Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Smithsonian Protest Letters: Don't Sell Intergrity
Reader Joe D. of Pennsylvania sent this letter to the Smithsonian:
Dear Mr. Kremer,
Please don't sell out the scientific integrity of the Smithsonian by accepting the payment from the Discovery Institute and endorsing their film. Surely you are aware of their completely unscientific agenda. I understand that the film in question, "The Privileged Planet", does not directly expound Intelligent Design, but that is not how they will spin a showing at the Smithsonian. Their record of intellectual dishonesty is well documented; they are very likely to claim nothing less than total endorsement of ID by the Smithsonian; your clarifications after the fact will be ineffective.
Even if the Smithsonian has a precedent of permitting NON-scientific organizations to use it's facilities, I think it's your responsibility to avoid dealings with actively ANTI-scientific groups. The Discovery Institute is not your friend; their agenda is not in your best interests. It is not dismaying that they could buy their way into the Smithsonian so cheaply; it is dismaying that they could buy their way in at all.
Please do right by science and sever your relationship with the Discovery Institute.
Dear Mr. Kremer,
Please don't sell out the scientific integrity of the Smithsonian by accepting the payment from the Discovery Institute and endorsing their film. Surely you are aware of their completely unscientific agenda. I understand that the film in question, "The Privileged Planet", does not directly expound Intelligent Design, but that is not how they will spin a showing at the Smithsonian. Their record of intellectual dishonesty is well documented; they are very likely to claim nothing less than total endorsement of ID by the Smithsonian; your clarifications after the fact will be ineffective.
Even if the Smithsonian has a precedent of permitting NON-scientific organizations to use it's facilities, I think it's your responsibility to avoid dealings with actively ANTI-scientific groups. The Discovery Institute is not your friend; their agenda is not in your best interests. It is not dismaying that they could buy their way into the Smithsonian so cheaply; it is dismaying that they could buy their way in at all.
Please do right by science and sever your relationship with the Discovery Institute.
