By: Dr. Jerry Bergman
Montpelier, Ohio
Your background is critical in making you the person you are.
Central for me was my early involvement in a small, elder-driven church. The hour-long, Scripture-based sermons covered the Bible and Christian behavior, drug abuse (the Bible condemns drunkenness caused by any drug), divorce (only scriptural grounds was unfaithfulness), biology (you are fearfully and wonderfully made), astronomy (the heavens declare the glory of God), the importance of family and marriage (it is not good that man be alone so God created a mate for him), and the sanctity of marriage.
We reached out to minorities, especially Blacks, so much that, as a “white church” the majority of our members were minorities. If a member lost their job, a business owner in the congregation hired him.
Marital problems? One of the elders would step in to help. A flood destroyed a member’s home? The elders ensured they had a place to stay until they rebuilt.
After high school I went to college to study science and was exposed to evolution. This exposure caused me to wonder, does creation really explain where we came from?
After 19 years of full-time schooling, I was hired in my mid-twenties to teach at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). Now that I look back, in many ways I was a kid.
Since then I earned five new degrees, three at a medical school, and now realize, when teaching at BGSU I was a naïve young man
Nonetheless, I found teaching far more rewarding than I expected. I had good student evaluations and was not much older than many of my students. As a professor, three criteria were central, teaching, service, and scholarly publications, all of which I excelled in.
In time I had 30 publications, including a textbook published by Houghton Mifflin and a monograph published by Phi Delta Kappa honor society.
My colleagues admitted this publication, titled Teaching About the Creation Controversy, was quite an honor. It sold well and was one of the most popular publications in the series. The booklet was about my effort to grapple with the issue.
Soon, several of my colleagues turned against me, explaining, “Humans evolved and there is no other side. None.” Even some creationists were critical of my monograph.
It was clear that I took a middle position, which I had to in order for Phi Delta to publish it. At that time, I was still struggling with understanding the issue. My conclusion now is the evidence against the goo-to-you-by-way-of-the-zoo evolution is overwhelming.
Several of my colleagues had major concerns about my religious bent and let me know. Although I had good relations with most of my co-workers, the hate by a few was obvious, as was their lack of ethics.
One example was, at a closed meeting a colleague noted a chapter I published that was listed in my resumé. He had a copy of the book and showed it to the faculty, noting my chapter was not in the book, stating I lied, a serious problem in academics.
I was not aware of this until several years later. It turned out that he had the old edition of the book and my chapter was in the new edition.
The ethical approach would have been to ask me about the discrepancy. Furthermore, to present this at a closed meeting where I was not invited was also unprofessional and unethical.
This was the beginning of my disillusionment with academia. I have now published five volumes that document similar examples of other Darwin skeptics.
Since then, I have kept track of most of my former colleagues. To my knowledge, all of them are deceased except one. None had a church funeral; all had a ‘celebration of life’ service in the park.
On to the Medical College of Ohio
At the Medical College of Ohio (MCO), I had a very positive experience, first as a student. Then afterward, as a professor. As a student I was able to take a wide variety of classes and got to know my professors on a first name basis. Evolution was never mentioned in any class.
One Monday, I was called into the Dean’s office, thinking, “Oh, no, a BGSU experience.” The Dean said, “We have to get you out of here!” My heart sank. He then added, “You have more than enough credits for a Ph.D.”
“Take these two classes and you can graduate” which I did. He added, “You can then enroll for another master’s degree.”
I then mentioned the high cost of medical school. He responded, “Don’t worry about that. We have several grants that will cover your tuition and other expenses.”
He added, “The professors enjoy working with you. You are not trying to get through school only to get a job as are most students. You are here purely to learn. And it is a joy to have you as a student.”
I was also told if you want to complete an M.D., “You are as good as in the program.” Although flattered, I had to turn down the offer. I then completed two more master’s degrees, all paid for, and was hired to work in the Department of Experimental Pathology.
I worked there until my boss, Dr. Ming You, was hired at Ohio State University. Dr. You informed me, “You are a central part of the team and will be moving to Columbus if you want to.” I realized my wife would not agree to move, so stayed in Montpelier.
My wife has been enormously tolerant of her professional-student husband, but there are limits! It made me realize I should have completed a pre-med degree, then on to medical school for my M.D./Ph.D. degree.
I did not want to practice medicine but do research, which I did at MCO. I loved it at MCO in every way, even though it required a lot of late nights in the lab.
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Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,800 publications in 12 languages and 60 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,500 college libraries in 27 countries. All 60 of Bergman’s books are on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores.