Scientists irate after top education official questions evolution

[TBC: The debate between Creation and Evolution is not confined to the United States, as this account from Israel demonstrates.]

Scientists irate after top education official questions evolution [Excerpts]

The Education Ministry's chief scientist sparked a furor among environmental activists and scholars Saturday with remarks questioning the reliability of evolution and global warming theory. The comments from Dr. Gavriel Avital, the latest in a series of written and oral statements casting doubts on the fundamental tenets of modern science, led several environmentalists to call for his dismissal.

"If textbooks state explicitly that human beings' origins are to be found with monkeys, I would want students to pursue and grapple with other opinions. There are many people who don't believe the evolutionary account is correct," Avital said yesterday.

"There are those for whom evolution is a religion and are unwilling to hear about anything else. Part of my responsibility, in light of my position with the Education Ministry, is to examine textbooks and curricula," he said. "If they keep writing in textbooks that the Earth is growing warmer because of carbon dioxide emissions, I'll insist that isn't the case."

Prof. Hava Yablonka of Tel Aviv University said Avital's statements are tantamount "to saying that space should be given in textbooks to the view that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it. It's astonishing that the chief scientist of a government ministry can say such bizarre things."

Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) appointed Avital the ministry's chief scientist three months ago. Avital, who received bachelor's and advanced degrees from Haifa's Technion Institute of Technology, previously directed the aeromechanical arm of electronic-systems manufacturer Elbit.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/scientists-irate-after-top-education-official-questions-evolution-1.263673