Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

Brecheen says the religion of evolution is plagued with falsehoods
(by State Senator Josh Brecheen, Durant Daily Democrat, December 24, 2010)

There are other consequences to this misinformation. If Darwin is right then I am free to be the strongest by eating all in my way (forget “love thy neighbor”).

That was a very interesting piece, and a cogent dismissal of creationist tricks--but we do need to keep in mind that the creationist dog and pony show masters of ceremonies are not talking to us. They're talking to the gullible, want-to-believe-in-the-bible crew whose cumulative widow's mites make peddling creationism a very decent living.

Instead of quoting Macbeth, I would compare the state senator to a rooster standing on top of a dung pile and crowing loudly.

(that's from a German novel)

and you must be awfully busy separating fly **** from pwepper flakes.

The only comedic act we have herein is YOU old dearie.

Everyone has been beaten to death with Sevnth grade English and the overall plotline of MAcbeth.

. However, as we mature we learn that, by the severability of tidbits of poesy we can often provide more impact to a common point>

Unless you missed it, thats what ros did. He stated that(IN HIS CONTEXT), what Senator Brecheen stted was the "Tale told by an idiot".

Are you not familar with how many authors use previous segments and soliloquys in altogether different circumstances?

Surely you arent that uncreative in your recognition of the use of the English language. You and Dave seem to break the rulews all the time and want us to pat you on the back for it. Yet, in contrast, do you only afford those priviledges to yourselves?

It's the complexity of the subject that makes it both challenging and rewarding to solve.

they involve selection for intrinsic properties of networks of developmental genes that establish large scale properties of embryonic patterning

but extends it somewhat to include conservation of a kind of sophisticated, modular array of genes that work together to build the body plan. It's not just the alleles that matter, but the connections between them.

The religious love to claim that moral behavior derives from religion (their religion of course), but empathy and compassion are innate characteristics in most people, and societies have rules which dissuade people from becoming mass murderers even if the functionality of evolution were to be "revealed" to the masses (which is what this guy seems to be afraid of with his statement).

The Philadelphia Inquirer (December 20, 2010) commemorated the fifth anniversary of the verdict in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the case establishing the unconstitutionality of teaching "intelligent design" in the public schools, with a review of the trial and its consequences. NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott told the paper, "We're not fighting Dovers in every fifth school district in the country ... Dover seriously put the brakes on the intelligent-design movement." But as Michael Berkman, coauthor with Eric Plutzer of Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's Classrooms (Cambridge University Press, 2010), explained, "the movement always adapts to the court cases and calls it something else."

As a case in point, Scott cited Louisiana, where creationist attacks on the treatment of evolution in biology — in the guise of calls for "critical analysis" — were recently rebuffed by the state board of elementary and secondary education. Kenneth R. Miller, a Supporter of NCSE who testified in the Kitzmiller trial, told the Inquirer that "the forms of 'critical analysis' promoted by the Louisiana Family Forum are actually a series of baseless arguments against evolution that have been repeatedly discredited by the scientific community." (Barbara Forrest reflects on the importance of the Kitzmiller case to the ongoing situation in Louisiana in a December 20, 2010, post on the Louisiana Coalition for Science's blog.)

"Evolution also suffers in the classroom, according to Berkman's survey, because many teachers are timid, may undermine the science, or may not present evolution thoroughly," the story explained, quoting Scott as observing, "Too many biology teachers skip evolution, give one lecture, or leave it till the end." Eric Rothschild, a Pepper Hamilton attorney who represented the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller, commented, "I often think about what would have happened if we hadn't won," adding, "We would have seen dozens, if not hundreds, of schools adopt intelligent design." Instead, the decision served to encourage teachers — like Dover's Jennifer Miller, according to the York Dispatch (December 17, 2010) — to present evolution without fear.

A costly modern Ark
(Editorial, Louisville Courier-Journal, December 29, 2010)

Ark Encounter, the creationism theme park proposed for Northern Kentucky, looms as a more expensive proposition than state officials first suggested.

Gov. Steve Beshear enthusiastically endorsed — despite some objections and even groans — offering state tax incentives as an economic development spur to the park's developers on the grounds that the attraction will create jobs and draw tourists who will spend money in Kentucky. Since the incentive is in the form of rebates to the developers of sales taxes paid at the park by visitors, Mr. Beshear argued that the state would not be out any money if the park failed. (Actually, the state would be out taxes the park could collect before it went under, but who's counting?)

In any case, the developers now want the Transportation Cabinet to upgrade an Interstate 75 interchange in Grant County to accommodate the projected influx of visitors. There's no estimate yet of the price tag of the proposed improvements, but road construction to ease access to the Kentucky Speedway in Gallatin County cost the state about $45 million. The cabinet has not yet reviewed the request or made any commitments; the upcoming 2012 session of the legislature could reopen the state's road plan and add money for the project.

In addition, sooner or later someone is likely to want help building hotels, restaurants and service stations for park visitors. There are plenty of facilities closer to Cincinnati and Lexington, of course, but relatively little development near the 800 rural acres where the park is planned.

Meanwhile, the Governor and his aides insist that a state role in a park with a religious theme passes constitutional muster, and that there will be no religious discrimination in hiring employees at the park. In other words, if a gay Muslim with an advanced degree in evolutionary biology wants a top job at the park, he'll be welcomed by the creationists with open arms. Right? Hello?