Feats, not beliefs, are considered

5/9/2009

If a Catholic frequently and publicly expressed doubt regarding the true presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, I suspect that Bishop Leonard Blair would consider him ineligible for ordination to the priesthood. It should, therefore, not be surprising that Darwin doubters (Religion, May 2) are usually not granted tenure in public university science departments.

I was denied tenure before coming to the University of Toledo, where I am now a tenured scientist. I have served on departmental and college committees that reviewed and voted on tenure applications. Not once has a person s beliefs been mentioned either in the dossier or in committee discussions. Teaching effectiveness, quality, and quantity of scholarly achievement, and service are evaluated.

Just as using the integer 3 as the value for pi would disqualify a mathematician, rejecting the theory of evolution without proposing an alternate model that explains the distribution and diversity of life in space and time at least as well as the theory of evolution places an individual outside the circle of scientists and scientific methods. Jerry Bergman has failed to publish a scientifically valid alternative to evolution. His doubt explains nothing but could confuse students.

Mr. Bergman is disingenuous in representing his views as simple skepticism regarding the theory of evolution. He is an active and vocal proponent of young-Earth creationism.

In contrast, Michael Behe of Lehigh University rejects Darwin s theory of natural selection but remains a tenured faculty member of that school s department of biological sciences. Mr. Behe does not question the fact that the Earth is ancient (billions of years old) or evolution s basic claim, that living things today have descended from a common ancestor. He says that evolution is a process guided by a designer but has proposed no testable hypothesis.

Don Stierman

Meadowwood Drive

I read where former President George W. Bush has raised about $100 million toward the estimated $300 million for his presidential library. Seems like a ludicrous amount of money for a building that, obviously, needs to be small in stature. After all, it more than likely will house only one document. I m guessing that the majority of the funds will be used for security devices. They wouldn t want anyone to pilfer his copy of The Little Engine That Couldn t.

James M. Szczerbiak

Maumee

I still am scratching my head about all the whiny people who are mad because they got busted by a redlight camera. When is it OK to break the law?

When is it OK to endanger the lives of others? And why is it OK to dispute that you were caught red-handed in a picture doing it? How much simpler can it be?

JEN EDGAR

Temperance