Morning news dump

Palm Beach Post: ‘Evolution Act’ passed by panel

“You cannot simply call a religious belief scientific information and thus open the door to teaching it in our scientific classrooms,” said Courtenay Strickland, the daughter of a Baptist minister and a science teacher.

Strickland spoke on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the Pennsylvania lawsuit that struck down the teaching of intelligent design.

She promised another “massive” lawsuit here if teachers use it to discuss religion in science class.

Tampa Tribune: Evolution Bill Moves Forward

Those who oppose Darwin’s theory of evolution aren’t all religiously motivated, backers said Wednesday, although Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, made her views clear when she said she thought kindergartners should not be taught Darwinian evolution because “that may be brainwashing.” She also told the committee of her own experience in college, where she refused to answer a science exam question about evolution with the accepted Darwinian answer and instead copied down the creation story in Genesis, Chapter 1.

St. Petersburg Times: High-profile issues move through the Florida Legislature

The debate over school science standards moved to the Legislature officially Wednesday when a Senate education panel voted 4-1 for “protections” for students and teachers who offer alternative theories to evolution — despite a report saying there’s never been a case alleging such discrimination in Florida.

About Brandon Haught

Communications Director for Florida Citizens for Science.
This entry was posted in "Academic Freedom" bills '08, In the News. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Morning news dump

  1. James F says:

    David Brackin, an Orange County teacher who came Wednesday’s hearing but did not testify, said he would appreciate such a law.

    When he began teaching 23 years ago, Brackin said he taught students that there are “missing links” in the fossil evidence that led him to question evolution.

    “You don’t find any partial-bat partial-rats,” he said.

    🙄

    I can only conclude that this is willful ignorance. Mr. Brackin needs to spend a few minutes reading about evolution to see why such chimeric animals aren’t predicted in the first place.

  2. firemancarl says:

    Yep, and we sure don’t find and Europeans since we’re all decended from them 🙄

  3. Bob Calder says:

    Mr. Brackin won’t be afforded protection under the new law since teaching students that there are gaps in the fossil record that can be used to question evolution would not be supportable. It would just be teaching kids out of date information as well as being irrational.

    Too bad it never dawned on the Legislature’s various members that this kind of idiocy is EXACTLY what NCLB is trying to prevent by holding all teachers accountable to teach standards. Evolution is on of the so-called “Big Ideas” and as such just can’t be ignored.

  4. Spirula says:

    she thought kindergartners should not be taught Darwinian evolution because “that may be brainwashing.”
    Aside from the fact that it isn’t introduced this early in school, all I can say is WTF?

    Would teaching them cardinal numbers be brainwashing? Would teaching them the primary colors be brainwashing? Would teaching them the Pledge of Allegiance be brainwas…(oh, wait. Learning to recite a series of words without the ability to understand the concepts behind them, that actually gets close to what would be considered brainwashing).

    I mean, it’s not like the meaning and content of evolution changes when you’re, say, 10 or something, any more than primary colors change once you get to 5th grade.

    Damn, I have things growing in my yard with higher IQ’s than these twits. Everyday my opinion of politicians wanes.

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