Fresh from the runways of the world's Intelligent Designers, we now have the latest trend: an Islamic creationist textbook authored by Harun Yahya of Turkey.
The textbook, weighing in at 12 pounds, is an 800-page, beautifully illustrated homage to the infallibility of God's hand in creating the world, and all of humankind as we know it. It also disparages the theory of evolution as inherently flawed, a "theory in crisis," because the fossils of our past are apparently identical to our present-day physiological makeup. This textbook, Atlas of Creation, was sent to leading biology, biochemistry, medical, and genetics
professors in the States. The international academic community quickly denounced it in the press as "a load of crap" (Kevin Padian, University of California, Berkeley) and "propaganda" (Armand de Ricqles, College de France).
Should we be worried? After all, isn't this guy just another in a long line of Islamic fundamentalist kooks, cut from from the same cloth as the Al Qaeda types? A textbook like this could never take root in our schools, our colleges, our institutions of higher learning. This is America, dammit. Land of the free, home of the secular.
Never say never. According to a 2000 poll by People for the American Way, 1 in 3 Americans believe that Creationism should be taught in schools as a scientific theory. These same people were responsible for the savvy re-branding of strict Creationism as "Intelligent Design," a
school of thought that came under intense public scrutiny during Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. Critical thinkers and reasonable citizens alike rejoiced in Judge John Jone's decision,
which lambasted the Dover School District for the breathtaking inanity of their suit, and ordered a payment of $1 mill for legal fees and damages for teaching controversy.
The overall picture, however, looks grim. Under the right-wing Bush administration, the stem cell research bill has been vetoed twice, despite the fact that leading scientists have argued that the latter is indispensable for key medical advances. Under this same administration, a federal ban on partial birth abortion was upheld by the Supreme Court, citing legal precedents that are murky at best, and archaic at worst. What is the common denominator between these two
issues? It is our government's shocking and consistent propensity to value religious ideology over the sanctity of human life.
Forget the blanketed threat of Islamic creationists - millions of Americans today are suffering from diseases that would otherwise be alleviated by stem cell research. The effect on women's reproductive health has also been devastating. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court's deliberately broad language, safe abortions taking place at 12-15 weeks have now been outlawed. For the first time since Roe. vs Wade, the Court has not provided any exception for womens' health in their decision. Creationism in classrooms, stem cell research vetoed, partial abortion banned - these issues point to a disturbing pattern of our failure to separate church and state, this time with dire consequences.
If you grew up believing in the same America that I did, the classic concept of separation of church and state was up there with the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. Infallible, impeccable, and inalienable. Separation of church and state was something that we learned about in textbooks, a concept that was born when some angry English Baptists stood up to King James, or when dinosaurs roamed the earth, whichever came first. I didn't pay much
attention. Then, as I got older, separation of church and state revolved around our First Amendment rights to burn flags and not have to say prayers in public schools. It didn't pertain to me. I didn't pay attention either. Today, failure to separate church and state is why people are suffering and dying, and why women are losing their constitutional right to choose.
You can bet I'm paying attention now.