"Are you now or have you ever been . .
."
In 1991, science journalist Forrest Mims was
asked by Scientific American to take over its most popular column, 'The
Amateur Scientist.'
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Mims says, 'During the course of a meeting with
Jonathan Piel, the editor, in New York, I happened to mention that I write for a
variety of magazines, including Christian magazines. Piel then asked what kind
of Christian magazines. I stated I had written a few articles on how to take
church kids on long distance bicycle trips. Piel, obviously agitated, then
asked, "Do you believe in Darwinian evolution?" Knowing the
consequences, I responded, "No, and neither does Stephen Jay Gould".'
A few months later, Piel cancelled Mims's
assignment to write the column, because he feared the magazine would be
embarrassed should Mims's beliefs become known.
'I did publish three columns in the magazine,'
says Mims, 'but only after the magazine's president intervened. I did not sue
the magazine. Their lawyers did, however, send me various threatening
communications in an effort to keep me from speaking out on the matter.'
Scientific American now has a new editor and
things are looking brighter for Mims. The magazine has published two of his
letters and Mims has been invited to make further submissions, although he
no longer writes 'The Amateur Scientist' column.
Mims also wrote a letter of complaint to the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. The Association's committee
which considers human rights abuses accepted his letter of complaint and voted
16-0 to endorse Mims's right to hold his own religious views.
Mims told me, 'Good science requires skepticism.
Many of us who are skeptical of Darwinism are concerned that philosophical
agendas have interfered with and even blocked solid science.'
