135 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
135 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
** NEWS RELEASE **
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Provided as a public service.
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ICR UNDER CONTINUED ATTACK BY BILL HONIG
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(Santee, California) - A graduate school of science that
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refuses to teach evolution as a fact but as an unproved
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theory is rejecting the findings of an evaluation team sent
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by Bill Honig, California's Superintendent of Public
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Instruction. Honig's panel has recommended that state
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"Approval" be withdrawn from the Institute for Creation
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Research Graduate School, which would effectively shut down
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the nine-year-old school. This violation of academic
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freedom is being watched closely by all Christian schools
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who fear more governmental interference in their operation
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and curricula.
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Strangely, ICR was notified of the panel's findings through
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the news media and not Honig's office. A San Francisco
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Chronicle writer called ICR on Tuesday, January 16, for
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ICR's response to the report, a document that ICR has yet
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to see. On that day, Honig himself told a Los Angeles Times
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reporter that the panel's recommendation "seems reasonable,"
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and he will act on the report in a month or so. In the
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times interview, Honig said that the panel's findings were
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unanimous, but in truth, as the Times reporter revealed,
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one of the five members dissented and argued that the
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school should be allowed to continue to operate as an
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"Approved" institution.
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Honig has been threatening to deny the Institute for
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Creation Research Graduate School its license to operate
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unless either the creationist content is removed from
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courses or the degrees issued by ICR be labeled as
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theological rather than scientific. Honig has maintained
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that science can only be taught in a framework of
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evolution, even in private Christian institutions. The
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Institute for Creation Research has rejected any such
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compromise, and is investigating the possibility of legal
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appeal if Honig persists in his determination to eliminate
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creationism from ICR's graduate programs.
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Dr. Henry Morris, President of the Institute for Creation
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Research in Santee, California, declared that "as a
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non-public institution, we have the constitutional right to
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teach science as we understand it, not as the state defines
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science and commands us to believe." Dr. Morris also
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asserted that Honig's efforts go "contrary to the
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California Education Code, and are contrary to freedom of
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speech and academic freedom. Such an action is clearly
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unconstitutional and unconscionable." Dr. Morris noted that
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the Supreme Court in its 1987 decision on creationism in
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public schools declared that "teaching a variety of
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scientific theories about the origins of humankind...might
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be validly done."
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The ICR Graduate School has been offering masters' degrees
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in four areas (biology, geology, astro-geophysics, and
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science education) since 1981. Approximately 20 students
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have received degrees and about 40 others are currently
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enrolled in the program. In previous years, the Graduate
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School had received unanimous recommendation from two state
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review committees, and a visit in August of 1988 by another
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evaluation panel came back with a 3-2 majority vote that
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ICR continue to operate with an "Approval" rating. However,
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on e of the committee members who was strongly opposed to
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ICR even before he visited the Graduate SChool later filed
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a "minority report," and Superintendent Honig then
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successfully persuaded one of the other committee members
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to change his mind and vote for disapproval.
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ICR attempted to negotiate with the Department in 1989,
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which led to a compliance visit. In early August of 1989, a
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new state panel visited the Graduate School - over
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strenuous objections by ICR who had learned that a majority
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of the committee members had expressed in print and in
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public lecture a bias against creationism - and verbally
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informed ICR that it would be denied "Approval" to operate.
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The Graduate School intends to exhaust all feasible methods
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of appeal of this attack on its academic freedom.
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ICR's graduate programs are strictly scientific with
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courses taught by scientists who have doctorate degrees
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in science from such respected institutions as Harvard and
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Berkeley. In its own thorough study, ICR's graduate program
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was shown to be comparable in content to other graduate
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science programs - it is the small amount of creationist
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interpretation to which Mr. Honig takes exception, and
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which he used to persuade one committee member to change
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his vote in 1988.
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"The future of academic freedom and free speech in
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Christian schools is at stake and must be defended,"
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declared Dr. Morris. Honig's enforcement of the doctrinaire
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teaching of evolutionism in all schools, including
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Christian and other private education is in jeopardy
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everywhere if Honig and his backers succeed in their
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heavy-handed maneuvers.
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ICR's address is:
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Institute for Creation Research
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P.O. Box 2667
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El Cajon, CA 92021
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Phone: (619) 448-0900
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