Yup, the folks at the St. Petersburg Times have been scooping up all the information popping up on the blogs about the obvious motivations behind the creationism bills and piecing it together. The more exposure this gets, the better.
Religion has nothing to do with it?
Are critics of the state’s new science standards asking the rest of the public to take a leap of faith?
…
But it’s worth pointing out that both Storms and Hays are Baptist, and both make no bones about their strong religious backgrounds. Hays notes on his House website that he picked up the Christian Coalition Faith & Family Award in 2005 and 2006. And last month, Storms filed a bill (SB 2010) to create an “I Believe” license plate, which would feature a crucifix and send proceeds to Faith in Teaching, a group “dedicated to funding education in Florida’s faith based community.”
And it looks like the Discovery Institute is whining about being called on their bluff. Mr Crowther, we can read between the lines. We know what is up and so do the reporters in the stories you quoted. Your scary bound and gagged graphic accompanying that post is just one example of how over-the-top ridiculous your cover story is. Smelly crap, indeed!
The Discovery Institute is like a rich, spoiled kid who enters a science fair with a totally bogus project that is roundly dismissed by the judges, and then cries about the process being totally unfair.
They keep sinking money into ID that goes 100% to PR and 0% to research, and they can’t bear to admit defeat. We have to keep calling them on their BS.
I would also like to add that we’re not fighting ALL Baptists on this issue. Pat Hardy, the victor in the GOP Primary for the Texas SBOE, is a Southern Baptist, but she firmly supports the separation of church and state and thus the teaching of evolution in science classrooms. Rev. Harry Parrot, Jr., one of the ten speakers in favor of the Florida Science Standards, is a mainline Baptist. I would guess that the majority of the Texas Freedom Network members are mainline Baptists as well. Forming a coalition with those who embrace both faith and reason is critical for fending off fundamentalist elements in the Florida Baptist Convention and the DI shills.
Good point James F
The so called weaknesses are the usual bad arguments that creationists make instead of doing science. They had a whole book of these weaknesses, and it said it was presenting creationism. Then creationism was found to be sectarian and not legal to teach in public school science classes. SO they went through the book and changed all the references to creationism into “intelligent design”, and changed creationists to “design proponents”. But in their haste they left this Missing link: “cdesign proponentsistsâ€.
http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2005/11/missing-link-cd.html
Then intelligent design was found unconstitutional. So the new tactic is to use a phrase like “strengths and weaknesses” and pretend it has nothing to do with either creationism or ID, even though the content behind the phrase is the same.
Oh, haven’t you heard? They are doing research. Lots of it. Really. it’s just a secret. Dembski has assured us that there is a ton of top-secret research going on. They have to keep it a secret or those nasty Darwinists *spit* will oppress them. But be assured that absolutely stunning pro-ID research is being done… somewhere.
It will be announced when it’s completed.
Any day now.
Any moment.
Anytime.
You just wait and see!
These fanatics have already used plenty of spins:
.Creatrion science
.Intelligent design
.Teach the controversy
.Teach critical thinking
.Teach the evidence against
.Academic freedom
More generally:
.Moment of silence
.Bible literacy
.Christian nation
…?
All Trojan Horses
Anyway, if a genuine scientifc controversy is to be discussed in K-12 classes, the standards writers can put it in the standard.
Has anyone noticed they have resorted to the same “fear tag line” we’ve seen from the bush administration when they want to pass something by the american people. “Suppressing scientific inquiry is Un-Amercian”. It saddens me that there are people out there who will believe that, and agree with DI because they fear being perceived as “Un-Amercian”. How pathetic to prey on the fears of the under-educated populace.
How pathetic to prey on the fears of the under-educated populace.
True. True.
And the whole thing becomes circular as the uneducated are easier to frighten and likely to act/vote in ways that actually undermines their educational opportunities and quality.
But fear mongering seems to be all that news, advertising, and politics are about anymore. Sickening.
However pathetic/unethical it is to play the fear card, you have to admit that it is pretty damn effective. I mean, look what happened due to 9/11. However, I’m a big fan of using the same tactics as the opposition against them. How? By spinning this “fear” right back at them.
Attention parents and concerned citizens:
If you continue to let the science curriculum be watered down by conservative religious elements, your kids will never find jobs in science and technology fields, which are the fastest growing markets to this day! Think of the children! The future of medical research will also be seriously hindered, and with the possibility of treatments for diseases and conditions (WHICH ONE DAY MAY AFFECT YOU, YOU, AND YOU!) being delayed as a result of your inaction may cost you your life!!! Wouldn’t we all like to grow old and spend quality time with our children and grandchildren?
Laughable? Yes, but I’m betting a lot of people will eat it up nonetheless…