Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

@izzythepush,

Likely he wore them to the pub.

@spendius,

I did used to work with someone who had been arrested for 'Arnold Lane' type offences on the Isle of Wight. At first I was surprised, then on reflection not surprised at all.

1 Reply

@edgarblythe,

Quote:

Likely he wore them to the pub.

I thought that Spendius was a manly man are you suggesting that his pub is a cross-dressing pub?

I guess that could be seen by some as manly man.

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@izzythepush,

I assume he was given an ironic caution.

1 Reply

@spendius,

He was certainly given something.

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Quote:

"Intelligent design" bill in Missouri
January 12th, 2012

House Bill 1227, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives on January 10, 2012, would, if enacted, require "the equal treatment of science instruction regarding evolution and intelligent design," according to the legislature's summary of the bill. The equal treatment provision would apply to both public elementary and secondary schools and to "any introductory science course taught at any public institution of higher education" in Missouri.

HB 1227's text is about 3000 words long, beginning with a declaration that the bill is to be known as the Missouri Standard Science Act, followed by a defectively alphabetized glossary providing idiosyncratic definitions of "analogous naturalistic processes," "biological evolution," "biological intelligent design," "destiny," "empirical data," "equal treatment," "hypothesis," "origin," "scientific theory," "scientific law," and "standard science."

Among the substantive provisions of the bill, applying both to public elementary and secondary schools and to introductory science courses in public institutions of higher education: "If scientific theory concerning biological origin is taught in a course of study, biological evolution and biological intelligent design shall be taught. Other scientific theory or theories of origin may be taught."

For public elementary and secondary schools, HB 1227 also provides, "If scientific theory concerning biological origin is taught in a textbook, the textbook shall give equal treatment to biological evolution and biological intelligent design." After the bill is enacted, new textbooks purchased for the public schools will have to conform to the equal treatment requirement. A committee will develop supplementary material on "intelligent design" for optional interim use.

HB 1227 is apparently a descendent of HB 911 in 2004, which was also dubbed the Missouri Standard Science Act, began with a glossary of the same eleven terms (and also "extrapolated radiometric data"), would have required equal treatment of "intelligent design" in the public elementary and secondary schools (although not in public higher education), and would have required textbooks to conform to the equal treatment requirement.

HB 911 was widely criticized, including by the Science Teachers of Missouri. A sequel bill, HB 1722, also introduced in 2004, contained the same language as HB 911, but omitted provisions that would have required the text of the bill to be posted in high school science classrooms and that would have enabled the firing of teachers and administrators who failed to comply with the law. Both bills died when the legislative session ended.

Rick Brattin (R-District 124) is the main sponsor of HB 1227; its cosponsors are John McCaherty (R-District 90), Charlie Davis (R-District 128), Andrew Koenig (R-District 88), Sue Allen (R-District 92), and Darrell Pollock (R-District 146); Davis, Koenig, and Pollock also cosponsored the antievolution HB 195 in 2011. HB 1227 is the fourth antievolution bill of 2012, joining Indiana's Senate Bill 89 and New Hampshire's House Bills 1148 and 1157.

source

From my home state. I have a new question, if this is in essence, an old and failed bill, is the new tactic to wage a war of attrition?

A
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T

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@failures art,

wandel already posted this subject on the previous page. Nevertheless, lets see how far it gets in the legislature. These Fundamentalist guys all seem to wanna appear as fiscal conservatives UNTIL they get to spend our hard earned money defending a stupid proposal like this

Quote:

House Bill 1227, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives on January 10, 2012, would, if enacted, require "the equal treatment of science instruction regarding evolution and intelligent design,"

Do these hillbillies know the meaning of stare decisis?? WHy do these Evangelical clowns continue trying to spread their limited worldview to an increasingly more sophisticated ed process?
Why not just home school your kids if you want to raise ignorant idiots

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@failures art,

Quote:

is the new tactic to wage a war of attrition?

Sort of. The Creationistts and IDers are searching for just the right coupling of words and phrases that they can adopt to "Skate by " the First Amendment.

The courts have clearly said that Creationism and ID are beliefs of certain religions. Therefore they are supported under the "free expression" clause of the 1st AMendment, BUT, they are also stymied from presenting these views in public schools by virtue of the second religion clause, known as the "Establishment clause"

There are several US Supreme mCourt decisions on Creationism and 1 Fed District decision on ID.

SO, if these guys get past the legislature, Im not sure the gov would sign it knowing that a costly trial would follow and in which the poutcome is fairly clear.
Spending several million on a "crap shoot" like this is what the IDers live for. They think that , sooner por later they are going to get just the right combination of words so that their worldview becomes included ionto science curriculum.

BUT, Im npot gonna hold my breath.

