Scientists have challenged anti-evolutionists for decades to get off their butts and do some actual, you know, research. As in, get out in the field or in front of the lab bench and carry out some experiments designed to test their so-far-nonexistent hypotheses.
You see, when a person trained in the science starts digging for the facts, surprises are unearthed. For example, who'd have thought that the chairman of a state board of education would stoop to plagiarizing and quotemining in order to persuade his fellow board members to vote against strong science standards?
Unfortunately for Don McLeroy, Jeremy did that digging. The steaming heap of refuse he found was further publicized by the editorial board of the San Antonio Express-News: (bolding by me)
If so, then members of the board will want to look carefully at a list of statements Chairman Don McLeroy, R-Bryan, entered into the public record in January, shortly after an 8-7 majority preliminarily voted to remove the strengths and weaknesses provision.
McLeroy read more than two-dozen seemingly authoritative quotes from books and magazines that appear to cast doubt on the scientific basis of evolutionary theory. Jeremy Mohn, a Kansas biology teacher, analyzed the quotes on his Web site, AnEvolvingCreation.net. Mohn, who is Christian, believes in the compatibility of religious belief and evolutionary theory.
What Mohn demonstrates is that McLeroy relied on selective quotations and creative use of ellipses to emphasize his points. More interesting, however, is that many of the quotes appear in the same order, with the same punctuation and even an identical citation error as on the creationist Web site GenesisPark.org.
Genesis Park states its mission is "to present in a graphical, easily accessible manner the evidence that dinosaurs and man were created together and have co-existed throughout history" and "approaches the subject of origins with a literal adherence to the scriptures."
After McLeroy's oratory, a board majority largely reversed the strengths and weaknesses change by voting to require that students assess the arguments for and against universal common descent, a key principle of evolution.
McLeroy made no mention of Genesis Park in his address to the State Board. Recently, however, he acknowledged to Houston Chronicle columnist Lisa Falkenberg that he had copied some of his information from the creationist Web site.
Had McLeroy cited Genesis Park as his source, as any Texas student would have been required to do, the swing members on the board might have reconsidered their votes.
This week, the State Board of Education will cast a final vote to determine the science curriculum for Texas public schools. When members hear the issue is about freedom of speech and not about watering down scientific knowledge, they should remember Genesis Park - and vote to set the curriculum according to the rigorous standards of science rather than the doctrinal sources McLeroy is reluctant to acknowledge.
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
