If my disbelief is due to ignorance, it’s only because I did not learn an “investigative tradition” that manipulates statistics to prove something that is clearly false. And if my disbelief is due to stupidity, it’s only because I do not grasp the “evidential value” of using evolutionary theory to explain away evidence that doesn’t support it.

So, am I wicked? If Darwinian evolution (as a general explanation for the origin and diversification of all living things) were true, then maybe it would be wicked of me to reject it. But how can we know whether Darwinian evolution is true? In science, the truth or falsity of a theory is ultimately determined by comparing it with the evidence--not by affirming the theory in spite of the evidence, and not by attacking people who dare to doubt it.

The case is now before the jury. The jury includes honest, hard-working scientists who imbibed evolution from their textbooks but who haven’t thought much about it since, because it’s irrelevant to their research. The jury includes the roughly 90% of Americans who don’t believe in Darwinism but who are forced to pay for its domination of our educational system anyway. And--most importantly--the jury includes students, the vast majority of whom (according to the polls) want to hear both sides of the growing controversy over Darwin’s theory. The jury may be swayed for a while by prejudiced reviews published in prestigious science journals, or by increasingly ugly attempts at character assassination. Ultimately, however, the jury will decide the case based on the scientific evidence.

After all, nothing in biology--not even evolution!--makes sense except in the light of evidence.