*Evil under the Sun*: Oh, die Ironie.

Geht rüber zu Northstate Science und lest diesen Beitrag: 'Richard Colling: Scientist, Christian... and Matyr'*. Worum es geht:

Colling lehrt seit 26 Jahren an der christlichen Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois. Er ist Vertreter einer theistischen Evolution und hat dies auch so in seinen Kursen gelehrt. Vereinbarkeit von Glaube und Wissenschaft? Colling ist ein entschiedener Vertreter dieser Meinung.

A professor at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois and a lifelong member of the evangelical Church of the Nazarene, Colling wrote a 2004 book called "Random Designer" because—as he said in a letter to students and colleagues this year—"I want you to know the truth that God is bigger, far more profound and vastly more creative than you may have known." Moreover, he said, God "cares enough about creation to harness even the forces of [Darwinian] randomness."

[Quelle: 'Can God Love Darwin, Too?', Newsweek]

Jetzt ist sein Buch ("Random Designer") an der Universität gebannt worden und er selbst darf keine Biologie-Kurse mehr unterrichten.

Colling is prohibited from teaching the general biology class, a version of which he had taught since 1991, and college president John Bowling has banned professors from assigning his book. At least one local Nazarene church called for Colling to be fired and threatened to withhold financial support from the college. In a letter to Bowling, ministers in Caro, Mo., expressed "deep concern regarding the teaching of evolutionary theory as a scientifically proven fact," calling it "a philosophy that is godless, contrary to scripture and scientifically unverifiable." Irate parents, pastors and others complained to Bowling, while a meeting between church leaders and Colling "led to some tension and misunderstanding," Bowling said in a letter to trustees. (Well, "misunderstanding" in the sense that the Noachian flood was a little puddle.) It's a rude awakening to scientists who thought the Galilean gulf was closing.

[Quelle: 'Can God Love Darwin, Too?', Newsweek]

Man könnte auch sagen, er ist EXPELLED!

Colling selbst sagt dazu in einer Email an Chris O'Brien von Northstate Science:

[...] All I have ever wanted to do is to communicate and then cultivate a message of peace and harmony between Science and Faith. Unfortunately, what I have learned over the past two years is that some profoundly scientifically naive fundamentalist Christians only want war - apparently intent on destroying and discrediting anyone who does not conform to the fundamentalist creationist mindset. [...]

[...] [I]t is difficult to describe the depths of my disappointment that a few profoundly scientifically ignorant individuals have been allowed to create such discord and damage to to me and the university in the public's eye - by convincing a university president to acquiesce to their demands. (even though the president privately continues to say that he has identified nothing in my teaching or writing that is scientifically or theologically deficient.) [...]

I have been told in essence in a letter from the president of the university that although it may seem unfair, the truth and facts will not matter here. Perception is what is guiding his actions. I am still numbed by these words coming from a university president when discussing the teaching of biology in a university setting. Therefore, it seems that the only tools allowed for this discussion and commitment to truth and principle are political tools. Sad. I have always held that it is truth and education that sets us free, not uninformed political perceptions.

Ich denke, die ganze Geschichte spricht Bände. Menschen, die wissenschaftliche Fakten nicht erkennen würden, wenn man sie ihnen auf die Stirn tätowierte, beschweren sich darüber, dass ein Professor ihren Kindern an der Universität nicht erzählt, die Erde wäre 6000 Jahre alt und der Universitätspräsident beugt sich, nicht etwa, weil er die Beschwerden für gerechtfertigt hält, sondern aus politischen Gründen.

Chris O'Brien kommentiert das so: