As I was reading the appendix to the report from Congressman Souder’s office an email from Sue Richardson, a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History, struck me as a fine example of the attitudes pervading the science establishment. I reproduce it here.
From: Sue Richardson
To: Coddington
Date: 2/22/2005
Subj: Re: miscThanks, he appreciates the effort. Unfortunately, Jon won’t be up in time for a Wednesday seminar anyway. I asked Brian Huber to check into the possibility of scheduling the talk in Baird, since I think there will be a number of folks from both wings who might be interested in seeing his pics, especially since he gave NMNH most of the specimens he collected.
The whole situation sounds like a pain in the…neck. Hopefully, the ID folks will get distracted with something else soon. After spending 4.5 years in the Bible Belt, I have learned how to carefully phrase things in order to avoid the least amount of negative repercussions for the kids. And, I have heard many amazing things!! The most fun we had by far was when my son refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance because of the “under dog” part. The letter that I wrote to the principal was immediately forwarded to the lawyer for the school district–aagh. It worked out fine in the end,tho. My daughter had to take a “character” class last semester. Her teacher was very religious and, among other things, told the kids that she couldn’t believe that evolution is STILL taught in the public schools since there’s so much evidence that shows that it’s wrong!! Unfortunately, these folks get abundant anti-evolution education every week in Sunday school, and I have no idea how we can counteract that.
Cheers, Sue
Susan L. Richardson, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Dept. Paleobiology
National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DCand
Affiliated Research Assistant Professor
Wilkes Honors College, FAU
Jupiter, FL 33458Mailing address:
Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft. Pierce
701 Seaway Drive
Ft. Pierce, FL 34949
It’s a pity the mother doesn’t have to take a “character” class. If she did she might have enough character to write “under God” instead of “under dog” when quoting the United States Pledge of Allegiance.