Creationists are the New Heretics
Jerry Bergman
(Investigator 183, 2018 November)
The reason Creationists are the New Heretics is they openly reject the
purely materialistic cosmology which is the basis for many modern
ideologies and schools of thought. Because Western elites understand
that a lot is at stake, they fight tooth and nail to protect their
stranglehold on education. And as the heirs of the Enlightenment have
taken over education from primary school to Ph.D. programs and even
post-graduate research, these people now define what is “acceptable” or
"thinkable" in academia. And clearly, to be a creationist is to be
viewed as a traitor to Enlightenment or Postmodern orthodoxy, and thus
those in power view them as heretics.
Intelligent Design supporters or Evangelicals must confront the origins
debate. Many have, as their primary motivation ahead of developing a
coherent Christian worldview, making a comfortable place in this world
and winning the approval of those on high. Such Evangelicals who want
to "fit in" quickly sense that creationists do NOT "fit in" and that
there will be a high price to pay to fraternize with heretics. Thus,
such Evangelicals will, at best, shun creationists, and will avoid like
the plague giving credit to research by creationists or reference
creation contributions to the origins debate.
Leading Scientists Now Support Censorship
Many people realize that the Darwinists worldview is deficient. As a
result of the efforts of creationists to defend their position, an
article titled "Revamped 'Anti-Science' Education Bills in U.S. Find
Success Legislation urges educators to 'teach the controversy' and
allows citizens to challenge curricula" was printed in a May 12, 2017
issue of Scientific American. The article attempted to argue against
bills designed to protect the academic freedom of teachers.
The article reviewed the various State and local legislatures attempts
to deal with the censorship problems in the public schools. They noted
that, so far, two states have approved legislation this year alone
allowing "teachers to embrace 'academic freedom' and present the full
spectrum of views on evolution and climate change." Called academic
freedom bills, so far three have become law in the past: in Mississippi
in 2006, Louisiana in 2008 and Tennessee in 2012. At least eleven
similar bills have been proposed this year in the United States.
One, the Florida legislation, is much broader. It enables resident to
file complaints about the curriculum against the schools in their
district. The complaint could lead to a public hearing to determine if
the material at issue is "accurate, balanced, non-inflammatory, current
… and suited to students' needs." Obviously, these categories are all
somewhat vague, but at least will trigger some discussion and needed
parental involvement in the government schools.
Not surprising, the Anti-Creation Scientific American article was very
critical of all such bills. The writer relied on Glenn Branch of the
National Center for Science Education whose main goal is to insure only
the Darwinian side is presented in government schools and information
against this worldview is censored.
State Representative Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida District
80, who sponsored the bill, said it was developed to support parents
who are very concerned about what their children are learning in public
schools. He believes one reason why it passed "is that we didn't target
any one subject matter." Mr. Branch opposed the bill because, he claims
"The people pushing the bill have been complaining about evolution and
climate change," for some time, thus he thinks the bill could end up
allowing critical evaluation of Darwinism in the schools, something he
is dead set against.
The NCSE, Florida teachers' organizations and some local school boards,
have requested Governor Rick Scott veto the bill. Given Scott’s
beliefs, the bill's opponents admit that a veto doesn't seem likely.
Branch calls this bill, which is designed to end the censorship of
evidence against Darwinism, the "back-door approach to altering science
education by means of broader academic censorship." How a bill designed
to stop censorship will cause censorship, he does not say. Branch
opines that these bills now seem more likely to pass this year "due to
renewed anti-evolution and anti-climate change sentiment; confidence
that a country led by U.S. President Donald Trump …. is more hospitable
to such views."
Branch concluded their side has not lost because although the bills
cause "The opponents of science education may feel newly invigorated —
but so do its defenders." Note that Branch calls academic-freedom bills
designed to protect the freedom of teachers who have to deal with
navigating the evolution controversy "opponents of science" when it is
teachers who endeavor to cover these controversial topics objectively
who are often suppressed, censored or fired.
1 Erin Ross. May 15, 2017. Revamped 'Anti-Science' Education Bills in U.S. Find Success.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/revamped-anti-science-education-bills-in-u-s-find-success/
2 See Jerry Bergman Slaughter of the Dissidents: The Shocking Truth
About Killing the Careers of Darwin Doubters. Revised version 2012.
Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press; Silencing the Darwin Skeptics.
Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press. 2016 and Censoring the Darwin
Skeptics. 2017. Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press.