Kansas state geologist Lee Allison gave American Geophysical Union (AGU) members a strong dose of reality last week about the resurgent creationist movement's success in eliminating evolution and aspects of the Earth sciences from the school curriculum in his home state, and how the political right in the United States is capitalizing on that Christian fundamentalist agenda (see page 847).

Scientists are easy targets, says Allison; they aren't organized to lead political battles, they aren't media savvy and they are easily pigeon-holed as members of a liberal élite. They are even easier targets for extremists than gays, he maintains, providing a telling political analysis of last summer's creationist victory in Kansas. The conservative wing of the Republican Party in Kansas that led the creationist drive originally planned to use gay rights as the central focus of its campaign, but that target was dropped in favour of scientists. After all, explains Allison, most cities in the United States have an annual ‘Gay Pride’ day or parade, but when was the last time people saw scientists proudly parading themselves as such in the streets?

Science Days, or even Science Pride Days, would not provide an adequate response to creationism or its political exploitation, but that scale of grass-roots organizing is what is required to bring rationality and intelligence to discussions over local school science curricula. New Mexico recently provided a blueprint of how scientists can succeed in the political trenches of America's neighbourhoods. Scientists organized, they walked precincts and, in October, got candidates elected to the state school board, which returned the teaching of scientific fundamentals to the state's school curriculum.

But such efforts — described as the new “cold war” by some scientists — are not necessarily easy. At a session on evolution at last week's AGU meeting in San Francisco, a scientist asked: “How do you fight creationists if you are a liberal atheist from New York?”. That question highlights the divide between some members of the scientific community and mainstream America today. Certain scientific discoveries, alarming to some of the public, are being manipulated by political forces — in particular, AGU panellists noted, the “Christian right” and conservative Republicans — so as to make science seem a threat to individual religious views in America.

Most scientists tend to avoid public confrontation. But the key to the battle for the teaching of good science in the presence of fundamentalism is to be more resolute in informing the public of the important role of science and actively to oppose the use of distorted perceptions of science as a political vehicle to create what one panellist last week called “the dark age” of Kansas. To that end, scientists need to reach out, to become involved in local school-board issues and to seek election to ensure appropriate scientific curricula.

Scientists new to the political trenches should not get locked into debates about creationist beliefs, which at the least can shift the focus to a form of intellectual sport and at worst collapse into fruitless opposed assertions or even pitched battles. Experience suggests that scientists should instead focus on the fundamental question: “Do people want good science taught in schools?”, clearly and justifiably linking today's understanding of the Earth's history and of evolution inextricably with the science that will allow parents' offspring to be able to grow up and solve the problems of disease, to eat healthier foods that will prolong and improve their lives, and to reap the lifestyle advantages that technology brings.

As scientists rally in Kansas next year, hopefully to defeat the pro-creationist forces on the state school board, the plains state will be a political test for a new resolve among the US scientific community. But given the political forces riding the fundamentalist wave, it will take coordination, coherence and some powerful advocacy drawn from the ranks of many independently minded scientists to carry the day.