March/April 2005

The very mention of the U.N. is enough to bring extremes of emotion and opinion. For some, it’s the epitome of wasteful bureaucracy. For others, it’s a worthless talking shop. For still others, it is the hegemony of evil, the omega of apostasy, or the end-time sword of doom.

I start by making it clear that I do not countenance any person’s failing to comply with a lawful court order. Second, I do not believe that either Judge Myron Thompson or the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals panel had any choice but to render the decisions that they did in view of the controlling precedents of the Supreme Court of the United States. I also find no fault in the decision of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary to remove Alabama chief justice Roy Moore from office. While I agree with some of his statements on how the law has developed, I feel that his methods have been a distraction from the real issue.

The wave first appeared as a dark shadow on the horizon that separates open sky from the deep. As it came closer some noticed that water levels on the beach had dropped precipitously. A few headed for the hills and safety. Some actually went out on the reefs to catch the stranded fish flapping on suddenly dry land. Most paid little attention till it was too late.

As the dispute about what happened on John Kerry’s Swift boat more than 35 years ago filled the airwaves last summer, it was distressing that very few people focused on something that actually mattered and continues to matter: a much less publicized war that continues to rage in Vietnam. This new war pits religious leaders, democracy advocates, and independent journalists against the still-ruling Communist Party.

One hates to generalize, but you’d think that of all possible professions, scientists would be the group to keep an open mind. That’s what you’d think. But Samuel Chen discovered that at least one scientific theory—evolution—isn’t open to speculation. In October 2002 Chen, then a high school sophomore, was cochair of Third Eye Open, a student organization at Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, that emphasizes the importance of truth in controversial issues. They “advocate looking beyond personal prejudices and searching for facts on which to establish truth.”¹

We’ve got people pushing and shoving to be the plaintiff on this,” announced Case Western Reserve University philosophy professor Patricia Princehouse in a recent issue of Science.¹ She was not talking about another secondhand smoke lawsuit or grab for the deep corporate pockets of a hot-coffee-serving fast-food restaurateur. No, Professor Princehouse is threatening legal fire and brimstone on the state of Ohio because of a single lesson plan questioning Darwinism buried deep inside a 558-page model curriculum published by the Ohio Department of Education.²