I respect Richard Dawkins and his scholarship.  I wanted to share a letter from The Greatest Show on Earth written by Dawkins and several others, including bishops, to Tony Blair about their concern for teaching science in the classroom.  I find the letter interesting and Dawkins uses it in the beginning of the book to introduce some other compelling ideas about the coexistence of science and Christianity.

Dear Prime Minister,

We write as a group of scientists and Bishops to express our concern about the teaching of science in the Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead.

Evolution is a scientific theory of great explanatory power, able to account for a wide range of phenomenon in a number of disciplines.  It can be refined, confirmed and even radically altered by attention to evidence.  It is not, as spokesmen for the college maintain, a ‘faith position’ in the same category as the biblical account of creation which has a different function and purpose.

The issue goes wider than what is currently being taught in one college. There is a growing anxiety about what will be taught and how it will be taught in the new generation of proposed faith schools. We believe that the curricula in such schools, as well as that of Emmanuel City Technology College, need to be strictly monitored in order that the respective disciplines of science and religious studies are properly respected.

Yours sincerely,

• The Right Reverend Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford
• Sir David Attenborough, FRS
• The Right Reverend Christopher Herbert, Bishop of St Albans
• Lord May of Oxford, President of the Royal Society
• Professor John Enderby, FRS, Physical Secretary, Royal Society
• The Right Reverend John Oliver, Bishop of Hereford
• The Right Reverend Mark Santer, Bishop of Birmingham
• Sir Neil Chalmers, Director, Natural History Museum
• The Right Reverend Thomas Butler, Bishop of Southwark
• Sir Martin Rees, FRS, Astronomer Royal
• The Right Reverend Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth
• Professor Patrick Bateson, FRS, Biological Secretary, Royal Society
• The Right Reverend Crispian Hollis, Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth
• Sir Richard Southwood, FRS, Past Biological Secretary, Royal Society
• Sir Francis Graham-Smith, FRS, Past Physical Secretary, Royal Society
• Professor Richard Dawkins, FRS