"...ID's backers have sought to avoid the scientific scrutiny which we have now determined that it cannot withstand by advocating that the controversy, but not ID itself, should be taught in science class. This tactic is at best disingenuous, and at worst a canard. The goal of the [Intelligent Design Movement] is not to encourage critical thought, but to foment a revolution which would supplant evolutionary theory with ID."
Judge John E. Jones III,
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Judge John E. Jones III,
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
The newly formed Lousiana Coalition for Science has called on members of the Lousiana Senate to reject Senate Bill No. 733 because it inappropriately singles out evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning for special criticism. Their press release quotes a veteran Biology teacher named Patsye Peebles:
"I was a biology teacher for 22 years, and I never needed the legislature to tell me how to present anything. This bill doesn't solve any of the problems classroom teachers face, and it will make it harder for us to keep the focus on accurate science in science classrooms. Evolution isn't scientifically controversial, and we don't need the legislature substituting its judgment for the scientists and science teachers who actually know the subject."
One revealing part of the language of the bill is the unacknowledged assumption that supplemental instructional materials are necessary because standard textbooks do not present evolution in an "objective manner."
"C. A teacher shall teach the material presented in the standard textbook supplied by the school system and thereafter may use supplemental textbooks and other instructional materials to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner, as permitted by the city, parish, or other local public school board."
posted by Jeremy Mohn
