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[Phys-L] Re: Anti-Americanism creeps in to science teaching debate



Appears to be good science methodology -- someone makes a claim and
another rebuts the claim w/ additional information.

bc, who wonders what was on the mind of the NYTs' writer

p.s. bc's paranoid theory: the writer is actually an anti-evolutionist
who thereby struck a blow against evolutionists by using a straw man.

p.p.s After Racak I thought I'd learned to take the NYTs w/ a kg of salt.

Strickert, Rick wrote:

Note that the NYTimes supports its allegation that IMAX theater
decisions not to show the movie were based on "fearing protests from
religious groups" solely on some test audience members claiming the
movie was "blasphemous".

It would not surprise me if media clymers include under the feared
protests from religious groups that such folks simply spend their money
on something other than purchasing tickets to watch the movie. (How
dare those religious people protest like that! There should be a law
against such sort of thing.)

Contrary to the NYT claim, according to a March 24th Ft. Worth
Star-Telegram article
(http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/11218459.htm), the Ft. Worth
Museum of Science and History movie review committee decided about a
year ago not to show the IMAX movie, "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea"
because they thought other movies would sell better. After complaints,
the Museum Director Van Romans recently reversed a decision.

And in a March 24th the Charlotte Observer article
(http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/11215674.htm) John L.
MacKay Jr., president and CEO of Discovery Place, explained his
organization's decision not to show the film:

"While some viewer surveys mentioned the issue of evolution as a
negative factor, that was only one minor consideration in our decision
about the film. Responses also showed that some viewers found the film
to be dark, gloomy and potentially scary to young members of the
audience. If we had a deep-sea exhibit, we would not hesitate to
consider the film as part of that theme. But as a stand-alone feature,
our research indicated that other films presented content and topics to
which many more of our visitors would be attracted."

So, both theaters initially chose not to show the film because they did
not think it would sell as well in their local area as other films they
could show. Many businesses regularly make this type of decision on
which product will sell the best. And if one wants to question the
veracity and motivation behind those decisions, then one should be
prepared to have his comments questioned for their veracity and
motivation.

Rick Strickert
Austin, TX

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