lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (04/23/84)
I have found six articles in SCIENCE which are about the Arkansas Balanced Treatment Act trial. I think this is a complete list. All of these appeared in "News and Comment", and all but the last (Overton's decision) were by Roger Lewin. 1) 4 Dec, 1981 "Creationism Goes on Trial in Arkansas - In what promises to be an epic legal battle, the American Civil Liberties Union hopes to show that creationism is religion and not science" This quotes extensively from Wendell Bird, who makes most of the points Ray Miller made in his creationist view of the trial. 2) 1 Jan, 1982 "Creationism on the Defensive in Arkansas - A high-powered battery of lawyers and scientists challenges Arkansas' 'creation science' law" A synopsis of the trial, which is somewhat derisive of the creationist testimony. The "great deal of time" that Ray suggested was spent dwelling on the UFO angle is confined to the following: "... Geisler tarnished his credentials somewhat by declaring that UFO's were agents of Satan." That's Norman Geisler of the Dallas Theological Seminary. This is the only time this incident is mentioned in all 6 articles. 3) 8 Jan, 1982 "Where Is the Science in Creation Science? - Seven scientists gave evidence in support of so-called creation science at the recent creationism trial in Little Rock; the evidence falls short of expectations" This goes through the testimonies of all seven of the defense's scientific witnesses, including Chandra Wickramasinghe, the only one who was not a biblical literalist. This was clear enough from the testimony, and Ray's complaint that SCIENCE failed to identify him as *not* a creationist really doesn't make any sense. 4) 22 Jan, 1982 "Judges's Ruling Hits Hard at Creationism - The anxiously awaited decision in the recent Arkansas trial declares creation science to be religion, not science" This reviews Overton's decision and discusses its impact on creationist strategy. Wendell Bird is quoted on this topic. 5) 29 Jan, 1982 "A Tale with Many Connections - Was the Arkansas creationism law the result of a conservative 'conspiracy'? Or did it just happen? More of the first than the second it seems" This describes how the Balanced Treatment Act came to be. It describes the involvement of the various fundamentalist and creationist individuals and organizations. The text is not nearly as sensational as the title blurb suggests, but very interesting nonetheless. Could be called, "What Ray isn't telling us". 6) 19 Feb, 1982 "Creationism in Schools: The Decision in McLean versus the Arkansas Board of Education" This came to my attention through the net, and is the one to read if you read only one. The creationists' really took it on the chin, and whining that they weren't really trying isn't going to help. All in all, I would call SCIENCE's coverage "exhaustive". If Ray thinks that they "emphasized the irrelevant", I think that's because he wants everyone to ignore the "irrelevant" fact that the whole movement is, to say it once more, nothing but biblical fundamentalism in very thin disguise. This little irrelevancy was the focus of Overton's decision. Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew