A long time ago I had made the bold prediction that the deceptively named academic freedom bills would just sputter and die. I was wrong. My lack of political experience now shows.
The senate bill is on tomorrow’s special order calendar.
As this drama plays out, I am getting the rude awakening that our opponents are not fighting on the science battlefield or even the education battlefield. This is politics all the way.
Trying to convince lawmakers that the bills are religious Trojan horses, and that the scientific community is fully against this garbage, and that Storms and Hays are not being entirely forthcoming about their intent … well, it’s all a waste of breath. Neither Storms nor Hays will give nonreligious, legitimate scientific examples of their deceptively named “critical analysis” and no one who has a vote in this issue seems to notice or care.
The only possible way to reach anyone at this late stage of the game is to repeat “trial lawyers” and “litigation” repeatedly and loudly. The ACLU has stated that these bills are litigation magnets. School districts will have nightmarish lawsuits coming and going. These bills will invite lawsuits from teachers and parents alike. It’s not a matterof if, but a matter of when.
Ask senators if they are willing to vote yes on these bills and then watch a court case swallow up the school district in his or her own home turf. Are they willing to face the local voters after a case costs a million of wasted dollars just like in Dover, Pa.?
The science and facts are on our side. There is no legitimate “critical analysis” that will pass muster in the public school classroom. None. But the only way to get the point across to the senators is to show them that similar efforts have failed big time elsewhere. Is the risk of expensive lawsuits worth this feel-good yes vote?
Don’t waste any time on other efforts. Ask them about the trial lawyers and litigation. Ask them until they hear you.
If you are reading this, your next step is critical. Our Senators and Legislators do not surf the Net, nor do they read the blogs. YOU know more about these bills and their hidden intent than they do. PLEASE write to, e-mail AND call the Florida Senators and Legislators. Only YOU can make a difference. And, the difference will be made by your calls and letters – not by reading the blog and passing it on to others to read. “Bad things happen when good men (people) don’t act.” Thank you for being concerned. Thank you for educating yourself and others about these misleading religious-based “Academic FreeDumb” bills. Thank you for ACTING, and contacting your officials.
Senator Jim King got my letter last week with a stern warning about the ACLU waiting on the sidelines if this bill passes and my intent to join the lawsuit if my son comes home from science class spouting religious dogma.
The Dover PA trial cost the taxpayers around 1 million dollars.
Remind them of that in a fiscal year that, once again, will probably not see pay raises for state employees, increases in education budgets, and reductions in our University system operating budgets.
But a costly lawsuit over a legislated “wedge” (backed by tax exempt organizations *ahem*) to sneak religion into the science classroom, well there’s always plenty of money for that. Right?
that should read “…not see pay raises for state emloyees OR increases in education budgets…”
I’m sorry, folks, but I have no idea how to add a preview function to this blog. If anyone knows how, get with me. Thanks.
Brandon, it looks like the feature is available as a Plugin.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/live-comment-preview/
I’m not sure if this is it. I’ll check it out as soon as I get a chance.
Call your senators TODAY, tell them you are their constituant and that you oppose this so-called “Academic Freedom” legislation. The message will be relayed to your senator.
In other news … I highly recommend visiting The Austringer today.
http://austringer.net/wp/
A lot of good stuff. 🙂
Sorry Brandon:
It looks like that one is just a glorified spell checker. I don’t think you can have preview on WordPress. 👿
I emailed my senator just now. We shall see…
An inbox full of “thank you” automatic replies later, and I’ve emailed the entire Senate (except the sponsors). If nothing else, it sharpened my letter writing a bit.
And folks, lest we forget, I’m copying this reply from the “Successful press conference” post, from William Wallace replying to my question, “Which alternative possibilities are being suppressed?”
I thank WW for being honest in his reply. There you have it, folks. It’s not about “academic freedom,” it’s about intelligent design. A political Trojan horse for creationism driven by deceitful religious fundamentalists, with not a single peer-reviewed scientific research paper presenting a shred of data on its behalf, which does not make a single falsifiable hypothesis and fails completely as science.
Spent the whole day e-mailing and making back up calls to all the Senators in Central Florida.
Had a few polite rejections.some interest,Sen Dockery’s office(Polk and Hillsborough)seemed interested and promised to call her in Tallahassee and then contact me.We will see?
I’m confused. Does anyone know what “special order calendar” mean? SB2692 is on that calendar. Go to the senate website and look at the pdf of the calendar. It’s there for tomorrow. Does special order calendar mean there will be a vote, or does it mean something else?
If this “Crackpot Freedom” bill becomes law, it will be used to trash evolution and make the kids’ minds ready for Genisis. This is the bill’s purpose and–dispite all the Trojan horse spin and Orwellian doublethink–everybody knows it. Just think of what kind of magnet Florida will become for creationist teachers.
P.S. The EXPELLED Exposed site put up by NCSE is running. http://www.expelledexposed.com/
Where will the “critical analyis” come from? Well, I don’t think we have to look very far. How about “The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence In Biological Systems” by Dembski and Wells: http://www.amazon.com/Design-Life-Discovering-Intelligence-Biological/dp/0980021308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208380777&sr=1-1
How about the questions about evolution by Wells (as seen on the Ken Miller site): http://www.millerandlevine.com/ten-answers.html
DI has plenty of ideas:
Wikipedia “Free Speech on Evolution”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_on_Evolution
Patricia Princehouse said this about “Critical Analysis of Evolution to the Ohio Board of Education in 2004: http://www.ohioscience.org/Princehouse_remarks_BOE_Jul_2004.html
I think many posting here have the misunderstanding that the legislature is acting from ignorance, that a thoughtful expression might sway them. Wrong. These are boneheaded fundies whose mission it is to put their religion into public schools, period. The real victory in Dover wasn’t the court case, it was the election that followed. Anyone believe that Bill Buckingham wouldn’t still be trying if he still had a seat on the schoolboard?
I just checked the sitemeter. You should see all of the universities that have logged on today.
Harvard, Naval Academy, UConn, Mass, UNC, etc…
If you are still there guys … not ALL of Florida wants to live in the dark ages! Please accept my son at your university when he applies!
Thanks 🙂
S.S.: Harvard represent! 🙂 I’ll put in a good word for him at admissions (yeah, slight exaggeration of my actual influence) 😉
Today was a good day: recruited a Steve for Project Steve and another advisor for the Clergy Letter Project (an evangelical Christian paleontologist). So much for the godless evolution movement, huh? 😉
Yay! Good job James 🙂
Dawkins is on RealTime with Bill Mahr tonight. Right now as a matter of fact.
S.Scott Says:
–“I just checked the sitemeter. You should see all of the universities that have logged on today.
Harvard, Naval Academy, UConn, Mass, UNC, etc…”–
That’s no big deal — my blog gets lots of visitors from universities, too.
That’s no big deal — my blog gets lots of visitors from universities, too.</i.
Yeah, but I wouldn’t brag about Liberty University if I were you.