Posted on 06/29/2008 3:23:16 AM PDT by Man50D
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal this week signed into law the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows school districts to permit teachers to present evidence, analysis and critique of evolution and other prevalent scientific theories in public school classrooms.
The law came to the governor's desk after overwhelming support in the legislature, including a unanimous vote in the state's Senate and a 93-4 vote in the House.
The act has been criticized by some as an attempt to insert religion into science education and hailed by others as a blow for academic freedom in the face of pressure to ignore flaws in politically correct scientific theories.
Robert Crowther, director of communications for The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank on science and culture, called the act necessary.
In an article posted on The Discovery Institute's evolution news website, Crowther wrote, "The law is needed for two reasons. First, around the country, science teachers are being harassed, intimidated, and sometimes fired for trying to present scientific evidence critical of Darwinian theory along with the evidence that supports it. Second, many school administrators and teachers are fearful or confused about what is legally allowed when teaching about controversial scientific issues like evolution. The Louisiana Science Education Act clarifies what teachers may be allowed to do."
Specifically, the act allows teachers in the state's public schools to present evidence both for and against Darwinian theories of evolution and allows local school boards to approve supplemental materials that may open critical discussions of evolution, the origins of life, global warming, human cloning and other scientific theories.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
We need a law to allow criticism of scientific theories.
That in itself is an amazing commentary on the state of science.
...is what professional scientists do for a living.
I say thats a bunch of hooey and trying to use victimhood so that the science of creationism may get some headlines.
That in itself is an amazing commentary on the state of science.
If you believe that you are naive.
This law was passed so creationism can be taught in public schools in it's latest guise, as intelligent design.
You don't really think they care about science and how it operates, do you? This is all about religion.
And the unintended consequence of this law is that teachers can't be disciplined for exposing intelligent design for the unscientific and dishonest steaming pile that it really is.
I'm sure that noöne at Whirled Nuts will complain when that happens
You support laws that discipline teachers for criticizing scientific theories or just evolution?
How would you react to a law that specifically allowed teachers to question global warming?
This law is not designed to advance science. It is designed to advance Christian fundamentalism.
How would you react to a law that specifically allowed teachers to question global warming?
Fine by me. But unnecessary. The facts of the matter decide the issues in science, not laws batched together by a bunch of scheming lawyers.
That's where the fundamentalists are going wrong; they are trying to promote their narrow view of religion under the guise of science, and it's a dishonest approach start to finish. The last thing they want is for their beliefs to be given full scientific scrutiny! (I mean look how they squeal when you point out that a global flood ca. 4350 years ago is entirely mythical.)
The law limits what someone can be held liable for. If you twist that to something else in order to make your arguments consistent, so be it. The rest of us can see the pretzel shape your words are taking,
That is correct.
It was designed to let teachers teach Christian fundamentalism as an alternative to the theory of evolution without being held liable.
If you twist that to something else in order to make your arguments consistent, so be it. The rest of us can see the pretzel shape your words are taking,
I pointed out that the same law will allow teachers -- again without being held liable -- to point out that intelligent design is absolute nonsense and has nothing to do with science, and that it has no business being in science classes except as an example of junk science.
The law of unintended consequences strikes again.
How is this law going to affect other subjects? Plants evolved, so there goes Botany. The Earth is very old as shown by the rocks, so what happens to Geology? Most stars are more than 6000 light-years away, so what about Astronomy?
I recall that in my own home state of Ohio, geologists have found evidence of a) three successive mountain ranges having risen and eroded away, with the Appalachians being a well-worn fourth, b) multiple advances and retreats of glaciers, c) several different climates with associated ecosystems preserved in fossils, ranging from jungle swamps to tundra, and d) a number of different incursions by ancient seas. I’m just trying to imagine my Eighth Grade science teacher of 40-odd years ago having to say with a straight face that an alternative theory crams all that into 6000 years.
Here is the actual Bill
http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=482728
There is nothing about ID at all in the Bill. In fact ID has become a strawman for the evolutionists.
Take any area of evolution (from Darwin’s flavor of evolution to paleo-anthropology) and scrutinize it, and that is where it breaks down. But the evolutionists want to avoid that and will defend their religion with a rabid zealotry.
Phys Ed and Health better talk about the healing power of crystals and chakra realignment. You know...alternatives to traditional views. heh
Shred it place marker.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.