The Oregonian July 1,1993

Many Christians reject Creationism
To the editor::

I object to your June 20 headline, "Nation watches after Christians
take over school board," over the story about Vista, Calif.,
creationist crusade. There are a lot of Christians who neither
subscribe to the narrow dogma of Old Testament literalism nor
find evolution to be inconsistent with Christian faith. Moreover,
many of us earnestly oppose attempts to sneak fundamentalist
doctrines disguised as science into public-school curricula.

So-called creation science has been denounced by no fewer than
15 denominations, including the Episcopal, Lutheran, Roman
Catholic, United (Baptist) Ministries, United Methodist and United
Presbyterian churches. Their resolutions are reprinted in "Voices
for Evolution," published in 1989, along with those of dozens of
professional, scientific and educational organizations that recognize
that creation science is a ruse.

As much as we may deplore the divisiveness of the evolution/
creationism controversy, Christians need to recognize that the
public-school classroom is an inappropriate venue for its resolution.
Neither can we achieve reconciliation by failing to resist a
deception.

James R. Davis, Astoria