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@farmerman,

Quote:

the equal treatment of science instruction regarding evolution and intelligent design,"

What's up with that fm? Evolution's looked at through a microscope and ID is looked at through a glass darkly.

You're back to your old tricks. That your instruments are better than other instruments because yours are the only ones you know how to use. Your science is all the science there is.

Like handing out a rabbit's foot to cure diseases when the body cures 90% of them and if the 10% are forgotten about in the spin the rabbit's foot looks like a miracle cure--just so geologists drill thousands of holes and spin their expertise on the ones that pay and fill the others in discreetly.

Quote:

WHy do these Evangelical clowns continue trying to spread their limited worldview to an increasingly more sophisticated ed process?

I presume because they believe, or their officer class does, that if they don't this lot will go down the pan which is pretty obvious if silly fuckers like you lot are supervising the alternative.

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@farmerman,

farmerman wrote:

Why not just home school your kids if you want to raise ignorant idiots

Because religious fanaticism is not about just controlling one's own family, it's about controlling the society. For however cynical the bear leaders may be, the fundamentalist religious mob believes that they are fulfilling an injunction (explicit or otherwise) to spread the light of JEE-SUS in the world.

(By the way, lest you take offense, i did assume the question was rhetorical, but thought it was worth while to comment as there are other readers here who need to understand that, dypsomaniacs excepted.)

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@Setanta,

I'm in favour of spreading the light of Jesus.

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@spendius,

You're talking about pitch darkness there, spendi. Man losses their ability to think logically, because religion sacrifices all sense of black and white, right and wrong, and killing for their god.

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@cicerone imposter,

Pitch darkness for you.

You're as bad as fm. He says what's science and you say what's logical. Neither of you can go wrong because your arguments are circular.

And you won't be told so you will stay circular.

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@spendius,

spendi, You wouldn't know "circular," because you are guilty of it all the time.

Show us by example with any scientific finding is "circular?"

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

Because religious fanaticism is not about just controlling one's own family, it's about controlling the society.

Bingo.

A
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T

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@Setanta,

Quote:

(By the way, lest you take offense, i did assume the question was rhetorical,

and Sarcastically so sir.

It appears that Jay Nixon, the gov of Missouri, a more conservative Democrat, has shown more interest in getting the state back into the full employment rolls. Im guessing that if this legislation, forwarded only by spite (The leg is packed with a GOP majority) . I would think that he would veto the bill.
Nixon is up for reelection I believe and Im sure he wouldnt even give a minutes consideration for this bill. Maybe the reason that the bill is even being run into committee is that its being used as an early election strategy.
Nothin like getting the Bible thumping "base" get all steamed up . These folks are usually just able to entertain one issue at a time anyway.

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@Setanta,

Quote:

Because religious fanaticism is not about just controlling one's own family, it's about controlling the society.

What is to control society then?

Where's the religious fanaticism controlling society. You've got abortion, divorce, pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexuality, deficits you can't pay, pornography---what are you talking about?

And if you are going to start the dypso shite just beware. I can give as good as I get in that line of work.

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@spendius,

You wrote,

Quote:

What is to control society then?

You ever hear about laws? Where have you been all this time?

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@spendius,

spendius wrote:

And if you are going to start the dypso shite just beware. I can give as good as I get in that line of work.

There's quite a few reformed alcoholics on A2K, people who can't have one drink, but need to get plastered. Some of them can't understand that some of us can have a few drinks on a Saturday night, and then leave it for a few days weeks etc. I'm not talking about anyone on this thread mind you, I'm talking about those who have posted elsewhere, but their pernicious influence is evident.

1 Reply

@farmerman,

That's a distinct possibility, and i don't follow Missouri politics. I was raised in a family of conservative Democrats, my grandfather was the precinct committeman. It's always hard for the Republicans to deal with them, because the usual tactics of Chicken Little hysteria about creeping socialism can't reasonably be applied to conservative Democrats, and their constituents know it. I don't know if you recall the flap a few years back when the Democrats in Texas actually left the state to prevent a quorum, and DeLay (who actually held no state office) was saying they'd send the Texas rangers to Oklahoma to arrest them. Well, that was all about redistricting. DeLay wanted to redistrict so as to grotesquely gerrymander the congressional districts, and include, as much as possible, rural voters in districts with majority urban populations so as to gain those seats for the Republicans. That's because those rural districts were securely held by conservative Democats, going back to FDR and even before that. Republican strategists had failed miserably to unseat the conservative Democrats who appealed to their constituents, and couldn't be tarred with the "dangerous socialist" brush.

I can see how frustrating it must be for the Republicans in Missouri. Attempting to manufacture a controversy to put a conservative Democratic governor in a bad light makes complete sense to me.

1 Reply

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