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The Remarkable Story of Roger DeHart:
A New Documentary about the
"Icons of Evolution"

In the early twentieth century -- during the Scopes
Trial, for instance -- evolution was the new theory
challenging settled opinions about divine creation.
Now, however, said Bill Rice on National Public
Radio, it's evolution that "is being questioned."
Darwinian evolution has become the established view --
and those who want to consider alternatives to
Darwinism have become the innovative thinkers
challenging the status quo.

Nowhere is this stunning role reversal better
portrayed than in the new documentary, "Icons of
Evolution." "Icons" tells the story of Roger DeHart,
a high school biology teacher in Washington state who
wanted to tell his students about evidence that casts
doubt on aspects of Darwinian evolution. The evidence
that DeHart hoped to discuss wasn't fringe stuff. It
was the material already published in scientific
literature. For example, biology textbooks have long
featured drawings of animal embryos, purporting to
show similarity. This was widely taken as proof that
the species in question shared a common evolutionary
ancestor.

But the drawings are seriously inaccurate, omitting
many details and falsely suggesting similarities
among embryos. Stephen Gould, the noted Harvard
paleontologist, called the drawings "scientific
fraud," and he said that we should "be ashamed and
astonished by the century of [their] mindless
recycling" in textbooks.

It sounds like something students ought to know
about, yet, when DeHart wanted to bring Gould's
article about the fraudulent drawings into his
classroom, the school administration forbade him from
doing so. He wasn't even allowed to discuss Gould's
article or say anything questioning the drawings in
the school district's officially mandated textbook.

But the censorship didn't stop there. DeHart wanted
to tell his students about the "Cambrian Explosion,"
the sudden appearance of the major groups of animals
about 550 million years ago. The Cambrian Explosion
has long been a puzzle for Darwinian evolution. Again
DeHart was forbidden to bring in any supplementary
materials offering an alternative explanation. It
didn't matter that the issue is part of ongoing
scientific debate. DeHart's students weren't allowed
to see or hear anything challenging textbook
orthodoxy.

All this, and more, is retold by the participants
themselves in the documentary "Icons of Evolution."
You'll hear from Chinese paleontologists who worked
with the Cambrian Explosion fossils and believe that
Darwinian evolution fails to explain the data. You'll
hear from Roger DeHart himself about his experiences
and also from his school's administrators, telling
why they wouldn't let him depart from the established
curriculum.

It's an amazing, even shocking, story -- shocking,
that is, because most people assume that science
ought to be a search for the truth about the natural
world. While we may be cynical about advertising, or
politics, or the media, science is still supposed to
be above it all, pursuing what is really true.

The "Icons" documentary will shake you up. Science
teaching today has become indoctrination, but the
good news is we can still do something about it. Call
BreakPoint (1-800-995-8777) and order your copy
of "Icons of Evolution." You'll learn how and why to
make the case.



As you read the Scriptures with your family, I hope
you'll have a new appreciation for who the "Word made
flesh" really is: He's the Creator who existed before time.
He's the Logos Who made heaven and earth, and Who
steers the stars in their courses. He is the Truth that is
ultimate reality. He is the 'Babe of Bethlehem & the
'Word' of John 1. If you know of others who would
enjoy receiving BreakPoint in their E-mail box each
day, tell them they can sign up on the Web site at
www.breakpoint.org. If they do not have access to
the World Wide Web, please call 1-800-457-6125.
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