Kathy Martin and Connie Morris
Posted on 06/13/2005 6:23:59 PM PDT by PatrickHenry
Evolution is an "age-old fairy tale," sometimes defended with "anti-God contempt and arrogance," according to a State Board of Education member involved in writing new science standards for Kansas' public schools.
A newsletter written by board member Connie Morris, of St. Francis, was circulating on Monday. In it, Morris criticized fellow board members, news organizations and scientists who defend evolution.
She called evolution "a theory in crisis" and headlined one section of her newsletter "The Evolutionists are in Panic Mode!"
"It is our goal to write the standards in such a way that clearly gives educators the right AND responsibility to present the criticism of Darwinism alongside the age-old fairy tale of evolution," Morris wrote.
Morris was one of three board members who last week endorsed proposed science standards designed to expose students to more criticism of evolution in the classroom. The other two were board Chairman Steve Abrams, of Arkansas City, and Kathy Martin, of Clay Center.
Morris was in Topeka for meetings at the state Department of Education's headquarters and wasn't available for interviews.
But her views weren't a surprise to Jack Krebs, vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, an Oskaloosa educator.
"Her belief is in opposition to mainstream science," he said. "Mainstream science is a consensus view literally formed by tens of thousands people who literally studied these issues."
The entire board plans to review the three members' proposed standards Wednesday. The new standards - like the existing, evolution-friendly ones - determine how students in fourth, seventh and 10th grades are tested on science.
In 1999, the Kansas board deleted most references to evolution from the science standards. Elections the next year resulted in a less conservative board, which led to the current, evolution-friendly standards. Conservative Republicans recaptured the board's majority in 2004 elections.
The three board members had four days of hearings in May, during which witnesses criticized evolutionary theory that natural chemical processes may have created the first building blocks of life, that all life has descended from a common origin and that man and apes share a common ancestor. Evolution is attributed to 19th Century British scientist Charles Darwin.
Organizing the case against evolution were intelligent design advocates. Intelligent design says some features of the natural world are so complex and well-ordered that they are best explained by an intelligent cause.
In their proposed standards, the three board members said they took no position on intelligent design, but their work followed the suggestions of intelligent design advocates.
In her newsletter, Morris said she is a Christian who believes the account of creation in the Book of Genesis is literally true. She also acknowledged that many other Christians have no trouble reconciling faith and evolution.
"So be it," Morris wrote. "But the quandary exists when poor science - with anti-God contempt and arrogance - must insist that it has all the answers."
National and state science groups boycotted May's hearings before Morris and the other two board members, viewing them as rigged against evolution.
"They desperately need to withhold the fact that evolution is a theory in crisis and has been crumbling apart for years," Morris said.
But Krebs said Morris is repeating "standard creationist rhetoric."
"People have been saying evolution is a theory in crisis for 40 or 50 years," Krebs said. "Yet the scientific community has been strengthening evolution every year."
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No one ever said we were evolving toward beauty.
Nice enough?
Dinosaurs = Jesus Horses.
New species of fruit flies...?
What you have here is a fanatic, a crank, an obsessive ... all kinds of news to discuss, all kinds of politics to bandy about in a political forum, but someone just wants to take on those barefoot ignorants who dare to wonder if this theory just might have a few large holes in it...
Haven't you been paying attention lately?
We're all evolving to be gay.
Ape-like ancestor, Kro-Magnon, Homo-Sapien, Homo-Sexual.
Just like the flies!!!!
The Creation/ID folks have no interest in science or evolution except to destroy them where their particular religious beliefs afford them different viewpoints.
Why should scientists pay any attention to folks who get their scientific training and political motivation from Genesis? They're not out to correct flaws in evolution but to destroy it completely!
Now, here is another creation story for the C/ID folks!
