Fascinating twist

What a fascinating twist. Turns out that one of the 75 journalists covering the Dover, PA Intelligent Design trial is Charles Darwin's great great grandson, Matthew Chapman - and he's not particularly amused by the fact that this topic is even open to discussion in a supposedly educated society.

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes:

Chapman, 55, a British-born American citizen, says he is stunned that debate continues in some parts of the United States 123 years after Darwin's death and 80 years after the Scopes "monkey trial."

"Evolution is such a nonissue everywhere else in the world... I'm appalled by the lack of respect for the evidence," Chapman said. "Darwin spent 23 years compiling evidence he gathered to present his theory."

(He) says it disturbs him that what he considers to be religious intolerance and ignorance can prevail in a middle-class, relatively educated community.

"Here you have a town three hours from New York City," Chapman said. "Look at the school board members who approved the intelligent design policy. They are not impoverished, educationally or monetarily. That's what's terrifying."

Well said, Mr. Chapman. The opportunistic actions of religious fundamentalists in this nation, with the full backing of our Theologian in Chief, threaten to move this country backwards toward a medieval era of governance by superstition and religious myth. These continued assaults on science will, if they succeed, relegate America to second-class status not only in our global "image", but in our ability to compete in a modern technological economy. They are, quite simply, an embarrassment to us all.

There is a place for faith in the lives of most human beings. But that place is most certainly not in our children's science classrooms.