From:    Dave Knapp
To:      All                                    94-05-03 00:%:58
Subject: DOBSON LETTER

To everyone:

   I don't normally inhabit this echo; I have a low threshold for
it.  But I recently sent the following letter to Dr. James
Dobson, who appears on a radio talk show and runs Focus on the
Family Ministries.  Tell me what you think.

  -- Dave

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                                                     May 2, 1994

Dr. James Dobson, Ph.D., President
Focus on the Family
Colorado Springs, CO  80995

Dear Dr. Dobson:

     I was  introduced to  your film  series in the early 1980's,
and I have followed your radio program since then.  My wife and I
have written  you once  before  to  give  you  information  on  a
ministry with which we are affiliated, Engaged Encounter.  I have
admired you and seen you as an honest spokesman for the Christian
faith, and,  though we  disagree on  some topics, we have enjoyed
reading your monthly letters.

     But your most recent letter, that of April 1994, has made me
wonder if my perceptions have been correct.

     In it,  you recount  some details of your interview with Dr.
Phillip Johnson,  who has  written the  book Darwin  on Trial.  I
have read  Dr. Johnson's book and am familiar with his arguments,
and I have corresponded with Dr. Johnson myself; we disagree, but
are able to do so in a mutually respectful and civil manner.  The
debate over  the validity  of evolution  is  not,  I  believe,  a
"salvation  issue."    However,  your  treatment  of  this  issue
concerns me greatly.  You printed the following:

          "Now, after  135 years of exhaustive research, the
     transitional forms  still have  not turned  up.    They
     don't exist  in the  geological record.  This and other
     convincing criticisms  of classical  evolution make  it
     difficult to  understand why  so many  intelligent  and
     highly educated  men and  women still  hold a  position
     that is not supported by verifiable scientific data.

          Darwin tried  to tell  us that  the  various  life
     forms evolved  on earth  from a  single-celled organism
     swimming  in   a  primordial   'soup.'  ...  From  that
     spontaneous  beginning  in  an  African  swamp  came  a
     dazzling array of evermore complicated species...

          Evolution is  the only  belief system  which holds
     that events  in the natural world move from disorder to
     order on their own initiative."

     Scientists sometimes  exaggerate a  position for the sake of
argument; it  can be a useful tool.  However, there is a point at
which exaggeration  becomes misrepresentation; your passage above
is well over that line.

     Several statements in the above passage from your letter are
utterly incorrect.

     I'm not  talking about  a difference of opinion about how to
interpret data;  I mean  you made erroneous statements that might
be interpreted as falsehoods.  I don't have space here to explain
in detail, but:

     -  Transitional fossils  have been  found, though  not as
        many as Darwin originally predicted.
     -  Evolution, most  especially common ancestry, is indeed
        supported by  verifiable scientific  data.   One might
        legitimately disagree about the quality or quantity of
        the data, but they exist, and they lend support to the
        evolutionary theory.
     -  Evolution theory  does not predict a one-way rise from
        less  complicated   creatures  to   more   complicated
        creatures.
     -  Evolution theory  does not  predict that  events  will
        necessarily move from disorder to order on their own.
     -  Other scientific  theories do predict transitions from
        what we  would perceive  as disorder  to what we would
        perceive as order.

I do  not seek  to  debate  evolutionary  theory;  rather,  I  am
concerned that  as Christians  it is our duty to speak truth, not
falsehood, and  to act  in an  honest  and  ethical  manner.    I
honestly  hope   that  your   above  statements  were  made  from
ignorance, not purposeful mendacity.

     We will  never promote  God's kingdom  through  the  use  of
inaccuracies or false statements.

     Without integrity  and truth,  our witness to the world is a
hollow one.   I  strongly urge  you to  consult  someone  who  is
conversant with  science, evolution,  the scientific  method, and
the evidence  for evolution.  In my opinion, Dr. Johnson does not
meet these  criteria.  Please feel free to contact me; my address
and phone number are given below.  I am a scientist: I obtained a
Ph.D. in  physics from Princeton University in 1986, and I now do
research at  the Lawrence  Livermore National  Laboratory.   I am
also a Christian who believes that the Bible is the inspired word
of God.   I  have thought  long and  hard about these issues, and
studied them a great deal.  It does not matter to me so much that
we do  or do not agree about evolution; it does matter to me that
you, a  high-profile Christian,  not make  public statements that
would appear to be dishonest.

     Thank you very much for your consideration.  Since you asked
me to  write about  the issues you raised, I hope that I will not
receive a  form letter  in response.   I  pray that God will move
your heart to hear my concern and love.

                         In Christ's love,

                          (s) Dave Knapp


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