lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (04/17/84)
It may be that Clark had his reasons for not putting Gish on the stand in the Arkansas Balanced Treatment trial. Ray mentioned that Gish was cited by the plaintiffs. These citations were to the purpose of showing that creationism was held as a religious doctrine by the authors of the Balanced Treatment Act and their supporters. Gish was quoted in the decision to this effect. Gish may be a skilled debater, but he would probably have been a liability under cross examination when the ACLU lawyers homed in on his religious beliefs. This is what happened with the UFO testimony. The particular belief held by the witness in this case, as brought out by cross examination, was that UFO's were a manifestation of the devil. I have tried to "cross examine" Ray Miller by mail. In particular, I asked if he believed in the "literal" truth of the Genesis Flood, and I asked him to reveal the extent of the religious activities involved in his Paluxy River excursion. He has chosen to remain silent on both these questions, but on the witness stand he would be obliged to answer. Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew