious Right. These
fundamentalists now have extensive influence and representatives in
major institutions of the U.S. government, including Congress and the
White House. This itself goes a long way towards explaining why science
itself is under such unprecedented attack.”
This excerpt is from the Defend Science
Statement. To read the full Statement, click
here.
The welcome verdict in the Dover lawsuit
over teaching intelligent design clearly does not mean an end to the
attacks on evolution, let alone scientific thinking. In Kansas,
the State Board of Education changed the very definition of science to
open the door to supernatural causes. What is centrally and crucially
involved in Kansas and in relation to the overall attacks on science is
a battle over the whole question of the scientific method and whether
that is going to be upheld and applied, or whether--even in the realm
of science itself--that method is going to replaced by something else,
which is antagonistically opposed to the scientific method. The
need to mount powerful and determined defense of science is greater
than ever.
Your signature and support for this Statement will make a great
difference at this dangerous time in our history. There are many
ways that people can help in addition to signing the Statement, which
are outlined here on the website, and we encourage you to send your
suggestions and thoughts on this by emailing us at mail@defendscience.org
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Defend Science!
Join in the battle to defend
science!
Funds Urgently
Needed! Our immediate goal is
to print in USA Today. Help spread the word to others about the
Statement and the need for funds.
make a donation...
Christine
Comer (dir. of science for Texas Education Agency) attacked by
creationists and forced to resign
The
week of Nov. 20, 2007, Christine Comer who served for 27 years as a
science teacher and 9 years as director of science for the Texas
Education Agency was attacked and forced to resign. Why?
Because she forwarded an email about a lecture by Dr. Barbara
Forrest.
Dr. Forrest is co-author of “Inside Creationism's Trojan Horse” and was
an expert witness in the Dover, PA trial that ruled against the
teaching of
“intelligent design” in science classrooms. Dr. Forrest is also a
signatory of
the Defend Science statement. In the dismissal letter received by
Comer, it referred to the issue of evolution and creationism as “a
subject on
which the agency must remain neutral”. Remember this is talking
about
the state agency in charge of science education.
read more...
The
Stem Cell Breakthrough and the Attack on Science
The week
of Nov. 20, two teams of
researchers
-- one led by Kyoto
University's Shinya Yamanaka, the other by the University of
Wisconsin's Junying Yu reported that they had turned human skin cells
into pluripotent stem cells – cells which appear to behave in tests so
far the same as embryonic stem cells.
But the coverage of this story is being spun in ways that represent a
serious attack on science.
read more ...
Defend
Science ad published in The Nation magazine (Sept. 2007)
view ad in The Nation ...
Bush
appointed ex-Surgeon General exposes governmental suppression of science
Former
U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona - a Bush
administration appointee - went public during Congressional testimory
on July 10 with scathing exposure of how science, science policy and
scientific thinking is being attacked and muzzled across the board from
the
hightest levels of government.
read more...
What
happens when Defend
Science! reaches the broad public
When the Minneapolis Start Tribune ran
an editorial about Defend Science, hundreds of people responded,
signing the Defend science Statement, many making thoughtful and
inspiring comments about the attacks on science and what to do about
this. Triggered by one editorial ... in Minnesota. Imagine the
impact of the Statement running in USA Today, reaching
millions, and then running in other papers...
read this...
Defend
Science Spreading in the Media
New Republic Magazine
The Defend Science ad appears in the May 21, 2007 issue of New Republic
magazine. Spread the word! Here is a link to a .pdf of how
the ad appears:
New Republic Ad
Minneapolis StarTribune Editorial
The editors of this paper have taken a strong stand in defence of
science and in support of the Defend Science initiative. More
newspapers should do the same. Thanks to the Minneapolis StarTribune
and welcome to the many new signatories of Defend Science that have
poured in.
Minneapolis
StarTribune Editorial (May 19, 2007)
Oppose &
Expose the Religious Right's "Creation(ist) Museum"
Defend
Science supports this petition for educators to oppose this major
attack on science. Check it out and sign. It begins:
"This Memorial Day weekend, the religious right will take a bold new
step in their campaign against science education in America. The
creationist organization, Answers in Genesis, will open their $27
million "Creation Museum" in Petersburg, Kentucky, dedicated to
promoting the falsehood that science supports the notion of a 6,000
year old Earth."
http://ga3.org/campaign/creationmuseum
You can sign the Statement on this
website. Just click here to add your name to
the growing list.
Scientists
and Members of the
Scientific Community:
• Sign and Circulate This Statement.
• Help Raise Funds to Have it Printed in Newspapers Across the Country,
and Internationally.
• Get This Statement Adopted by Scientific, Educational and Other
Associations and Institutions.
Members of the General Public:
• Reprint and Circulate This
Statement, Help Spread the Word, Contribute Your Ideas About How to
Wage This Crucial Battle & Join With People in the Scientific
Community and Others to Wage This Battle.
• Help raise funds to print the Statement in as many newspapers and
journals as possible, in the U.S. and internationally.
One
small sample from hundreds of the depth of concern to Defend Science
and the broad & growing support for this initiative:
"I am a retired science
teacher in Kansas. For several years we put stickers in the front of
science textbooks and then took them out the next year. Teaching
science we could only say," It happened a long time ago." Teaching the
"Big Bang" theory one had to accept that "God created the earth" and as
answer to test questions. I had several parents come talk to me about
this issue. Basically the teachers still taught the same content and
only the parents got upset not the kids. Kansas students were the ones
to suffer as they graduated from high school with limited knowledge of
science."
--Marion McElroy, retired
public school science teacher, Kansas
view
more signatory comments...
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