Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

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Young-earth creationists value literal reading of Bible over human intellect
(By Bob Allen, Associated Baptist Press, February 06, 2009)

In his 2006 best-selling nonfiction book, The God Delusion, British biologist Richard Dawkins said he is hostile toward religion because of what it did to Kurt Wise.

Wise, a Harvard graduate who studied under paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, gave up his dream of teaching at a major university because he could not reconcile claims of science with his faith.

At one point, Wise took out a newly purchased Bible and a pair of scissors. Beginning at Gen. 1:1, he cut out every verse that would have to be removed in order for him to believe in evolution.

Months later, he cut out his final verse and one of the last verses in the Bible, Rev. 22:19, which read, “If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Wise describes what happened next: “With the cover of the Bible taken off, I attempted to physically lift the Bible from the bed between two fingers. Yet, try as I might, and even with the benefit of intact margins throughout the pages of Scripture, I found it impossible to pick up the Bible without it being rent in two.

“The wound to his career and his life’s happiness was self-inflicted, so unnecessary, so easy to escape,” Dawkins lamented. “All he had to do was toss out the Bible or interpret it symbolically or allegorically as the theologians do. Instead, he did the fundamentalist thing and tossed out science, evidence and reason, along with all his dreams and hopes.”

Wise’s current boss, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler, viewed it as a badge of honor. Mohler brought Wise to Southern Seminary in 2006 to lead the Center for Theology and Science.

These guys with solid academic training and strong counter-religious views are unforgivable for what they are doing to kids minds. The test of how silly they are is to get them to try to count the actual advancements in our science and technology that were made using such a Creationist worldview.The answer? ZERO

[/It is based upon the unspoken belief that his view of these matters is the correct one.quote].

CAn you thenm defend the Wise's of the world? wheres their scientific contribution besides taking up space in the past White House .? Cannot come up with one can you? just like the Wise's of the world, youre trying to divert eyes from the issues.

YECs ,OECs and IDers must be fought and defeated in the classroom and in the legislative halls. HAving simpletons like spendi half support the IDers and other anti-science types by attempting to occupy some moral (and Historically inacurrate) ground is really sad for our kids, spendi wont (and is no-doubt unable) to provide us any evidence wherein the antiscience worldviews have actually contributed anything to our civilization besides the likes of Ben Stein, William Dembski,Duane Gish, and George Macready Price.

Ben Stein, William Dembski,Duane Gish, and George Macready Price.

I could probably **** all over it I should think

Chism's bill to monkey with textbooks dies in committee
(Sid Salter, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, February 8, 2009)

Mercifully, House Bill 25 died unceremoniously in the House Education Committee. That the committee had the good sense not to wade off into this unnecessary exercise in political pandering is proof that the committee has not only evolved, but has been divinely inspired.

Like every other state in the union, Mississippi educators teach Sir Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution as part of the science curriculum in this state's public schools. "We teach the theory of evolution as theory, not as fact," said state Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds.

But state Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, thought that students and faculty members alike in the state needed an additional level of protection against the theories that Darwin first published 150 years ago that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor.

Chism authored HB 25, a bill that would have required a disclaimer sticker be placed on the inside front cover of every state textbook that taught evolutionary theory that read as follows:

"The word 'theory' has many meanings, including: systematically organized knowledge; abstract reasoning; a speculative idea or plan; or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations."

"This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things. No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered a theory."

"Evolution refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced living things. There are many topics with unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbook, including: the sudden appearance of the major groups of animals in the fossil record (known as the Cambrian Explosion); the lack of new major groups of other living things appearing in the fossil record; the lack of transitional forms of major groups of plants and animals in the fossil record; and the complete and complex set of instructions for building a living body possessed by all living things."

"Study hard and keep an open mind."

Ironically, Darwin's Theory of Evolution is somewhat a theory in crisis in light of modern advances in genetics over the past 50 years. So-called "intelligent design" proponents point to the concept of "irreducible complexity" as a flaw in Darwin's theories, but that concept has not yet gained wide acceptance.

A 2008 Gallup Poll found only 14 percent of Americans would agree with Darwin that "man evolved over millions of years." Most agreed, in varying degrees of certainty, with King David in Psalms 139:14 when he said: "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

As to disclaimer stickers in textbooks that teach evolutionary theories, only Alabama does that. Much of the language in Chism's bill came from the Alabama law. One county in Georgia tried to do it, but lost the effort in federal courts.

But such legislation has been a darling of those "monkey see, monkey do" legislators who pander to the same old fears that gave us the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial.

Ive put spendi back on my ignore.

MISSISSIPPI UPDATE

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Chism's bill to monkey with textbooks dies in committee
(Sid Salter, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, February 8, 2009)

"This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory..."

Wise to introduce bill on intelligent design
(By Matt Soergel, Jacksonville Times-Union, Feb. 8, 2009)

Amid much controversy a year ago, the Florida Board of Education approved new standards that require public schools to teach that the scientific theory of evolution is the foundation of all biological science.

