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January 13, 2005
Unconstitutional In Fact, Not Theory
A federal judge in Georgia declared stickers on school science textbooks that stated evolution "a theory, not a fact" unconstitutional.
The issue came down to that the school board who has put the stickers on the books was implicitly endorsing religion (Creationism). Note the stickers did not call out any other scientific theories, only evolution. Although this ruling is encouraging, there are still battles to be fought:
Officials in Alabama said they do not think Thursday's ruling affects the several-paragraph evolution disclaimer in the front of that state's science books.
A work colleague of mine went to a talk on Intelligent Design (basically Creationism without mentioning the Bible or God). He even lent me a DVD on the subject, which I will watch. It's one thing to make an informed decision about a theory, it's another to knee-jerk react to it. Especially since the ID supporters' main argument is that students should be taught conflicting views. I agree, as long as the views have scientific merit. Maybe I'll even post a review of the DVD...
Comments
I knee-jerked to this when I read it in this morning's paper as well, but then upon deeper reading, I discovered the same argument you did. Its kind of hard to disagree with the statment that "the textbooks presented evolution as fact, without mentioning rival ideas about the beginnings of life, such as the biblical story of creation."
While I full-well know what their motives are, I find it very difficult to argue with the presentation of opposing ideas, even though they may not have scientific merit. In fact, discussing alternative ideas can only increase understanding of the subject. It's not even all that hard for me to imagine that 25 or 50 years down the line people will be thinking, "They believed in evolution? What idiots ..." when the next scientific advancement occurs.
-Shawn
Posted by: Shawn at January 14, 2005 9:55 AM
Take it outside, god boy.
Posted by: Dav at January 14, 2005 2:03 PM