[net.origins] SCIENCE articles on Arkansas trial

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