But don't think that battle is over. Not even close.

State Sen. Stephen Wise, a Jacksonville Republican, said he plans to introduce a bill to require teachers who teach evolution to also discuss the idea of intelligent design.

Intelligent design is the concept that life is so complex that it couldn't occur naturally but must have had an intelligent force working to make it happen.

Wise, the chief sponsor of the bill, expects the Senate to take it up when it meets in March. He said its intent is simple: "If you're going to teach evolution, then you have to teach the other side so you can have critical thinking."

Wise said that if the Legislature passes the bill, he wouldn't be surprised if there's a legal challenge.

"You just never know. They use the courts all the time. I guess if they have enough money they can get it in the courts," he said. "Someplace along the line you've got to be able to make a value judgment of what it is you think is the appropriate thing."

Intelligent design has been in the courts before. In 2005, a federal judge barred a Pennsylvania school district from teaching intelligent design in public schools, calling it an example of "breathtaking inanity." The judge, a Republican, wrote that there was "overwhelming evidence" that the theory is a "religious view," not scientific theory.

Wise's planned bill isn't a surprise to those who favor teaching evolution.

"We were expecting some sort of effort to blunt evolution education," said Paul Cottle, a physics professor at Florida State University who helped draft the year-old science standards on evolution. "What you are describing is one of the tools in the standard anti-evolution toolbox."

It won't be the first time the Legislature has addressed the issue.

After the standards were approved in February 2008, the Senate and House each passed bills that would require public schools to teach "critical analysis" of evolution. The majority in both chambers said they wanted to protect teachers from being punished if they questioned evolution.

That effort died in the Legislature, however, because the two chambers weren't able to reconcile their plans into a single bill.

This time around, though, Wise - a co-sponsor of the 2008 bill in the Senate - said he expects the House plan to be extremely similar to the one he will introduce. That should make it easier to pass, he said.

Wise acknowledges it's a controversial subject. "I got a lot of hate mail last year," he said. "You'd think I'd never gone to school, that I was Cro-Magnon man, that I just got out of a cave or something."

Those bills were a deliberate effort to "undermine" the new Florida standards on evolution, said Brandon Haught of Florida Citizens for Science, a group supportive of teaching evolution.

"My group is keeping an eye out for this bill to pop up again," he said. "Hopefully legislators are worried about other things."

In classrooms, little has changed since the Board of Education's evolution decision, said David Campbell, a science teacher at Orange Park's Ridgeview High who helped write the new science standards. School districts will put them into practice over the next few years, giving students time to incorporate the knowledge as they take the science FCAT exam in 11th grade. In addition, textbooks need to be developed and paid for, and teachers need to be trained, though he wonders where the money will come from for that.

If the Legislature passes a bill on intelligent design, Campbell expects it will be challenged. "I think if they pass anything like the bills they passed last year, they're looking at an almost certain lawsuit, which will cost big bucks," he said.

Rep. Alan Hays, a Republican from Umatilla, sponsored the "critical analysis" bill in the House last year and said he would support a similar effort this session. He thinks it's likely to pass this time in a close vote.

"The thing we learned last year is that, No. 1, we must keep the discussion scientific. I don't know of anyone who is in favor of teaching religion in public," he said. "We want the students to know that the theory of evolution is only a theory, it has never ever been scientifically proven, and it should be accepted as that."

Cottle called the controversy over evolution a "strange component in the culture wars." He said he's met biology teachers who are constantly challenged by students who refuse to accept evolution, which - far from being "just a theory" - is accepted by the vast majority of scientists.

"It's like students have been put up to it by their pastors," he said. "And I'm sure there are cases of religious students feeling harassed because they're being asked to study this."

The controversy will continue, he said.

"This is a national effort, and it's not nearly over," he said.

Indeed, Hays traveled Friday to Virginia for a symposium at Liberty University School of Law on "Intelligent Design and Public School Curriculum."

He was to be a guest speaker, discussing the legislative side of the issue.

Hays said part of his beliefs come from his training as a dentist, which involved an extensive education in anatomy.

"How can anyone study the human body and deny that it was created by a higher power?" he said. "It is one magnificent collection of genius.

"It is not an accident that happened to come together."

FLORIDA UPDATE

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Wise to introduce bill on intelligent design
(By Matt Soergel, Jacksonville Times-Union, Feb. 8, 2009)

If the Legislature passes a bill on intelligent design, Campbell expects it will be challenged. "I think if they pass anything like the bills they passed last year, they're looking at an almost certain lawsuit, which will cost big bucks," he said.

Rep. Alan Hays, a Republican from Umatilla, sponsored the "critical analysis" bill in the House last year and said he would support a similar effort this session. He thinks it's likely to pass this time in a close vote.

"The thing we learned last year is that, No. 1, we must keep the discussion scientific. I don't know of anyone who is in favor of teaching religion in public," he said. "We want the students to know that the theory of evolution is only a theory, it has never ever been scientifically proven, and it should be accepted as that."