来源：《自然》
原文刊登日期：2022年4月12日
In May 1921, the University of Wisconsin hosted an anti-evolution lecture by popular pundit William Jennings Bryan. University president Edward Birge, a prominent zoologist, criticized Bryan’s speech and drew national conservative fury.
1921年5月，威斯康辛大学举办了一场由著名评论家威廉·詹宁斯·布莱恩主持的反进化论讲座。威斯康辛大学校长、著名动物学家爱德华·伯奇批评了布莱恩的演讲，这引起了全美保守派的愤怒。
Bryan demanded that Wisconsin’s instructors stop teaching evolution, and that Birge personally affirm a belief in creation as described in the biblical Book of Genesis. Otherwise, Bryan said, a sign should be posted at the entrance to campus describing its classrooms as “an arena in which a brutish doctrine tears to pieces the religious faith of young men and young women”.
布莱恩要求威斯康辛州的大学教师停止教授进化论，并要求伯奇个人申明相信圣经《创世纪》中所描述的创世论。布莱恩说，否则，就应该在校园入口处张贴一个告示，把大学的教室描述成“一个用野蛮的学说撕裂年轻男女宗教信仰的场所”。
Meanwhile, another campaign took aim at Howard Odum, a professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and editor of a peer-reviewed journal, which had published two articles critical of the historical truth of Christian miracles. Conservatives called for Odum to be fired and for the university to support only research that affirmed Christian doctrine. In Greensboro, North Carolina, another instructor, Albert Keister, described evolutionary theory as a powerful scientific tool and accounts of six-day creation as “a form of mythology.” This fuelled calls for a state-wide law to ban teaching of evolutionary theory at public colleges and universities. Harry Chase, the president of the University of North Carolina, managed to defeat the proposed legislation.
与此同时，另一场运动将矛头对准了北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校教授霍华德•奥德姆，他是一家同行评议期刊的编辑，该期刊发表了两篇文章，内容是基督教神迹的历史真相。保守派要求开除奥德姆，并要求大学只支持肯定基督教教义的研究。在北卡罗来纳州的格林斯博罗，另一名教师阿尔伯特·凯斯特将进化论描述为一种强大的科学工具，并将六天创世论描述为“一种神话形式”。这促使保守派呼吁在全州范围内颁布法律，禁止在公立大学教授进化论。北卡罗莱纳大学校长哈里·蔡斯成功地击败了这项立法提案。
How? He did not engage in debates about evolutionary theory. He did not refute absurd charges that only atheists could embrace modern science, nor address distinctions between religion and mythology. Instead, he argued that a law banning the teaching of evolution would spell the death of any “real university”, and that attacking the “quality of faculty” would undermine high-quality education. Faculty members, students and administrators were able to organize and mobilize a broad mass of popular support that had been relatively quiet. Support for the restrictive bill turned out to be a paper tiger.
他是怎样做到的？他没有参与有关进化论的辩论。他没有反驳只有无神论者才能接受现代科学的荒谬指责，也没有提到宗教和神话之间的区别。相反，他认为，一项禁止教授进化论的法律将意味着任何“真正的大学”的死亡，而攻击“教师素质”将破坏高质量的教育。教职员工、学生和管理人员能够组织和动员相对克制的广泛群众支持。对进化论限制法案的支持结果证明是纸老虎。
In Wisconsin, Birge took a similar stance. Instead of taking on Bryan’s arguments that evolutionary theory was weak or that learning science turned people into atheists, Birge argued in favour of academic prestige. If Wisconsin wanted a high-quality university, it must accept academic freedom. He recruited prominent faculty members across disciplines to back him. He publicized the demands of tax-paying Wisconsinites who decried an “censored education” and successfully defended his university.
在威斯康辛州，伯奇采取了类似的立场。伯奇没有理会布莱恩的观点，即进化论不能令人信服，或者学习科学把人变成了无神论者，而是支持学术声望。如果威斯康辛州想要一所高质量的大学，它必须接受学术自由。他招募了各个学科的杰出教师来支持他。他宣传了威斯康星州纳税人的要求，纳税人谴责“删减教育”，伯奇成功地捍卫了他所在的大学。