Secular Scientist Sternberg Sacked by Smithsonian

Recently, Richard Sternberg, a research associate and scientist at the Smithsonian Institute, published a peer-reviewed technical article in The Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. This article pointed out several logical flaws in the accepted historical theory of evolution as the basis for life. This criticism of Darwinism was met with swift judgement by the Smithsonian Institute. Within days of publishing the article, The Origin of Biological Information and the Higher Taxonomic Categories, he was forced out of his position. The ironic thing about this is that Sternberg doesn't even claim to be a creationist! Yet this is exactly what his accusers suggest. Calling him a "shoddy scientist" and a "closet Bible thumper", senior scientists lashed out at the man. He isn't very happy. "I was singled out for harassment and threats on the basis that they think I’m a creationist,” Sternberg said in a Washington Times article. Sternberg insists that he is agnostic about intelligent design, is not a young earth creationist and believes that science only moves forward on controversy. Although Sternberg holds two PhDs in theoretical biology and molecular evolution, some Smithsonian scientists disseminated so much false information about him and his credentials that one of his colleagues had to circulate his résumé simply to dispel the rumor that Sternberg was not a scientist. A government investigation into a possible mistreatment of Sternberg gave this verdict:

Our preliminary investigation indicates that retaliation [against Sternberg by his colleagues] came in many forms. It came in the form of attempts to change your working conditions. . . . During the process you were personally investigated and your professional competence was attacked. Misinformation was disseminated throughout the SI [Smithsonian Institution] and to outside sources. The allegations against you were later determined to be false. It is also clear that a hostile work environment was created with the ultimate goal of forcing you out of the SI.

That a top scientist would be thrown out of a prestigious consortium for questioning any other dubious historical theory is unthinkable. Yet when one questions the "scientific theory" of evolution, people start getting a little . . . testy. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science and Education (NCSE), herself a vocal anti-creationist, loudly proclaimed that Smithsonian scientists absolutely had to explore Sternberg’s religious beliefs. “They don’t care if you are religious, but they do care a lot if you are a creationist,” Scott said. Ironically, a frequent criticism made by the NCSE has been that scientists who support intelligent design don’t publish peer-reviewed articles and don’t make their case at scientific conferences. When an article, which is peer-reviewed, appears, then the NCSE objects. To read the full article by Answers In Genesis, click here.

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Why is there such an emotional reaction when someone dares to allow people to even consider that there could be an intelligence behind the origin of the universe? Man ultimately cannot stomach the idea of an intelligent Creator that he must be responsible to. In Him, D3