Re: [asa] The term Darwinism

Thanks for the info & comments, Ted & Terry.

I know that TSCC was not really "official" - but the average teacher for whom the booklet was written would not appreciate those nuances at all. They took it as an official ASA publication.

My favourite quote from TSCC is the very end of the human evolution section:

"In all areas of scientific inquiry and perhaps especially when human origins are under consideration, the confidence expressed in any scientific conclusion should be directly proportional to the quality and quantity of evidence for that conclusion."

Even the most ardent anti-evolutionist will admit that the "quality and quantity of evidence" for human evolution is much, much greater than it was in 1986, yet we have had no (even semi-official) word from the ASA in the intervening years. Should the public assume that the ASA is content to rest on the views expressed in TSCC? Should not our confidence in human evolution increase proportionately to the evidence? Do we only express our views publically when the evidence favours what we would like it to favour theologically?

It's issues like this that I'll admit give me pause about the ASA as a useful entity. As a (reasonably) young scientist, I want to spend my science / faith efforts in ways that will have an impact. If the ASA cannot easily update a 20-year old antievolutionary tract in light of new evidence, that calls into question the effectiveness of the ASA as an organization, in my view. I think we can do better.

Best,

Dennis

On 06/07/09 12:14 PM, "Terry M. Gray" <grayt@lamar.colostate.edu> wrote:

Dennis,

 From what I've heard from a variety of folks, "Teaching Science..."
was controversial even in the ASA. And even though it was published by
the ASA, it represented a perspective that was not shared by all. It
adopted a much more skeptical approach to evolution and stands more in
the pro-ID strand of ASA rather than in the TE strand of the ASA. At
the time it much more represented the perspective of John Wiester
rather than, say, Howard Van Till or Richard Bube. It might be
interesting to get the take of some of the "old-timers" on this.

Thinking that such documents are in any sense official is one of the
reasons that ASA finds it so difficult to publish anything.

I would argue that such publications are not "official" in any sense.
They are works done by members and/or committees of the ASA and are
deemed worthy of publication and wider dissemination. I would also
argue that it doesn't hurt us to publish things that not every one
agrees with--as long as its unofficial status is recognized.

The closest thing to official statements is something like the
resolution taken by the Executive Council of the ASA in 1992 which can
be found at http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1992/
PSCF12-92ASACouncil.html Even here I would argue that these are views
of then sitting Council and not necessarily the view of the ASA. The
only official views of the ASA are its statement of faith.

TG

On Jul 6, 2009, at 12:44 PM, Dennis Venema wrote:

> Ted, it seems to me that there was once an "official" (or at least
> very close to official) ASA view on evolution - the view presented
> in the "Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy" booklet put
> out by the ASA in the mid 80s. I have a copy, as do others on this
> listserv, I'm sure.
>
> The section on human evolution is completely centered on what it
> feels is the paucity of the evidence of the time (and, one can
> argue, was overly selective and misleading even at the time of its
> printing). The ASA has issued nothing since, so, for better or for
> worse this booklet stands as the last "official" word of the ASA on
> the matter, now some 20+ years out of date.
>
> I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the possibility of
> another such "semi-official" booklet coming out in the future, or
> whether you think the climate within the ASA is such that such a
> publication is no longer possible. Also, if anyone has enough
> institutional memory, I'd be interested in hearing about the
> discussions leading up to the decision to publish TSCC in the first
> place.
>
> Dennis
>
>
>
> ***
>
> Ted comments:
>
> Gregory, I apologize for seeming to make a trivial point. There may
> well be some people *in* ASA who would take this suggestion, whether
> or not they are active here. There may be others who will not,
> whether or not they are active here. But no one *at* ASA will
> respond, insofar as the ASA as an organization has no view on this.
> Our members probably differ on this. I as president and Randy as
> our CEO are free to state our views as individuals, but on something
> like this neither of us speaks for the ASA. No one does. In that
> we differ quite markedly from TDI. A person could belong to both
> organizations (ASA and TDI), obviously -- indeed, one of our Council
> members (Bob Kaita) is a fellow of TDI, but the organizations have
> very different purposes.
>
> I don't mean to imply, by the way, that you had deliberately chosen
> your words to say "at ASA" rather than "in ASA." I am guessing that
> you didn't. I simply want to note this for the benefit of readers
> who might not be aware of the subtleties here.
>
> Ted
>
>
>
>
>
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________________
Terry M. Gray, Ph.D.
Computer Support Scientist
Chemistry Department
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
(o) 970-491-7003 (f) 970-491-1801

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Received on Mon Jul 6 15:52:35 2009