The Intrusion of Fundamentalist Religion into Biology Education

Abstract

> One great thing about evolution is that it happens whether you like it or not. I have been very concerned for some time about the intrusion of fundamentalist religious beliefs into biology education at all levels. The most notorious infraction has been in the science-based teaching of evolution. I would like to share some of my experiences with this issue. Flashback to the 1980s . In the late 1980s, Joe McInerney, then director of the BSCS, asked me (as a coauthor of the BSCS Green Version, 1987, 1992) to accompany him to Austin, Texas, to testify to the Texas Legislative Subcommittee on Education for the textbook’s position on teaching evolution to high school students. We were each allowed to speak for about a minute and took the standard science-based position on the evolutionary timeline and the importance of teaching evolution as a major conceptual theme in biology. Abruptly, another person asked to be recognized. The presider, evidently recognizing that person, said, “Yes, Mr. Gabler.” It was the infamous Melvin Gabler, sitting with his wife, Norma (both now deceased). They had for years been very vocal critics of modern science and of anything else they believed to be “anti-Christian,” such as evolutionary biology, secularism, sex education, critics of slavery, and gay rights, and had been quite influential in Texas far-right politics. He stood up with a book in his hand and, raising the book into the air, shouted “All our children need to learn in school is in this here book!” The presider said “Thank you, Mr. Gabler. We are now …