Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

The Dance of the Louisiana State Science Fair, Or: Notes from the War on Science in Louisiana
(Vince LiCata, ScienceBlogs.com, January 31, 2010)

When the most recent LSU budget cuts were handed down by the Louisiana governor a couple of weeks ago, one of the items that went on the chopping block was the Louisiana State Science and Engineering Fair, which has long been sponsored and hosted by the university. In a state with a creationist governor, and a state that recently became a national embarrassment by passing into law one of the Discovery Institute's new pseudonyms for teaching creationism, it is extraordinarily frightening that the State Science Fair might be canceled. Although it was indirect (the governor just forced the budget cuts, he didn't actively target the science fair), it does, however, make it a lot easier to push for creationism if you hinder the ability of the students in your state to become scientists.

Thankfully, after a couple of weeks of scrambling, the Science Fair is now back on. But it was not a direct route.

During those two weeks, it was on again, off again, on again, as the Fair moved from being officially canceled, to being picked up by a group called the Pelican Educational Foundation, to discovering that the private foundation didn't have the proper Science Fair accreditation to sponsor the Fair (i.e. winners of this version of the State Fair would not have been qualified for higher level fairs), to finally arriving at a joint LSU-Pelican Educational Foundation rescheduled fair on a new date in a new location. Whew.

It's been like a battlefield in Louisiana over the past year and a half. Our self-proclaimed "intellectual" governor has systematically handed down more and deeper budget cuts to the university - now, of course budget problems are being dealt with in every state - but Governor Jindal is making deeper and deeper cuts while also continuing to refuse federal stimulus money because it might hurt his chances of becoming the next Sarah Palin. (A few days ago the LSU Faculty Senate even officially wrote the Secretary of Education to try to work around the governor's most recent stimulus money roadblock).

Furthermore, as much of the scientific community knows, the governor and the Louisiana legislature pushed for and then signed into law the "Louisiana Science Education Act," (aka the "Louisiana Academic Freedom Act") drafted by the Discovery Institute and basically saying that "academic freedom" protects the right of science teachers to choose to teach creationism as a scientific theory.

The passing of the "Louisiana (Non) Science Education Act" was and is a national embarrassment for Louisiana, and it makes all real scientists in Louisiana burn with indignity and anger simply by virtue of where we live and work.

Despite these best efforts of our self-proclaimed "intellectual" governor, LSU has successfully clawed its way into US News and World Report's list of "Top Tier" universities for two years running. But it's tough to feel loved when your state government wants to get rid of that pesky little nuisance called "science". I mean, the State Science Fair almost disappeared! This is not a big budget item. What kind of message is being sent to the students in Louisiana from all these events? What will happen to the Science Fair next year? (Will it be forced to become the "Academic Freedom Fair" to insure state support?) Where will Louisiana's next generation of scientists come from, and how will all of this affect their desire to become scientists? It's simply a sad, sad shame for Louisiana that we even have to ask such questions. Is this really 2010?

Th purpose of your post is transparent spendi. You need to impress anyone in earshot with a recently discovered word, so you first try (according to you) to impress the **** out of the people on the Fooball thread. When they didnt bite, you decided to come over here and try to sound erudite .

I congratulate you for your educability and your willingness to "share" with us, even though you dont get the context and direction of this thread.

PS--it has struck me lately that the more credibility there is attached to fossils the greater will be the motivation to produce fakes. And we have seen in the art world what powerful motives allied with human ingenuity can do.

It's always so easy to fake what another human created.

I sometimes wonder about Jindal's standing as an intellectual. He went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. At Oxford, he participated in an exorcism of a troubled female classmate. He wrote an account of the exorcism for a magazine in 1994.

A senior in UCF (University Christian Fellowship) and a leader of my Bible study group had once asked me if I believed in angels, spirits, and other such apparitions. I had recently heard a priest confidently proclaim that the Bible's words on such phenomena were never meant to be inter-preted literally; he had historical evidence that incidents involving spirits were merely metaphors for tangible events. Being a new Catholic and very eager to avoid the subject, I had accepted the priest's views without question. After I related my doubts, the senior proceeded to describe recent incidents involving mutual acquaintances -- e.g., a woman who claimed demons inflicted physical scars on her arms. I remained polite, but incredulous. The issue of spirits did not affect me, and I was thus content to leave its resolution to others. I had no opinions or feelings on the subject.

