Creationism

Check out this article from Time about the National Park Service being forced to sell a book arguing for a creationist theory of the Grand Canyon. I wonder how this kind of thing will play out. There are certainly large numbers of Americans who will gladly accept such a theory. And the Bush administration is supporting their efforts and have forced the sale of this book over the objections of the park superintendent.

Creationism is of course a stupid argument. However, that's no reason to dismiss its political and social importance. They have powerful supporters in this administration. On the other hand, such an argument faces serious opposition within the rank of file NPS workers, who by and large aren't your evangelical types. In addition, they are going to have to have active support from the administration, which just isn't going to happen the next time a Democratic administration takes over.

In any case, it's pretty interesting and worth reading.