Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Darwin Foe Quits, Thank God

A nutty professor who thinks creationism should be taught in school science lessons has quit his job with the Royal Society, which has distanced itself from his crack-pot  views.

The reverend professor Michael Reiss, who does not have a background in either physics or chemistry, has a reputation for his creationism but faced a backlash when he made his comments as director of education for the auspicious Society.

His views were reported by the Orange Party  here on Sunday, where it was pointed out that Reiss is well-known in government for his creationist views and efforts to dumb down science teaching.

The Rev Reiss' reactionary views put him in direct conflict with well-established Darwin evolutionary science.

The Royal Society has reiterated its position that creationism had no scientific basis and should not be part of the science curriculum.

"However, if a young person raises creationism in a science class, teachers should be in a position to explain why evolution is a sound scientific theory and why creationism is not, in any way, scientific."

Professor Chris Higgins, vice-chancellor of the University of Durham, said: "There should be no room for doubt creationism is completely unsupportable as a theory, and the only reason to mention creationism in schools is to enable teachers to demonstrate why the ideas is scientific nonsense and has no basis in evidence or rational thought."

Blair's Academies have been accused in the past of indoctrinating and manipulating children by creationist evangelists and being run by his creationist pals and obscure establishment orders. 

Writing in the Spectator, Melanie Phillips believes the removal of Reiss has damaged the reputation of the Royal Society but it's difficult to see how. 

Creationist pundits like Reiss are welcome to dwell on the subject but not force their beliefs on innocent and susceptible children and not in a school science lesson. 

The loss of Reiss to the Royal Society will be no loss to science.

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