Because we all know science is decided by who complains the loudest, a band of Creationists has scored a major victory by getting many textbook publishers in South Korea to “produce revised editions that exclude examples of the evolution of the horse or of avian ancestor Archaeopteryx.”
More simply, they saying, “Look! Scientists argue about the lineage of this creature! Therefore, evolution is in doubt!”
The [Committee to Revise Evolution In Textbooks] is also campaigning to remove content about “the evolution of humans” and “the adaptation of finch beaks based on habitat and mode of sustenance”, a reference to one of the most famous observations in Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. To back its campaign, the group highlights recent discoveries that Archaeopteryx is one of many feathered dinosaurs, and not necessarily an ancestor of all birds. Exploiting such debates over the lineage of species “is a typical strategy of creation scientists to attack the teaching of evolution itself”, says Joonghwan Jeon, an evolutionary psychologist at Kyung Hee University in Yongin.
The National Center for Science Education isn’t surprised by the move — acceptance of evolution in the country is relatively low compared to other countries… (excluding the U.S., because we’re full of science denialists)
Support for creationism in South Korea is high: in The Creationists…, Ronald L. Numbers described the country as “the creationist powerhouse” in Asia. And acceptance of evolution is comparatively low: 64% of South Koreans agreed with “human beings are developed from earlier species of animals” in 2002, as compared to 44% of respondents in the United States in 2004, 70% of respondents in China in 2001, and 78% of respondents in Japan in 2001.
(Thanks to Chris for the link)
