Thursday, June 09, 2005
New Scientist: Egg on Management Faces at Smithsonian
The June 11 issue of New Scientist says, "[t]here is egg on management faces at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC over the screening of a creationist film in one of its museums."
RSR agrees that the original screeners of the intelligent design film "The Privileged Planet" were asleep at the switch -- these screeners undoubtedly function more on the fundraising side of things at the National Museum of Natural History, than on the science side -- but we have nothing but admiration for the integrity with which the museum faced the situation they found themselves in once the controversy broke. Their decision to return the money, keep their promise to screen the film, and clearly dissociate themselves from its antiscience content was the best that could be made under the circumstances.
RSR agrees that the original screeners of the intelligent design film "The Privileged Planet" were asleep at the switch -- these screeners undoubtedly function more on the fundraising side of things at the National Museum of Natural History, than on the science side -- but we have nothing but admiration for the integrity with which the museum faced the situation they found themselves in once the controversy broke. Their decision to return the money, keep their promise to screen the film, and clearly dissociate themselves from its antiscience content was the best that could be made under the circumstances.
