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5 Emp. Resp. & Rts. J. 1 (1992)

handle is hein.journals/emprrj5 and id is 1 raw text is: Employee Responsibilities and Rights Jouma Vol. 5, No. 1, 1992 Believing in Employment Discrimination: The Case of Forrest Mims, Scientific American, and Title VII Protection David C. Wyld1 and Sam D. Cappel2 This article reviews the law regarding Title VII employment discrimination protection from religious discrimination. The issues surrounding the principal legal protection in this regard are explored in the context of a recent controversial case in which an author, Forrest Mims, was not hired as a regular contributor for Scientific American magazine, ostensibly because of his belief in the theory of creation over the theory of evolution. The definition of what constitutes a protected religious belief or practice is seen to have expanded over time. However, a belief in creationism is not necessarily seen as being tantamount to a religious belief under present legal interpretation of Title VII. The implications of this finding for future needed Title VII revision are discussed. KEY WORDS: religious discrimination; the nature of religious beliefs; creationism versus evolution; Title VII employment discrimination. INTRODUCTION The debate over the theories of evolution and creationism has raged for dec- ades. Noted science writer Stephen Jay Gould (1988, p. 12) of Harvard charac- terized the dispute both as an important chapter in American social history and as being over. He characterized the bookends of the controversy as being the landmark cases of the Scopes v. State (1927) monkey trial and the Supreme Court decision in the Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) case. Both cases stand as landmark legal decisions and epic social struggles. At issue in the Scopes case was a Tennessee law which forbade the teaching of any theory of the origin of man and the earth which conflicted with the first chapter of Genesis (Ginger, 1958). Scopes was made bigger than life through both the stature of the opposing lawyers (William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow) and the ensuing play and motion picture (Inherit the Wind) based on the trial (deCamp, 1968). The case was a victory for the Biblical literalists, and the 1Department of Management, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas 76308-2099. 2Department of Management, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana 70402. 1 0892-7545/92/0300-0001$06.50/0 0 1992 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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