Divine Command: Many creationists believe only God has the power to effect the climate. Critics of the practice of teaching evolution in science classrooms are taking up a new strategy: going after the teaching of global warming. By linking the global warming debate with these other issues, proponents of the legislation have a two-pronged motive. First, it strengthens their legal argument. Courts have ruled that singling out evolution for criticism violates the separation of church and state, so going after global warming gives them a broader agenda and thus opens a legal loophole. Second, by riding the coattails of rising public doubt about climate science, creationists hope to legitimize their stance against the scientific establishment in general. ‘Wherever there is a battle over evolution now, there is a secondary battle to diminish other hot-button issues like Big Bang and, increasingly, climate change. It is all about casting doubt on the veracity of science – to say it is just one view of the world, just another story, no better or more valid than fundamentalism,’ physicist Lawrence M. Krauss of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University told the New York Times. And the bill in Kentucky […]