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06/21/2005:
"US radicals blow their tops over volcano movie as Darwinism debate rages"
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Culture wars raging in the United States are reaping new victims as monster-screen IMAX cinemas and top museums are dragged into the fierce debate over the origin of life.Pressure from ultraconservative religious groups has prompted some theaters equipped with the high quality panoramic IMAX screens to cancel showings of several movies which refer to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
Some politically powerful religious groups dismiss the theory, despite its widespread acceptance throughout the rest of the world.
Instead, they advance a hypothesis that holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been designed by an "intelligent" being, i.e. God, and is not the result of random natural selection.
Many scientists have savagely attacked "intelligent design", arguing the theory is not significantly sound, and is simply the latest political shot from religious creationists.
Since the beginning of this year, numerous movie theaters in highly religious states in the US south have refused to show documentary films like "Cosmic Voyage," "Volcanos of the Deep Sea" and "Galapagos" named after the islands Darwin used to showcase his theory.
The films crimes? Mentioning the idea that the Universe is the product of a "Big Bang" explosion or that the origin of life is in the oceans.
"Volcanos of the Deep Sea" has prompted some radical religious conservatives to blow their own tops.
But oceanographer Richard Lutz, who collaborated on the movie, said the controversy centered on "a reference in the film that life may have originated in the deep sea."
Lutz, a professor of Marine Ecology at Rutgers University, said he was troubled to see other film producers steer clear of scientific subjects that risk controversy and low box office receipts.
Earlier this year, the Museum of Science and History of Fort Worth, Texas, refused to show the volcano film after a screening for a test audience.
"At the time, we had better choices that scored better in our screening tests," said Margaret Ritsch, the museum's Director of Public Affairs.
She admitted, however, that some people had made comments about the theory of evolution.
Valentine Kass, a science education program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) which helped finance the film, hit out at the campaign against the IMAX movie.
"It is very troubling if science museums don't want to promote what we consider totally accepted ideas of science. It is not a positive trend at all."
Blocking scientific movies from IMAX theaters is only one part of the creationists' agenda; they also promote their own films that document their theory of a cosmos-crafting higher intelligence.
"The Privileged Planet: The Search for Purpose in the Universe," is one such film, based on work by University of Iowa astronomy professor Guillermo Gonzalez.
Stirring outrage from the scientific community, the Museum of Natural History at Washington's world-famed Smithsonian Institution agreed to show the movie.
The Smithsonian, however, was forced to issue a statement making clear that it did not consider intelligent design geled with scientific fact.
"We have determined that the content of the film is not consistent with the mission of the Smithsonian Institution's scientific research," the statement said.
But the Smithsonian still plans to show "Privileged Planet" as scheduled on June 23.
news.yahoo.com
