Council uncovers Darwin display – and says it was never about creationism

Northampton City Council says that it has removed the paper strips that obscured part of an information board in a museum display about Charles Darwin.

Controversy flared last week when it was claimed that the wording had been covered up after a complaint from a Christian fundamentalist. However, the leader of the Council, Tony Woods said the strips had been applied by a previous administration, not because they were unacceptable to creationists, but because the text was “factually incorrect”.

The obscured wording read: “He used the same layers of fossils that had supported the Genesis view of evolution to show the slow changes that are taking place over the millennia of earth history, each small change enabling a species to the rigours of it’s (sic) environment – the struggle for survival through natural selection leading to the survival of the fittest.”

The council says the revised wording will read: "He used the same layers of fossils to show the slow changes that are taking place over the millennia of earth history, each small change enabling a species to adapt to the rigours of its environment – the struggle for survival, through the natural selection, leading to the survival of the fittest."

Councillor Woods said: “The display board was partially blacked out some three years ago - long before I or my Group had taken control of the Council. As soon as it was brought to our attention the original text was revealed and a new, corrected board ordered.”

Councillor Woods, who described himself as an atheist, is a Chartered Engineer and regards himself as scientifically minded. He wrote: “Those who follow scientific principles appreciate that science models nature and is always open to challenge. Darwin's Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection revolutionised science. Science has subsequently sought to test and refine the theory -- and it has proved robust.

“Creationists, Intelligent Design proponents or others can put forward alternative theories. They can be (and are) then tested scientifically. They have been found wanting - largely because their proponents rely on unprovable faith as a key part of their ‘proof’. But science will not ultimately prove Darwin's theory. Rather it will build on it and refine in much the same way that Einstein refined Newton's Laws of Motion.”

The controversy was sparked when a visitor to the museum told the local paper, the Chronicle and Echo, that he suspected the text had been covered up to placate religious objectors. A Council spokesperson was quoted in the paper saying that the sign had been partially obscured because of the text’s poor syntax and also to “avoid offence.”

The NSS had written to the Council seeking clarification and offering to pay for a new board (the spokesperson for the council had said that they did not want to use taxpayers’ money to create a new board). The offer was “politely declined”.

01 September 2008