[extropy-chat] NASA and the Big Bang "theory"

[Damien Broderick]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/science/04climate.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&th&emc=th

The Big Bang memo came from Mr. Deutsch, a 24-year-old presidential 
appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was 
an intern in the "war room" of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A 
2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he was also the public-affairs 
officer who sought more control over Dr. Hansen's public statements.

In October 2005, Mr. Deutsch sent an e-mail message to Flint Wild, a NASA 
contractor working on a set of Web presentations about Einstein for 
middle-school students. The message said the word "theory" needed to be 
added after every mention of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion," Mr. Deutsch wrote, 
adding, "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration 
such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent 
design by a creator."

It continued: "This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. 
And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half 
of this debate from NASA. That would mean we had failed to properly educate 
the very people who rely on us for factual information the most."

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Well, yes, and I trust that they will henceforth also always refer to the 
Spherical Earth Theory, since this is more than a science issue, it is a 
religious issue: the Bible implies that the world is flat, with four corners.

Damien Broderick