Frostbite,
You may not want to read the whole convoluted thread, but here are some links to show that:
1. It is a christian produced program.
2. It was produced for the specific purpose of promoting christian creationist Intelligent Design.
3. It is part of a political strategy to undermine Evolution education in our schools.
4. It features starring figures of the "God did it, not Evolution" ID crowd.
This show is created by a group called IllustraMedia,
http://www.illustramedia.com/
which is actually a front for "The Discovery Institute", a Creationist Christian political organization.
http://www.discovery.org/crsc/
This video is proported to be part of "Phase II" of Discovery's "Wedge Project" that is designed to get
Creationism and Christianity into our public schools:
http://www.infidels.org/secular_web/feature/1999/wedge.html
Here's the link to the National Center for Science Education, an educational non-profit dedicated to
supporting Evolution education in our schools:
http://www.ncseweb.org/article.asp?category=19
Here's a methodical dissection of the entire show by Andrea Bottaro, PhD Assistant Professor Medicine,
Microbiology and Imunology, Oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. This is one of the best
letters, as it goes in depth about the terrible non-scientific claims of this show.
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/2018_bottaro39s_letter_to_wnye_7_8_2003.asp
Here's a choice quote from her, that should be enough to get anyone to understand that this show is
religious in nature:
Unlocking the Mystery of Life" is the first and only production of an entity called "IllustraMedia". In
fact, "IllustraMedia" is one and the same with "Discovery Media Productions"1. Discovery Media is a
production company whose previous videos are devoted to evangelical topics, such as "Heaven and
Hell" and "The End Times"2. While there is nothing wrong with an evangelical video company producing a
science documentary, the fact that to do so it was felt necessary to create a "shell" production outfit
highlights the aura of ambiguity that pervades the entire enterprise (more examples to
follow). Furthermore, the purpose of the video as a propagandistic and religious, rather than
scientific/educational tool is underscored by how UML is being publicized within fundamentalist circles. For
instance, Mission Frontiers, the Bulletin of the evangelical U.S. Center for World Missions,
hails it as "the most impressive evangelistic tool ever made"3.
Here's the letter from the Professor of Anatomy at Howard University, and research associate at the
Smithsonian:
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/1386_domning39s_letter__to_maryl_7_1_2003.asp
