Looking back to my childhood, Texas in the late 1950’s and 1960’s seems downright progressive compared to Kansas, Louisiana, and other hotbeds of modern creationism. It’s not that Genesis wasn’t taught in the Baptist Sunday school I attended, but I don’t remember anyone teaching it as literal fact.

Likewise in school, where I already knew about Charles Darwin and natural selection before a classmate in ninth-grade biology brought the teacher a tract claiming that the archerfish disproves evolution. One wall of my bedroom was aquariums, and I had even kept an archerfish for a while. Encountering someone so ignorant of nature as to not see what to me were obvious relationships among living things was deeply disturbing.

Over time, I encountered more and more creationists, from my best friend in 12th grade (“fossils are just funny-shaped rocks made by the Devil”) to university classmates who tried to evangelize during Comparative Anatomy labs. Still, it’s difficult for me to understand how, in the 21st century, we are fighting escalating battles to keep religion – and willful ignorance – out of science classrooms.

As an environmental educator and lifelong outdoor enthusiast, I have to wonder if the rise in creationism and denial of evolution over the last few decades is related to “nature deficit disorder.” I had the privilege of growing up with both domestic and wild animals in the house and spending time outdoors birding, fishing, chasing lizards, and collecting fossils, all of which contributed to my understanding of the relationships among living things. Surely if we could give more children opportunities to experience nature first hand, many more might learn to think for themselves and come to appreciate that all organisms are members of our extended family.

To that end, I propose that each of us honor Charles Darwin’s memory by taking a child out into nature, to experience the exuberant diversity and interconnectedness of life. Let’s call it Project Sandwalk, after the “thinking path” behind Darwin’s home.

Check out the statement Grand Cypress Golf Club posted to its Web site:

Golfer Tripp Isenhour has been charged with two misdemeanors after an incident in which a hawk was killed on our property while Isenhour was taping a TV show.

No one from the Grand Cypress Resort was present when the incident occurred, and we did not learn about it until after the fact. We cooperated fully with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission when it investigated.

In the past, Isenhour had used our facilities for practice, as many local touring professionals do at this and other golf facilities in the area. He has not and does not tour under a Grand Cypress sponsorship. Because of the hawk incident, we have terminated his access to practice at the resort. [emphasis mine]

Golf is a sport that is rooted in the enjoyment of nature and being outdoors. In fact, one of the special treats our guests currently are enjoying is seeing bald eagles that are nesting on our property. We are distressed and saddened by the hawk incident and want everyone who hears about it to understand the resort’s feelings and that the resort was not involved.

This is great! From the timing, the club obviously had this statement in the works even as I was working on my original post. I’m disabling the e-mail link there but reinstate it here for those who would like to express their gratitude to Grand Cypress for its prompt and uncompromising response to the issue.

Let’s hope for an equally positive response from Titleist, and that when Mr. Isenhour gets his day in court he gets smacked upside the head, metaphorically speaking, with the full force of the law.

In yesterday’s post about the senseless killing of a Red-shouldered Hawk by pro golfer Tripp Isenhour (left), I provided a link to the PGA feedback form where you can express your feelings about this childish, reprehensible act. But does someone who exhibits such poor judgment and lack of ethics deserve the privilege of playing at such a prestigious course as Grand Cypress Golf Club? Not to mention all the bad publicity he’s brought on the club. If you’d like to comment on this to Grand Cypress management, maybe suggest that he be banned for life, you can use either this e-mail link or the Web form.

BTW, the deadly projectile was likely a Titleist Pro V1X. That’s Isenhour’s preferred ball according to his PGA profile. He’s also on the Titleist Web site, so I’m guessing that he receives some level of sponsorship from them (free balls at least) in exchange for the use of his name and likeness. Does he deserve free Titleist balls if he’s used them to break federal law and commit animal cruelty? If you’re thinking, “No, he doesn’t,” you can express this opinion to Titleist world headquarters toll free at (800) 225-8500, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Eastern Time Monday-Friday.