God Sent Me: A textbook case on evolution vs. creation by Jeffrey SelmanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
BOOK DESCRIPTION: God Sent Me is the account of one citizen making himself heard and taking action to preserve constitutional protections in the context of the conflict between evolution science and religion-based creationism. When the public school board in Cobb County, Georgia, glued a disclaimer against evolution into the county’s new science textbooks, the implications were clear — separation of church and state and accurate education were at risk. Author Jeffrey Selman, along with several other like-minded citizens and the ACLU, marched into battle with a lawsuit against the forces undermining science education. This narrative shines a light on just what it takes to protect freedom and reminds the average citizen to “Wake up and get to work!”
MY REVIEW: There is no doubt that fighting against the undermining of science in schools by religious zealots is an important fight to have. And it's great that individuals like Jeffrey Selman fight on the frontline. This book describes one such battle in extraordinary detail. And that detail is a major problem with this book. There is so much detail that after about a third of the book I chose to skim the rest. The book needs a good editor who can transform all the minutiae into a riveting story. We don't need to know that at exactly 5:45 he drove somewhere. We don't need transcripts of every conversation, interview and trial. The excessive detail detracts from the power of the story. That's disappointing because these stories do need to be told.
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