STEPHEN JAY GOULD'S WINNOWING FORK: SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND CREATIONISM

A victim of “willful misquotation” by scientific creationists who misused the concept of punctuated equilibrium to support their views, Stephen J. Gould was one of creation science’s harshest critics. Gould testified in the McLean v. Arkansas “balanced treatment” case and frequently lashed out in his popular essays against creationist “pseudoscience” and rhetorical devices of “distortion and innuendo.” However, rather than becoming embittered against religion, Gould was able to winnow the chaff of creationism from the wheat of religion (as in the metaphor of Matthew 3:12), recognizing that “the enemy of … science is irrationalism, not religion.” Gould’s book, Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life, developed the principle of “nonoverlapping magisteria” or NOMA (magisterium being a teaching domain, a “site for dialog and debate”). Science and religion represent distinct, non-conflicting magisteria; science deals with the empirical realm, developing theories to explain observed facts of nature. Religion represents the moral realm and addresses questions of ultimate meaning and value. NOMA recognizes that both magisteria are necessary for human fulfillment in a relationship of “respectful noninterference” and “intense dialog.” Rocks of Ages recognized the battle with creationists over public school curricula as political, rather than one of science vs. religion. Gould attributed much of the controversy to violations of NOMA by both sides: scientists drawing moral conclusions from their findings, and creationists trying to impose their dogma on the magisterium of science. Although Gould correctly stated that most mainline religions support evolution, he underestimated the extent of creationism. Gould claimed the creationism conflict is uniquely American and characterized Biblical literalism as Southern, rural and poor. However, creationist skirmishes continue in such places as Ohio, New Jersey, Australia, the UK, and Turkey. And, despite Gould’s wishful thinking that Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) was a final victory in the legislative battle over creation science, legislative challenges to teaching evolution continue. As a nonbeliever, Gould also failed to recognize some of the most compelling reasons for the apparent conflict between science and religion. NOMA remains an ideal rarely achieved.