Posted on 01/19/2009 9:42:35 PM PST by Coyoteman
The new Earth and Space Science (ESS) course standards (and all other science course standards) will be up for approval before the State Board of Education (SBOE) during January 21-23. Some SBOE members--the seven who are Young Earth Creationists (YECs)--will attempt to make changes to the ESS standards in ways that will damage the scientific integrity and accuracy of the course. In particular, these SBOE members will try to negatively modify or delete the standards that require students to understand the following topics that deal with scientific topics they consider controversial: age of the Earth and universe, radiometric dating, evolution of fossil life, and the origin of life by abiotic chemical processes. These topics are the ones that YECs consider to be controversial; indeed, they are obsessed with them to the exclusion of everything else.
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(Excerpt) Read more at texscience.org ...
Forget Albatross, Young Earth Creationism is straight-up the noose being used to string-up political conservatism to the entire (<30) web-generation. Crap guilt-by-association or no, if political conservatives do not rally together to disassociate themselves from these nuts soon (ideally before the next election), there is going to exist an entire generation in this country who associates ANY Republican, no matter how noble, with Young-Earth Creationist Anti-Rationalism.
The nutcase Steven Schafersman is just another Big Government Atheist, Hyper-Humanist who worships Big Government Public Schools directed top-down by the far left NEA.
I wonder how many Republicans actually want to stop the teaching of evolution.
I think these arguments among Conservatives are silly. They are not productive in any way that I can see other than to divide. Let the parent decide what they want their child taught or not taught. It is just that simple.
My thinking is that evolution theory is rather meaningless to the bottom line so what a student knows or doesn’t know about it will not matter. I think many people are turned off because much of this complex theory is guesstimating and active imagination, that is, those parts which the average person thinks of as Evolution. In the end, to me, it just doesn’t matter. Here are the some of the greatest scientific discoveries and not one hangs on evolution theory save one; The Origin of Species: http://encarta.msn.com/column_scientificdiscoveries_tamimhome/10_Great_Scientific_Discoveries.html
1. Teach my child throughout his 12 years of public education science based on the Young Earth Creationist Theory.
2. Teach my child throughout his 12 years of public education science based on the scientific method.
There is no young earth creationist theory--that's the problem. There is only young earth creationist belief.
And that belief is not subject to discovery or modification via evidence, as would be the case in science. Not surprising, because that belief is not based on evidence!
That is why it is a belief instead of a part of science. And that's why your belief is not appropriately taught as a part of science.
I guess that's all you got, eh?.
This is the same guy who continues to hold that the Shroud of Turin is a medieval artifact, denying the overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary from multiple disciplines (remember, "confidence comes from consilience").
And it is people like Schafersman who will be leading the charge to link "conservatives" to "anti science irrationalists" -- you know, like Matt Damon's comments about Sarah Palin.
But the îber-libertarian types seem to think that almost anything else a person things or does, is irrelevant to public office -- only religious faith need disqualify them.
Go figure.
Cheers!
1. The best explanation of the evidence is that it is a medieval artifact
2. "the overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary" is that put by Turinfers who disgree on their own explanations. (Much like JFK Assassinationists or UFOlogists - which actually puts them below The School of Anthropomorphic Global Warming on the credibility scale - true story)
“Was The Enlightenment in vain?”
IMO - Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent Design are forms of fundamentalist Protestant apologetics. The idea that the Enlightenment is the source of modern science originated from Protestant apologetics. So I’d say the answer to your question is no.
Does anyone have the pro-science ping list PatrickHenry used to have?
Yes the media will link this to the rest of us with glee. Science textbook editors would do well to ally with all the Christian (and others) denominations who don’t have a problem with science. Unfortunately, I doubt they do that. They’d have to give up the humans are evil meme (overpopulation, global warming, etc)
The problem is that if such baboomery is adopted in Texas, it will be in all the nation’s text books. Plus, the company that evaluates textbooks is run by an elderly YEC, biblical literalist who has no problem injecting his religious views into his evaluations. If this goes through, Texas will become one fucked up state with respect to education. And all in the name of keeping kids stupid for the sake of a minority deviation from Christianity and Islam.
It will be interesting to see this play out in court. Perhaps this time it will get to an appeals court and establish a national precedent.
Texas has a lot of sane, rational people. A lot of defense contractors, semi-conductor companies, aerospace as well as a big petrochemical industry. I’m sure the people at these places, like the Johnson space center, are going to love having their kids exposed to YEC crap that contradicts what their parents do for a living. And that’s on top of some fairly prominent research universities, too.
It would be even more interesting if this goes through and the Texas high schools lose accredation with respect to their diplomas being valid for admittance to colleges and universities. Some California Christian high schools got hit with that a few years ago and that was over teaching YEC creationism and warping science to fit their religious superstitions. Teach kids garbage and they won’t be able to handle science majors in college without a good brain bleaching.
It could happen. The public schools in my home town were disaccredited -- the main reason I was sent to a private school.
California universities have a list of textbooks that are not approved for credit. You might get admitted to the university, but have to take a remedial course to make up for a high school class taught from a creationist text.
At any rate, textbooks having creationist materials will be banned by the courts, and I don't think any reputable publisher will risk the humiliation. There could even be a backlash in which publishers use "banned in Texas" as a selling point.
“Can't argue the issue, but have to attack me personally?
I guess that's all you got, eh?.” --Coyoteman
And the question on his stance is it the job of science to eradicate religion
Uh-huh...any thinking person understands that evolutionists project. That’s what you do, because most creationists I see are for teaching BOTH, and as I’ve said the facts (that would be the multiple lawsuits excluding anything other than the cult of evolution), speak for themselves.
You’ve left your dishonest self hanging out here like a big fat sore thumb again coytoteman.
...creationist materials will be banned by the courts...
Josef Goebbels would be so proud!
yup...science enforced by the courts...typical liberalism.
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