The New Monkey Trial

Today’s Salon.com has a good cover story by Michelle Goldberg focusing primarily on the Dover controversy, but also commenting on the general upsurge of neo-creationism around the country these days. Our own Nick Matzke gets quoted a few times: The New Monkey Trial. (If you’re not a member, you can watch a short ad to see the article for free.)

Salon is a left-leaning rag, so the article focuses a lot on the political aspect of the “controversy”, particularly the machinations of the Religious Right and their self-declared mandate. For a different political angle, see Origin of the Specious, an older article from Reason, which is one of my all-time favorites. It looks at anti-evolution as an ideological imperative for Neoconservative movement. Short answer: Neoconservatives aren’t religious, but think it’s important that everyone is. After reading these articles, try not to drive or operate heavy machinery.