Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

Passages from The Bible are used by many advocates of the State of Israel's policy of building illegal settlements on occupied land.

Because the state couldn't afford new science books for public schools....

"One of the reasons I decided to enter the bidding for these books was to give Texas students a fair and honest treatment of evolution.

Are you saying that advocate of land grab do NOT use passages from The Bible to justify their actions.

Quote:

Are you saying that advocate of land grab do NOT use passages from The Bible to justify their actions.

No. I'm saying that everybody over 11 knows the score.

I have staff and kit of my own.

The case against Caiaphas

No trial or execution in history has had such a momentous outcome as that of Jesus in Roman-occupied Jerusalem, 2000 years ago.

But was it an execution or a judicial murder; and who was responsible?

The story begins when the Galilean rebel Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, deliberately fulfilling a prophecy in the Hebrew Bible about the coming of the Messiah. He's mobbed by an adoring crowd.

The next day Jesus raids the Temple, the heart of the Jewish religion, and attacks money-changers for defiling a holy place.

The leaders of the Jewish establishment realise that he threatens their power, and so do the Romans, who fear that Jesus has the charisma to lead a guerrilla uprising against Imperial Rome.

Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, tried by Caiaphas and then by the Roman Governor. He's sentenced to death and executed.
Caiaphas
Caiaphas Caiaphas had a privileged position

Caiaphas was a supreme political operator and one of the most influential men in Jerusalem. He'd already survived 18 years as High Priest of the Temple (most High Priests only lasted 4), and had built a strong alliance with the occupying Roman power.

The Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank based in Seattle that is a leading proponent of intelligent design, has filed with the State Board of Education its evaluation of 10 supplemental biology and evolution e-books up for consideration. The institute concluded that nine of them fail to meet Texas standards on teaching evolution.

"This is just one more step in an almost obsessive campaign by some state board members to promote their own personal and ideological beliefs, not mainstream science, in Texas classrooms," Miller said.

Obviously if Israel didn't have American support, and the best equipped army in the Middle East, they would not be able to enforce the occupation.

Fight over teaching evolution in Texas fizzles
(JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press, July 22, 2011)

Unlike the fiery debate that erupted two years ago, an expected fight over teaching evolution in Texas public schools has likely fizzled after state education officials made only minor changes to new science materials for the coming school years.

A final vote is expected Friday, a day after the Texas State Board of Education unanimously approved the changes. The Republican-dominated board drew national attention in 2009 when it adopted science standards encouraging schools to scrutinize "all sides" of scientific theory, a move some creationists hailed as a victory.

Thursday's preliminary vote diffused the expected renewal of that debate. Although the board could still make changes Friday, board member David Bradley predicted few fireworks would emerge.

"Somebody might want to refund their tickets," the Republican said after the vote. "There wasn't a fight."

The public hearing Thursday was dominated by witnesses encouraging the board to adopt the materials that had been recommended by state Education Commissioner Robert Scott.

One that didn't make the recommended list was an electronic textbook that includes lessons on intelligent design, which is the theory that life on Earth is so complex it was guided with the help of an intelligent higher power.

"There's no bad science going into classrooms" in the approved materials, said Dan Quinn, spokesman for the Texas Freedom Network, a group that sides with mainstream scientists on teaching evolution.

The new online teaching materials are necessary because the state could not afford to buy new textbooks this year, leaving students to use some that are several years old. Supplemental materials that are approved have the advantage of being on the state's recommended list, but school districts can still buy other materials they chose.

The board instructed two publishers to make changes to some biology materials that used drawings of embryonic similarities between species. The board said more accurate photographs should be used instead.

Another publisher was instructed to make changes to a section that compared human and chimpanzee skulls. The publisher's written response disputed that its material was wrong, and it has the choice of changing the section or withdrawing its material altogether.

Board Chairwoman Barbara Cargill, a former biology teacher who disputes evolution, and Bradley said there was little debate among board members because the materials met the standards set in 2009.

"The supplements are good," said Cargill, a Republican from The Woodlands.

One conservative group, Texans for a Better Science Education, had put out a call to pack Thursday's public hearing with testimony urging board members to adopt materials that question evolution. But they were outnumbered by witnesses urging the board to adopt the materials with few changes.

"I don't want my children's public school teachers to teach faith and God in a science classroom," said the Rev. Kelly Allen of University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. "True religion can handle truth in all its forms. Evolution is solid science."

The public testimony got off to a heated start. One of the first speakers, Tom Davis of Austin, urged the board to ignore any materials that deal with creationism or intelligent design.

"Intelligent design is creationism, wrapped in thin veneer of pseudoscience," Davis said. "Creation isn't really science at all. It's philosophy."

Sensing that repeated attacks on religion were to come, board member Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, offered anyone in the audience $500 if they could find any reference in the state science standards to "Jesus or God."

"It's just not there," Mercer said.

The tone of the debate quickly settled down from there.

David Shormann of Magnolia, who runs a Christian-based math and science education software company, said evolution has too many "untestable" components and can't provide a real look at ancient life without a "time machine or a crystal ball."

But Lorenzo Sadun, a math professor at the University of Texas, said those opposing evolution overstate gaps in the fossil record and other areas when trying to discredit the theory.

"The theory of evolution is based on almost as much evidence as the theory of gravity," Sadun said.

Another publisher was instructed to make changes to a section that compared human and chimpanzee skulls. The publisher's written response disputed that its material was wrong, and it has the choice of changing the section or withdrawing its material altogether.

..... Should the GOP remember that Mr Perry is considering arun for the Whitehouse ?

"I don't want my children's public school teachers to teach faith and God in a science classroom," said the Rev. Kelly Allen of University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. "True religion can handle truth in all its forms. Evolution is solid science."