Alliance For Science

Note: The following review is based on a screening copy of Kansas Vs. Darwin, a documentary DVD about the evolution education hearings held in May of 2005 by a sub-committee of the Kansas State Board of Education. This review is provided for informational purposes, and should not be construed as a product endorsement.

I thought the documentary was very good. There is no narration; the story is told through interviews with the advocates on both sides of the controversy. There is music, which is well-integrated into the film. Although apparently a production of a small independent producer ("Unconditional Films"), it is done very professionally.

The major antagonists are the conservative Christian members of the Board of Education and the Kansas Citizens for Science group. During the film we get to see a number of academic ID advocates. Scientists boycotted the hearings, so we hear relatively little from the scientific research community (National Academy of Science president Bruce Alberts is an exception). The evolution advocate at the hearings was pro bono attorney Pedro Irigonegaray, whom I found to be an exceedingly charmless individual. I thought the Citizens for Science generally stated the evolution case well.

The film consists of scenes from the hearings, interview comments by the involved parties, and "man on the street" interviews. I'd say both sides got in some good shots, although naturally I thought the evolutionists were more coherent!

There may be a subtle pro-evolution bias in the presentation of interview material (I'd say evolutionists often get the last word). But all sides seem to get the opportunity to state their respective cases, and I saw no evidence of blatant editorializing, such as cropping of the creationists' comments.

In a way, the film is a character study, as the activists on both sides reveal themselves through their comments. A highlight for me was when three of the conservative Board of Education members talk about their faith: one found "reason" to be inadequate during a divorce, one came to Jesus when his life was "falling apart," and one was a victim of spousal abuse. The film leaves the viewer to decide whether to respond sympathetically to these revelations.

As the film nears its conclusion, the evolutionists seem to be turning the intellectual tide. (I don't know if this sequence of events reflects the actual times at which things occurred.) A Turkish journalist says the Moslem world hates us because of our materialism, and implies teaching ID will improve our standing in the world community (one of the Christian school board members says she cried after hearing this). An evolution advocate makes the excellent follow-up point that Islamic science was destroyed by people who believed religion and secular science to be incompatible. Finally, in a (to me) hilarious moment, the ID proponents squirm when asked to give an opinion about the age of the Earth. (Cornell geneticist John Sanford admits he thinks it may well be less than 10,000 years; Stephen Meyer, in an apparent telecon "appearance," refuses to answer.)

In the end, an ID proponent theatrically apologizes to the witnesses for the "abusive" behavior of Mr. Irigonegaray (who did seem rather obnoxious at times). The film concludes with on-screen messages that the ID proposal was adopted but reversed two years later, when the conservative members lost their seats on the Board of Education (no information is provided about why this occurred). As the credits play, a man in a barber shop and some folks on the street make pro-creationism comments. The last of these - that it takes more faith to believe in evolution than in creation – closes the film.

At the end, the treatment is so even-handed that I think a creationism group could show the film without major discomfort. Each viewer will applaud his side's arguments, and discount the others.

The film is 82 minutes long, and advocates of one side or the other may find it tedious to listen to lengthy opposing remarks that strike them as nonsensical, but the film is intended as an educational resource and not merely pleasant entertainment. Some of the statements may strike viewers as extreme, as when one of the Citizens for Science people seems to compare creationists to people who murder abortion providers. Those viewers who are already well-versed in the social controversy over evolution education may not find much that is new here, although there are always fresh insights to be gained by a presentation like this one that contains original source material.

See the Kansas Vs. Darwin website for more information, including a downloadable trailer.