Latest post of the previous page:
And an instant reply with a hint of some action. Well done to NHM Director. And well done to Maria for spotting it.Dear Dr Hodge
Thank you for your note on the section of our website devoted to clarifying the classification and identification of plants used by practitioners of homeopathy. I am not sure that I agree that the material on the site gives homeopathy scientific credence, but if you have inferred this then that itself highlights the need to be more explicit.
The NHM is a scientific organisation and we promote good science. This is, for example, why we promote Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection as the only tried and tested explanation of how diverse life forms on our planet came to be, and why we will not promote alternative theories based on faith (e.g. creationism, intelligent design) as having any scientific basis.
As a publicly funded organisation we have a duty to be respectful of the views of our audiences from all backgrounds and walks of life, but this does not mean that we have to agree with all their views or promote something as fact when there is no extant evidence to support this.
When these pages of our website were first posted, there was internal debate about how we presented our position. I have asked that we look at this again in the light of the inferences and comments you have made. This will likely lead to some changes though I would expect this to take some weeks to implement.
Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.
Regards
Michael Dixon
Director