But Susan was forcing me to take a stand on the entire issue of spirits and charismatic Christians. Having given the subject little thought, I was hardly ready to present an informed opinion. Susan was my closest friend and I would have tried to believe her had she claimed Martians had kidnapped her; friends are supposed to believe in each other even when nobody else does. Despite my verbal reassurances and lack of condemnations, Susan knew me well enough to see that I was having problems accepting her visions and spirits. I was doing everything I could to convey my support and sympathy; however, I was definitely in unfamiliar territory and was overwhelmed by the strength of her convictions. I wavered between my loyalty to Susan and the apparent irrationality of her claims.

I left the room we were in for a moment, on some flimsy pretense, made the sign of the cross in desperation, and pleaded with God for divine assistance. Seconds after I re-entered the room, Susan angrily lashed out at me, telling me she never wanted to talk with me again since I did not love her, and ran out in tears. I tried following her, to no avail. I did not understand what I had done. All I could think was, "Gee, thanks God. So much for prayer." I realized that Susan had never fully presented her interpretation of the recent events in her life, and I had not had the chance to accept or reject her claims. The entire conversation remained very nebulous in my mind, and many of Susan's reactions made little sense. I had a vague sense that her anger and tears involved both my inability to care for her and also my inability to understand her recent experiences.

I was stunned, and so was hardly prepared for what was to follow the next day. While Susan's older sister flew in to provide comfort during this trying time, Susan visited the doctor for one last set of tests. UCF had organized a prayer meeting that night for Susan's upcoming operation and the intense emotional trials she had endured. I called Susan, in an attempt to make peace, but was greeted with cold indifference. As she was hanging up, I asked if she wanted my presence at the prayer meeting. She declined the offer, but suddenly changed her mind just before the line was disconnected. I, along with several other students, gathered in a classroom, despite the hectic finals schedule, to of¬fer our prayers and support for Susan. Since she was a very active member and Bible study leader in UCF, many upperclassmen were in attendance. These students, the most active and experienced Protestant leaders on campus, came from different churches with different creeds.

The meeting started, as did any other UCF gathering, with group songs and a few prayers. We sat in a circle on the floor so we could face one another. Susan refused to acknowledge my presence when I entered. Though I was accustomed to feeling an emotional high during these meetings, I felt the initial songs were a bit dry. Given the circumstances, the group had lost much of its normal enthusiasm. Susan's sister then asked for a period of meditative prayer, the entire group would fall silent while individuals would pray aloud "as the Spirit led them." This is a common practice in both Bible studies and group meetings within UCF. My inexperience as a new Christian and my reserved nature prevented me from speaking during these times; rather, I prayed silently.

After a period of group prayer, a student made a movement to end the meeting. Suddenly, Susan emitted some strange guttural sounds and fell to the floor. She started thrashing about, as if in some sort of seizure. Susan's sister must have recognized what was happening, for she ordered us to gather around and place our hands on Susan's prostrate body. I refused to budge from my position and froze in horror. I will never forget the first comprehensible sound that came from Susan; she screamed my name with such an urgency that the chill still travels down my spine whenever I recall this moment.

Confused as to the events occurring before my very eyes, I responded to the desperation and cry for help so evident in Susan's voice. I wanted to rescue my friend from these horrible people who were holding her down and ridiculing her dignity. I tentatively approached the group and placed the edge of my fingertip on her shoulder, as if afraid of becoming infected with the disease that was ravaging her body. I had yet to realize that the affliction was ravaging her soul.

In a voice I had never heard before or since, Susan accused me: "Bobby, you cannot even love Susan." Before I even noticed the sound of her voice, I thought it funny that Susan would refer to herself in the third person. Then the full impact of the words hit me. Forgetting the frantic students around me and even poor Susan lying on the floor, I thought of our conversation the day before. The real argument had been whether I was capable of loving Susan. I needed the answer to be yes, more for my sake than ours. I have always been a closed and relatively unemotional person and needed to know that my best friend felt that I at least could love her, due to some very strong remarks made two years before by my former girlfriend (hardly an objective source), I was beginning to doubt that I had the capacity for feeling.

Knowing that I was doing Susan no good, I quickly retreated to the opposite side of the room. Susan proceeded to denounce every individual in the room, often citing very private and confidential information she could not possibly have known on her own. It was information capable of hurting individuals -- attacking people, as she did, by revealing their hidden feelings, fears, and worries. The night was just beginning!

I would love it if someone could find that article on the exorcism. Ive heard Jindhal talk and he sounds like many of the "chosen" here on A2K. He sidesteps his training in microbio and uses DNA as a "proof" of Creation. SO he cant be that awfully smart.

"He always had his eye on, first of all, where he wanted to go, and second, how he was going to get there," says a former teacher. As a youngster, Bobby competed in tennis tournaments; started a computer newsletter, a retail candy business, and a mail-order software company; and spent his free time working at the concession stands during LSU football games.