Battle over evolution intensifies...

[headscratcher4]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32444-2005Mar13.html

An interesting article in Today's Washington Post detailing the efforts of the fundumentalist right and the ID crack-pots to beat back the teaching of evolution...

 

[Ipecac]

From one of the ID supporters.

"The thing that excites me is we really are in a revolution of scientific thought," Calvert said. He described offering advice in such places as Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Cobb County, Ga., where a federal court recently halted an attempt to affix a sticker to science textbooks saying evolution is theory, not fact.

Ridculous, ironic, and chilling, all in one short sentence.

 

[Tmy]

Didnt we get rid of this stuff decades ago!??

How many other theories get singled out by their little stickers?

 

[Brian the Snail]

How many other theories get singled out by their little stickers?

None. Just evolution.

Perhaps they should also introduce stickers on physics textbooks saying that the atomic theory of matter is theory and not fact, and give equal time to the alternative theory that Brownian motion is the result of angels playing football.

 

[TragicMonkey]

Perhaps they should also introduce stickers on physics textbooks saying that the atomic theory of matter is theory and not fact, and give equal time to the alternative theory that Brownian motion is the result of angels playing football.

That's completely idiotic.

Angels play rugby, not football.

Heretic!

 

[CapelDodger]

That's completely idiotic.

Angels play rugby, not football.

Heretic!

I've got the Zippo and the kindling ready. All we need is the Papal Bull (which is never in short supply).

All the same, kudos to the Pope/Anti-Christ for accepting evolution.

 

[headscratcher4]

All the same, kudos to the Pope/Anti-Christ for accepting evolution.

Seems to me it is sort of a wash...after all, he's by profession quite big on the whole virgin birth thing.

 

[Brian the Snail]

I've got the Zippo and the kindling ready. All we need is the Papal Bull (which is never in short supply).

Trust the Welsh to take the "angels playing Rugby" side.

I don't know...one sniff of the Grand Slam and they start to think God loves them...

 

[Ed]

this troubling article from today's NYT:

A New Screen Test for Imax: It's the Bible vs. the Volcano
By CORNELIA DEAN

Published: March 19, 2005


he fight over evolution has reached the big, big screen.

Several Imax theaters, including some in science museums, are refusing to show movies that mention the subject - or the Big Bang or the geology of the earth - fearing protests from people who object to films that contradict biblical descriptions of the origin of Earth and its creatures.

Advertisement


The number of theaters rejecting such films is small, people in the industry say - perhaps a dozen or fewer, most in the South. But because only a few dozen Imax theaters routinely show science documentaries, the decisions of a few can have a big impact on a film's bottom line - or a producer's decision to make a documentary in the first place.

 

[punchdrunk]

Our goal is to not remove evolution. Good lord, it's incredible how much this is misunderstood," said William Harris, a professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City medical school. "Kids need to understand it, but they need to know the strengths and weaknesses of the data, how much of it is a guess, how much of it is extrapolation.

Harris does not favor teaching intelligent design, although he believes there is more to the story than evolution.

"To say God did not play a role is arrogant," Harris said. "It's far beyond the data."

No sir, for you as a professor of science to presume anything beyond what the data provides for is arrogant.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I'm not convinced that Kansas exists. I think that textbooks that mention it should have a sticker pointing out that its existence is theory, not fact, and should be critically examined.

 

[a_unique_person]

Didnt we get rid of this stuff decades ago!??

How many other theories get singled out by their little stickers?

Because the rise of anti-science is more widespread than just this. As Scientific American says, anthropogenic GW deniers are no different to creatitionists.

 

[webfusion]

a simple typo

a_u_p obviously didn't carefully watch his fingers flying over the keyboard, and typed this:

"creatitionists"


Now, this opens up our imagination to all sorts of funny replies, such as this image showing an Intelligent Dietity Creatiting the First Woman: Yep, no evolution there.

© Kell Doley artwork

 

[CapelDodger]

Trust the Welsh to take the "angels playing Rugby" side.

I don't know...one sniff of the Grand Slam and they start to think God loves them...

It's a question of aesthetics, not nationalism, and the only gods involved wear red shirts.

 

[wipeout]

Seems we need stickers in Bibles:



The existence of God, Jesus, etc. is only a hypothesis, it's not even a theory...



And if Thomas is reading, yes, it was you who did teach me the difference in the terms.

Anyhow, from the Washington Post article on evolution:

"If students only have one thing to consider, one option, that's really more brainwashing," said Duckett, who sent her children to Christian schools because of her frustration.

Oh, the irony...