At 10:29 AM 5/30/00 -0400, Bertvan wrote:
>The Boston Globe, May 30, 2000, Tuesday, Pg. E1
>HEADLINE: A LITTLE FISH CHALLENGES A GIANT OF SCIENCE
>BYLINE: By Fred Heeren, GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
First, thanks for posting this, it is very interesting. What one sees here
is science working the way its supposed to. The unfortunate thing is
that one has to strip away the rhetoric and politics to see it. Too bad.
Just one brief comment below.
[...]
> The debate over Haikouella casts Western scientists in the unlikely
>role of defending themselves against charges of ideological blindness from
>scientists in Communist China. Chinese officials argue that the theory of
>evolution is so politically charged in the West that researchers are
>reluctant to admit shortcomings for fear of giving comfort to those who
>believe in a biblical creation.
> "Evolution is facing an extremely harsh challenge," declared the
>Communist Party's Guang Ming Daily last December in describing the fossils
>in southern China. "In the beginning, Darwinian evolution was a scientific
>theory. . . . In fact, evolution eventually changed into a
>religion." Taunts from the Communist Party wouldn't carry much sting,
>however, if some Western scientists weren't also concerned about weaknesses
>in socalled neoDarwinism, the dominant view of evolution over the last 50
>years.
I found this rather surprising. I've had the pleasure of knowing many many
mainland Chinese, some very well. I have often quizzed them about their
education. I was curious mainly about how atheism was taught in the
schools. From everyone I've asked I've heard one thing uniformly, with
no exceptions. Darwin's theory of evolution provides scientific proof that
God does not exist.
I suspect from this that the Communist Party is just playing politics.
Accusing someone else of ideological blindness? Really? I also have
my doubts about the credibility of this reporter.
Brian Harper
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering
The Ohio State University
"One never knows, do one?"
-- Fats Waller
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