A Texas Tech biology professor has caught the attention of the Justice Department with his policy of refusing letters of recommendation for students who do not believe in the theory of evolution. A student is alleging discrimination on the basis of religion:
On [Professor Michael] Dini's Web site, he writes that he has the policy because he doesn't believe anyone should practice in a biology-related field without accepting "the most important theory in biology."
He argues that physicians who "ignore or neglect" the Darwinian aspects of medicine or the evolutionary origin of humans can make bad clinical decisions.
A scientist who denies the "fact" of human evolution, Dini writes, is in effect committing "malpractice regarding the method of science."
"Good scientists would never throw out data that do not conform to their expectations or beliefs," he writes.
A Texas Tech student, Micah Spradling, reasonably saw this policy as a barrier to his desire to enter medical school.
It was not enough for a student to simply understand the theory, but he had to declare complete allegiance to it. Which theory of evolution does one have to declare allegiance to? Darwin's? Or which scientist's variation? Does that matter?
Should a physician, or simply each college biology student, study and understand evolution? Certainly. It's the predominant theory in the scientific community. Any educated person should have an understanding of it. One would think scientists would see this as a policy in direct contradiction to their own claim of going where the evidence leads. But scientists are too busy protecting their house of cards to notice any longer.
UPDATE: Much on this whole thing at The Volokh Conspiracy. Start there and scroll up.]
[Original link via FoxNews]
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