Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Judgement Day

Only a few weeks ago, I was having lunch with a friend of mine who had made a few documentaries, and we were talking about how PBS has fallen apart as a source for intelligent television. I had pointed that how I knew scientists who had tried to get documentaries on the air, but were rebuffed when it was explained to them they they could not mention evolution or global warming because they were "hot topics."

Imagine my surprise when NOVA finally grew some gonads, and this week's episode was a two-hour exploration of the Dover, Penn. court case from three years ago, when science was put on trial in the courtroom (yet again). Honestly, it took a lot of courage to show the "Intelligent Design" argument from both sides... there really are NOT two sides to the argument.

It's just appalling to me that 150 years after Darwin, people are still arguing Creationism.

The real issue is that the founding fathers were wise enough to demand a separation between church and state, and here we are 230 years later, and the religious right are still trying to reunite the two.

This show should be required viewing for every school child, not only to learn the scientific method, but to understand how some people will blur education with a personal agenda. In this case, religion is used as blanket protection against any sort of criticism or serious examination.

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