The creationists are at it again; this time the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools will take place in Texas on March 26th and 27th. The scenario is that over the Texas Board of Education will debate whether the teaching of evolution should be co-mingled with creationist myths and fables. The ramifications of such a debate could potentially set in place the standards used to teach evolutionary science in numerous bible-belt southern states your years to come.
The most obvious ramifications have to do with three basic aspects of modern neo-Darwinian theory: the evolutionary position that complex organisms evolved from a common ancestor, or in the vernacular of science: MRCA - Acronym for Most Recent Common Ancestor; evolution's supposed "strengths and weaknesses"as a theory when it is actually a proven fact; and the complex processes of planetary formation.
All of the big wigs of the creationist movement including their most avid supporters will be in Austin, Texas including Lawrence Krauss and Casey Luskin and such supporting organizations as the conservative Free Market Foundation and Focus on the Family. Don't be fooled by the hype the creationist movement is putting out to the press; this conflict has nothing to do with science because it is aimed squarely at the powers which reason and rationality hold over our society.
The most disturbing aspect of the Thursday and Friday votes is the Texas Board of Education members will determine whether the state's proposed science curriculum should be allowed to "convey doubt about evolution that, according to scientists, simply does not exist."
The concept behind the amendments are shaped in such a way that they do not mention creationism or discuss the age of the Earth. Instead, they are focused on establishing an anti-science beachhead that will erode the scientific for studying evolution as a science.
"Members of the Discovery Institute, an intelligent-design think tank, helped draft critiques of evolution in Texas as well as Florida. According to Schafersman, the seven Texas Board of Education members who've supported the amendments are Young Earth creationists.
"Because teaching creationism as fact in public schools is illegal, supporters have resorted to language about "alternatives" and "strengths and weaknesses" into science curricula. There's little danger of students learning that the Earth is 4,000 years old, or that a supernatural entity carefully arranged dinosaur fossils to look natural. But students might not learn that science is a process of testing hypotheses and accumulating evidence to produce theories, like that of evolution. And when a few outlying critiques are presented as valid alternatives to scientific consensus, critical thinking suffers."
"The reason behind why a decision that favors the creationists is so important is that: "Texas schoolbooks are used throughout the south," Steve Schafersman, president of Texas Citizens for Science, a nonprofit science education and policy watchdog. "If we win, this will be the standard" and Texas textbooks will dominate the marketplace for ten years.
Of the several anti-science amendments being decided upon one: "amendment requires biology teachers to "analyze and evaluate the sufficiency or insufficiency of common ancestry to explain the sudden appearance, stasis and sequential nature of groups in the fossil record.” That all complex organisms are descended from a common ancestor is commonly accepted by evolutionary biologists."
Another amendment concerns "planetary-science guidelines "introduce unwarranted uncertainty to long-settled scientific issues," wrote Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and 23 leading members of Texas' science community in a letter delivered to McLeroy on Tuesday.
"These amendments serve only to undermine sound science education in Texas," they wrote.:
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