Acts & Facts - Institute for Creation Research

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