WASHINGTON - September 29 - Over a dozen of the nation's leading scientists, legal scholars and clergy today announced the formation of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon), an online grassroots movement to combat the threat posed by the religious right to American democracy, public education and scientific leadership.

In its first action, the Campaign organized leading scientists and clergy to write jointly to the nation's governors asking them to protect science education and to oppose inclusion of intelligent design in science curricula.  The letter was signed by over 100 clergy, led by Rev. James Forbes of the Riverside Church in New York and Rev. Welton Gaddy of the Interfaith Alliance.  Nearly 100 scientists joined them, including a half-dozen Nobel laureates - Peter Agre, M.D., Paul Berg, Mike Bishop, M.D., Gunter Blobel, M.D.,  J. Robert Horvitz, and Harold Varmus, M.D.

The Campaign, whose website is www.defconamerica.org, also released its first "DefCon Alert" – on the top ten "Islands of Ignorance" around the country where science education is under attack – and launched a petition drive to the nation's governors to defend the teaching of evolution.  The report's release coincides with the start this week of the trial in Dover, PA regarding a school board mandate to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution.

With a significant online advertising program and plans to run TV and print ads attacking the religious right, the Campaign is positioned to become a leading voice in efforts to curb the growing political influence of leaders of the religious right from Tony Perkins to James Dobson and Pat Robertson.

The Campaign's Advisory Board includes such notable leaders as:

• Bruce Alberts, former President of the National Academy of Sciences
• Francisco Ayala, former President and Chairman of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Ira Glasser, former Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union
• Rev. James Lawson, former President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Los Angeles
• Harold Varmus, former Director of the National Institutes of Health
• Erwin Chemerinsky, Professor, Duke University School of Law

Other members include clergy, constitutional scholars, scientists and grassroots activists.

"This Campaign will provide a voice for Americans who believe in both a free church and a free state," said Ira Glasser, former Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "We want religious liberty free from interference from the government and a free government that does not become an instrument for imposing religious beliefs on people who do not share them.  That is what the founders of America meant to insure when they separated church from state."

The Campaign will address a broad range of issues from stem cell research and teaching evolution to the independence of the judiciary and the protection of the individual rights of women and gays and lesbians.  Through advertising, media and online action, it will expose the growing influence of the religious right over American politics and society and mobilize opposition to its efforts to limit individual freedoms or impose their religious views on American society.

"There is no reason for conflict in American education between religion and science," observed Rev. James Forbes, Senior Minister of the Riverside Church in New York, commenting on the letter to governors on evolution. "The battle over intelligent design is not between those who believe in God and those who believe in science but over what is best for the education of our children.  Our children should learn established science in science class and take other opportunities in the school day to discuss the meaning, origins and wonder of life."

And, from the science community, Lawrence Krauss, Director of the Center for Education and Research, Case Western Reserve University, commented: "Censoring empirically-based knowledge or replacing it with ideology is not only a disservice to our children, but ultimately a threat to the health of our democracy. A vibrant democracy and a productive economy both depend upon an informed populace. We owe it to our children to open their minds to the wonders of the world around them so that they can contribute to our future with their full potential."

In a report released in conjunction with today's announcement, the Campaign

highlighted the following states and localities around the country where science education is at risk (view map at: http://www.defconamerica.org/our-issues/Defending-Science/islands-of-ignorance)

1. Dover, PA
2. Cobb County, GA
3. Kansas
4. Blount County, TN
5. Ohio
6. Grantsburg, WI
7. Alabama
8. Utah
9. South Carolina
10. Florida

Commenting on the risks posed by limits on the teaching of evolution, Francisco Ayala, former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said, "The growing influence of ideology over fact in our children's education poses a real threat to the economic and scientific progress of the country in the 21st century.  If our children are to compete and survive in a complex, technological world, they must be taught established scientific principles not ideology."

Download the Letter to Governors with signatures:

http://www.defconamerica.org/our-issues/Defending-Science/letter-to-governors.html

"Islands Of Ignorance" report downloadable in PDF: http://www.defconamerica.org/our-issues/Defending-Science/islands-of-ignorance/

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