My previous post asked y’all to see what you can dig up about Citizens for Objective Public Education, Inc. The group apparently has roots in Florida as well as Kansas and I wanted to make sure we found out all we could to better prepare ourselves for whatever may hit here in the Sunshine State.
I now have the information and I’m not impressed at all. So far, only two of the organization’s members have been revealed by the group itself. There is Anne Lassey in Kansas and Jorge Fernandez in Melbourne, Florida. Fernandez doesn’t have much of a history. NCSE says he is “a self-proclaimed young-earth creationist, with publications to his credit in Journal of Creation and on the True.Origin Archive website.” Despite all the drama we’ve had over the teaching of evolution here in Florida over the past several years, Fernandez had remained quiet. That’s surprising in light of this new activity.
But even this recent letter of his is nothing to get excited about. All these folks did was win a little political lottery. They managed to get their letter into the hands of a vocal politician, which then led to a brief turn in the media spotlight. I’ve seen the letter, and it’s nothing more than a long rant about atheists and humanists worshiping the religion of evolution. For instance, from page 7 is: “… the Standards are designed to influence the worldviews of ‘all children’ and ‘all citizens.’ They explicitly have as their goal to cause children to relate their lives to the world around them. Thus, the Framework and Standards studiously ignore the religious rights of parents, children and taxpayers. Instead, the document explicitly and implicitly promotes an atheistic worldview.”
Move along. Nothing more to see here.
The problem here is Ken Willard. We know that he can game the system. He almost got “elected” president of the NRC, the governing body for the new national science standards, without any opposition. Now, perhaps people are onto Ken, and perhaps he ain’t got game here. Still, IMO we should keep our eyes on the ball.
There may be “nothing to see” there in Florida, but this might not be insignificant in Kansas. We have Board elections coming up, and Williard is running for the state legislature also. Sure, the letter is just boilerplate ID creationist arguments, but it might rouse up the issue among the faithful.
Jack, I just wondered if the KCS is still up and running? I had e-mailed their site several times on this issue with no response.
Yes, Jonathan, KCFS is still functioning, but we’ve been focusing on Science Cafes during this blessed lull in the EvoWars. Not to fear, we’re ready to roll and received your email yesterday.
Wow, Rubble, I didn’t realize Willard had ever been involved with the National Resource Council. I thought he was an insurance salesman. Could you please post a link with this information?
Thanks Cheryl, that great news. If (I) FCS can be of any help to you please do not hesitate to contact us 🙂
BTW. I think Brandon’s info came from the NCSE web site?
Jorge is a proven liar:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/trueorigin/fernandez.html
You can see his defense, sort of at a forum he posts at:
http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/showthread.php?59218-Talk-Origins-Deception-by-Omission
Hello Jack Krebs welcome to Florida, ABO here. Thanks again for the years of healthy debate on KCS. I learned a lot and enjoyed every minute of our time.
Well, the people on the forum Theology Web where Jorge hangs out are asking him for the contents of the document that he gave to that Willard guy:
http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/showthread.php?151299-Would-The-President-of-C-O-P-E-Please-Stand-Up
When he finally deigns to show it (he’s refusing to so far, see here:
http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/showthread.php?151299-Would-The-President-of-C-O-P-E-Please-Stand-Up&p=3422759#post3422759)
you’ll be able to see that document get a thorough examination.
There, Jorge has now posted the documents on the TWEB thread posted above. The examination has begun.