Politics
Wednesday June 27, 2007
Proposed Council of Europe Report Calls Creationism “Dangerous,” “Threat to Human Rights”
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By Hilary White
BRUSSELS, June 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The French socialist politician and mathematics professor, Guy Lengagne, has written in a report for the Council of Europe’s Committee on Culture, Science and Education, that says that “creationism” and its biblically rooted Christian worldview represent a threat to human freedom and must be suppressed.
But members of the European Council's Committee on Culture, Science and Education have temporarily rejected the current draft of the report and declared freedom of thought and discussion a “fundamental value.”
Titled, “The Dangers of Creationism in Education,” the report said, “If we are not careful, creationism could become a threat to human rights.”
The report also states, “From a scientific view point there is absolutely no doubt that evolution is a central theory for our understanding of the Universe and of life on Earth.” Lengagne, a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Amiens, warned that should creationism be allowed to be taught in schools, the result could be the replacing of democracy by theocracy, the obstruction of a cure for AIDS, and a rise in fundamentalist extremism.
The report which had been prepared for a debate this week, was rejected by 63 of the 119 members of the Council of Europe, who criticized it for its “lack of reflection.” The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced it would be dropping the report’s issue from the roster of this week’s debate on inter-cultural and interreligious dialogue.
The committee said it “expresses its support for the Rapporteur M. Lengagne,” and is determined to bring the issue forward for the agenda for the next plenary session in October. Lengagne, however, is leaving the PACE and will not be involved in future drafts of the report.
Lengagne responded to the decision to postpone, saying he was “flabbergasted”, “appalled” and “shocked” that the PACE had referred his report back to the committee for revision.
“We are witnessing a change of direction for a return to the Middle Ages, and too many members of this Assembly can’t see it,” he said.
The Committee on Culture, Science and Education said in a statement that while the issue of creationism is a “politically topical question” that it is determined to discuss in the future, “freedom of thought and discussion is a fundamental value of the Council of Europe.”
“The Committee on Culture, Science and Education believes that it is the duty of the Assembly to show itself exemplary in this requirement.”
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