Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Oh Dear! More Intolerance of Diversity

There's a university. There's a professor of astronomy. There's a professor of "religious studies." They don't agree about this intelligent design thing--and one of them claims that the other one is trying to create a hostile work environment because of his research. Want to guess which one is the intelligent design advocate, and which one is circulating petitions that supposedly cause the "hostile work environment"?
An astronomy professor at Iowa State University who is nationally known for his research on intelligent design says the school has a phony view of diversity when it comes to the subject of the origin of life.

More than 120 ISU faculty members -- about seven percent of the faculty -- have signed a petition opposing the teaching of intelligent design as a scientific fact. "Whether one believes in a creator or not," reads the petition, "views regarding a supernatural creator are, by their very nature, claims of religious faith, and not within the scope or abilities of science." The petition continues, urging all faculty members to "uphold the integrity of our university of science and technology, and convey to students and the general public the importance of methodological naturalism in science and reject efforts to portray Intelligent Design as science."

The petition is being circulated by Hector Avalos, who is an associate professor of religious studies at the Ames, Iowa, school. Astronomy prof Guillermo Gonzalez says because he is the only intelligent design proponent on campus, the petition is a "thinly veiled attack" on him -- and he claims it has resulted in a hostile work environment for him.

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