Micah Spradling, who is 22 and wants to go to medical school, is suing Texas Tech University Associated Professor Michael Dini, because Prof. Dini will not give a letter of recommendation to anyone who will not "truthfully and forthrightly affirm a scientific answer" to how the human species originated. He says this is religious discrimination. Full reports from the New York Times and The Guardian; see also Prof. Dini's policy on letters of recommendation. This via blindwatchmaker, via Dr Helen (phew).
Professor Dini pretty much sums it up by saying:
If modern medicine is based on the method of science, then how can someone who denies the theory of evolution -- the very pinnacle of modern biological science -- ask to be recommended into a scientific profession by a professional scientist?"
Mr Spradling's position appears to be that he understands and can explain the theory of evolution, but that doesn't and shouldn't mean he believes it. Eh? How is that supposed to be useful? Does he really envisage himself practicing medicine professionally, but not making any practical use of any theories or methods which are based on evolution, because that would be against his religion? I mean, you're allowed to not believe in evolution, it's a free world, but you shouldn't be allowed to join a profession which has evolution as one of its founding principles! This isn't a matter of religious discrimination, it's a matter of professional competence. (See Prof. Dini's website for examples and citations.)
Anyway, on the basis of this, he's screaming "Civil rights" and suing. Even though, according to the University's chancellor, there are 38 other Faculty members he could have turned to for a recommendation. The guy is fairly obviously picking a fight for the hell of it; he's a freshman (this is his second degree), he's been to exactly two lectures in Introductory Biology, he's nowhere near getting a recommendation from Prof. Dini anyway (you need to be a proficient student that the Professor knows personally before he'll even ask you about evolution).
The Guardian's last sentence is a beauty:
Texas has the country's only Creation Evidence museum.
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