Take it from world-renowned evolutionary atheist Richard Dawkins: “One thing all real scientists agree upon is the fact of evolution itself,” he wrote in the November 2005 issue of Natural History. “It is a fact that we are cousins of gorillas, kangaroos, starfish, and bacteria. Evolution is as much a fact as the heat of the sun.”

Well, then, it’s settled. All real scientists agree, after all. It must be so.

Just one problem, Professor Dawkins: It turns out there are literally thousands of real scientists who have publicly proclaimed their doubts about Darwinian evolution. And no doubt there are many thousands more who keep their doubts under their hats – for good reason, it turns out.

That reason is revealed in horrifying detail in Dr. Jerry Bergman’s eye-opening book, Slaughter of the Dissidents: The Shocking Truth about Killing the Careers of Darwin Doubters. In it, Dr. Bergman describes the discrimination experienced by more than a dozen Darwin-doubting scientists, primarily in academia. And we’re not talking insults at the water cooler. These men and women have been denied tenure and awards, forced out, fired, blackballed, even subjected to death threats – not because of what they did or said, but because of what they believe.

Dr. Bergman experienced this sort of Orwellian discrimination himself in the late 1970s; he had become disillusioned with Darwinism, and lost his job at Bowling Green State University for saying so. Professor Dawkins would no doubt try to slap the “not a real scientist” label on him. But it wouldn’t stick, because Dr. Bergman:

• Has nine college degrees – two of them Ph.D.s – from the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University, The University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University.
• Has taught college-level biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for more than three decades.
• Has more than 1000 publications appearing in 12 languages, including over 50 books and monographs, and has contributed to dozens of textbooks.
• Has presented scores of scientific papers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

In fact, the “not a real scientist” label doesn’t fit any of the Darwin doubters whose cases are presented in Slaughter of the Dissidents.

Some of these scientists have already gained recognition through the amazing documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Dr. Bergman picks up where Ben Stein left off, delving more deeply into the cases of Caroline Crocker and Guillermo Gonzalez. He also introduces his readers to many other highly qualified scientists who saw their careers derailed when their doubts about Darwinism came to the attention of their superiors.

So aside from their personal sacrifices, what’s the harm?

Dr. Bergman points out that so far, the majority of Americans side with the Darwin doubters. Surveys indicate that at least 44% believe God created the earth and all the basic kinds of life, another 38% fall somewhere along the continuum between creationism and theistic evolution, and only 9% are pure evolutionists.

But as the product of public education myself – including a journalism curriculum teaching, as far back as the ‘70s, that what we can’t see is a figment of our imaginations – I worry about my own exhaustively educated generation, and those of the future. Now that atheistic Darwinism is the only subject that can be safely taught in our schools and universities … now that even a whiff of sympathy for Intelligent Design is punishable by immediate dismissal … and now that the God of the Bible has been booted clear out of public life … what will become of our biblically ignorant citizenry not only in this life, but far more importantly, in the life to come?

Dr. Bergman provides suggestions for supporting the fight to restore academic freedom in this country, but it seems like an uphill battle. The politically correct evolutionary worldview is championed by groups like the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State; such groups are always standing by, ready to snuff out any suggestion of a Designer with lawsuits that few schools can afford to fight.

Darwinism has long been part of the mainstream news media’s dogma, too, as consumers of mainstream media can attest – and as Dr. Bergman demonstrates again and again.

Take, for instance, the case of Rod LeVake, a Minnesota biology teacher who was removed from his high school biology class because he dared to criticize Darwinism. Incredibly, at least one national news magazine felt compelled to weigh in on his case. “Time portrayed creation-believing scientists as an almost non-existent minority,” Dr. Bergman reports, “claiming ‘reputable scientists who agree with LeVake can be counted on one hand’ … Time went so far as to portray Mr. LeVake (in a full-page article) as a hillbilly.”

No wonder we creationists and Intelligent Design advocates are so often mocked by the highly educated, who greet any suggestion of an alternative to Darwinism with some version of: “Real scientists believe in evolution!”

Now, thanks to Dr. Bergman’s efforts, we can at last explain why that may seem to be the case: Darwinism appears to be the prevailing worldview because it is the only one that is allowed in our classrooms, on our campuses, on the pages of our mainstream newspapers and the lips of mainstream broadcast reporters.

I finished Slaughter of the Dissidents more convinced than ever that it’s time for those of us who care about academic freedom – and about proclaiming the truth of the Bible – to fight this unconscionable censorship. Read this outstanding book, and you’ll no doubt agree.

Just saw another one of those videos featuring photos from the ‘50s and a nostalgic song, and realized anew that there were two things that made my early childhood magical:

• Being loved unconditionally, and
• Being utterly and happily dependent upon my parents for everything

 
Of course, as we begin to grow up and strive for independence, that all changes. We start looking elsewhere for people to depend on, and for people to love us. Some of us turn our backs completely on the wonders of our childhoods, inexplicably rejecting even the idea of unconditional love and the joy of being able to depend on others.
 
But over the last two decades, I’ve learned that we can restore both states, as well as the lovely feelings that accompany them. In fact, they can be better than ever if we make a point of seeking the infallible and eternal.
 
How? Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God the Son – a relationship achieved by repenting of what He has said is sin, by trusting in Him to have paid our sin debt in full on the cross, and thereby being born again to become His child forevermore.
 
When we do this, we can rely completely on Him in this life, through good times and bad. After all, He is omniscient, omnipotent, and all merciful, and is in sovereign control of what happens to us every moment in our lives. Our circumstances may not always seem desirable to us at the moment, but Romans 8:28 tells us that He makes all things work together to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So we can count on Him to make everything turn out perfectly.
 
What’s more, the Bible tells us that God is love. He loves us not because of anything lovable in us, but because it is His very nature. His love is, in Greek, agape. It is sacrificial, permanent, unconditional. This, then, is love we’ve never before known; as wonderful as it may have been, our parents’ love for us was only a hint of what is available from Love Himself.  
 
Unconditional love and complete dependence upon our Creator: that’s what God’s children can look forward to experiencing endlessly in heaven. In the meantime, we can enjoy this wonderful state even now, in this fallen world amidst endless distractions. All it takes is remembering a magical childhood, and resting in the knowledge that it was only a shadow of the real thing – that the best is, indeed, yet to come.