Long ago no divisions existed between humans, animals and spirits. All things of the earth, sky, and, water were connected and all beings could pass freely between them. The Raven was a trickster full of supernatural power. He stole the sun from his grandfather Nasshahkeeyalhl and made the moon and stars from it. The Raven created lakes, rivers and filled the lands with trees. He divided night and day, then pulled the tides into a rhythm. He filled the streams with fresh water, scattered the eggs of salmon and trout, and placed animals in the forests. The first human was hiding in a giant clamshell and Raven released them onto the beaches and gave humans fire. Raven disappeared and took with him the power of the spirit world to communicate and connect with humans.
LOL
Other wild theories from zealous believers:
Man descended from early aardvark
UK Times online ^ | January 21, 2003 | Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent
EVERY mammal, including Man, is descended from a creature that was genetically similar to the modern aardvark, scientists have found.
The last common ancestor of the placental mammals lived about 100 million years ago and had a genetic profile that is closer to that of the African anteater than to any other species that survives today, according to new research.
Detailed analysis of the chromosomes of several representative species — including aardvarks, African and Asian elephants and human beings — has revealed that the aardvark has the greatest number of features in common with other mammals. That suggests that it is the closest living relative of our common ancestor — a kind of mammalian missing link.
The findings, by British, Chinese and South African scientists, do not necessarily mean that the last common mammalian ancestor looked like a modern aardvark, or that it survived by eating insects.
They show, however, crucial chromosomal similarities that will cast important new light on the process by which mammals evolved and came to dominate the Earth. Details of the study are published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Fengtang Yang, of Cambridge University, who led the research, said: “The chromosomal make-up of the common ancestor closely resembles that of the modern aardvark. The ancestor, though, was not necessarily morphologically similar: chromosomal evolution and morphological evolution are not always parallel.”
The aardvark, which means “earth pig” in Afrikaans, is a nocturnal animal that lives all over Africa, ranging from southern Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope. It grows to about 5ft or 6ft in length, which includes a 2ft tail, and resembles a hump-backed, long-snouted overgrown rat.
It is an insectivore that thrives on ants and termites, which it collects using its long tongue and sticky saliva. The Latin name for the species is Orycteropus afer, meaning “one that has feet for digging, from Africa”, and it is the only member of the order Tubulidentata — one of the 18 orders of mammal.
The genetic study, which also involved researchers from Stellenbosch University in South Africa and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, examined the chromosomes of the aardvark, the African and Asian elephants, and people. Existing data about the chromosomal structure of other species, such as cattle, dogs and cats, were included.
The scientists said that the common ancestor probably belonged to a mammalian “super order” known as Afrotheria, which includes the aardvark and both species of elephant.
check later
The ID movement's modus operandi is to spout old creationist arguments - with updated rhetoric - and loudly claim a controversy within science. And by golly, the public schools should "teach our the controversy!"
As a PR strategy it's brilliant, but as an actual, honest scientific critique it's barren.
Now that's some family tree!
An article I read in Xinhua a while back describes evolution as a secular humanist religion. The author was commenting about the "hypocracy" of American "moralists."
All I'm saying is, if they can see it...
You, again...
---"The scientists said that the common ancestor probably belonged to a mammalian “super order” known as Afrotheria, which includes the aardvark and both species of elephant."---
---"Now that's some family tree!"---
Oh.....if only I could draw, I could have so much fun with this.....LOL
The theory of evolutin had more than a few holes in it. Darwinism is shot full of holes, likewise neo darwinism and punctuated equilibrium. Mutation has been proven to be false from experiments with fruit flies, Macro evolution has bit the dust due to no transitional fosils in the fosil record and none alive today.
I am not a creationist,I am not an evolutionist, I am a person in search of the truth and the truth is neither creationist or evolutionist can prove or recreate their theories.
Therefore there is a third theory that hasn't been discovered yet, one that explains everything.
Actually if you were to look at the evidence now, creationist are in the lead, but still they haven't proven anything. Let the bashing commence.
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