In “What’s at stake in the evolution debate,”
biologist Pepper Trail attempts to enlist conservationists in the
culture wars (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution
debate). Trail insists that we must side with one warring camp or
the other. According to Trail, the good guys are scientists who
advance “reality,” while the bad guys are knuckle-draggers who
peddle “belief.”
Time to gird for battle? Well, count me
out. I’d rather spend my effort doing conservation instead.
Scientific data didn’t convince Gandhi to resist British
rule. Laboratory analysis didn’t inspire Martin Luther King
Jr. to march on Washington. I’ll join Wendell Berry and other
diehard conservationists whose passion in defense of wild Creation
arises from belief.
Bill
Cook
Lake Oswego, Oregon
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Belief inspires a passion for conservation.
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