Evolution has been an issue used by manipulative politicians to persuade people who are poor and religiously fundamentalist not to vote their economic interest that probably would align them with progressive voters.  Indeed, there is a famous <a href="http://wiki.cotch.net/index.php/Wedge_document">&quot;Wedge Document&quot;</a> in which the Discovery Institute expounded a plan to pry the naturalistic view of life out of American culture through a coordinated attack on the concept of evolution as expressed by Charles Darwin.

Fortunately the Federal courts have tended to defend the separation of church and state in a series of Supreme Court decisions that distinguished the teaching of science from teaching of religious doctrines in science classes --- even when the religious doctrines had names like &quot;Intelligent Design&quot; (ID).  The Dover, Pennsylvania, school board case raised concerns among scientists and the general public about the way evolution was being taught in the schools there.  Fortunately presiding judge Jones understood the nature of the Scientific Method and how the ID advocates were trying to promote a religious viewpoint in public school science classes.  In a clear and conclusive <a href="http://www.pamd.uscourts.gov/kitzmiller/kitzmiller_342.pdf">decision</a>, he ruled that Intelligent Design could not be taught in science classes.  We try to link that decision with an exposition of the nature of science, and how the Scientific Method both limits the scope of science but also concentrates its focus on things that are observable by humans and which are important --- things that make testable novel predictions.

Even with the religious status of creationism legally defined, teachers at all levels experience substantial pressure from fundamentalist parents of students.  The Darwin Day EVENTS support teachers and school administrators so that they can teach the principles of evolution that are so necessary to a rational understanding of health and biology.

The current political merit of DDC, in addition to its inherent scientific educational value, is that we confront the “Christian Right” with reasonable scientific truth and thereby address a timely and current topic in the public arena – that of the authenticity of evolution as a scientific reality – that stirs strong political emotions.  Emotions lead to higher alertness and offer an opportunity for teaching and learning.  People remember what excites them.

For instance, many members of the general public have shown a strong interest in the structure of DNA and the function of the human genome, both because of their personal health and also in its relationship to the evolution of all other living organisms on this planet.  Since the recent publication of the Human Genome Project and the sequencing of various animals and plants, we can discuss how this incredibly detailed DNA sequences support the prediction that evolution implies: that more closely related creatures have more similar DNA sequences.  This is a wonderful time to be arguing for evolution, and the Darwin Day EVENTS are a novel way to persuade the general public.

We are making a special effort to associate an important recent message from DNA genetics – that all humans originated in Africa – with the idea that all ethnic groups are quite similar and deserving of equal treatment.

By coincidence, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day in the same year, and we are linking them together as &quot;The Two Liberators: Lincoln freed the American Slaves, and Darwin freed the Human Mind&quot;.  We also point out that the Darwins were strongly opposed to slavery, and Emma Darwin's family, the Wedgwoods, had created the famous anti-slavery medallion &quot;Am I Not a Man, and a Brother?&quot;  See <a href="http://darwinday.org/englishL/newsviews/darlin.html">http://darwinday.org/englishL/newsviews/darlin.html</a>.

In terms of timely opportunity, the recent concerns about avian influenza (&quot;bird flu&quot;) are essentially an evolutionary prediction: that the normal mechanisms of change predict a higher than usual likelihood of this virus evolving the ability to spread rapidly from human to human.  And that's all that is needed to start a global pandemic.  That threat gets people's attention, and gives us an &quot;educable moment&quot; to teach the principles of evolution.

With both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin born on the same date in the same year, February 12, 1809, there will be a joint Bicentennial celebration of their births on February 12, 2009.  An investment in Darwin Day Celebration will allow us to have a large impact in shaping that celebration as one honoring the two &quot;great liberators&quot;, who are both rightly heroes of freedom loving progressive people everywhere.