The "Religious" Right and evolution

I received the following email today from the more notorious "Religious"
Right organizations. It reads (notes in () are mine:

Date: March 17, 2004
From: Cathie Adams and Texas Eagle Forum

Missouri Bill Would Require Teaching Alternative to Evolution

Intelligent Design theory would have to be taught in schools on an equal
basis with evolutionary theory, according to a bill introduced in the
Missouri legislature.

The Missouri Standard Science Act (H.B. 911), sponsored by Republican
state Rep. Wayne Cooper, is the brainchild of Missourians for Excellence
in Science Education, which cites an August 2001 Zogby poll (note -- that
particular poll was so poorly worded that NOBODY should put any credence
in it.) showing that 78% of American adults support teaching "scientific
evidence that points to an intelligent design of life." (and probably the
same percentage read their horoscopes each day.)

"Im (sic) very excited about it," commented Lois Linton, vice president
of Missouri Eagle Forum. "Its (sic) strictly from a scientific point of
view."

The seven-page, technically written bill aims to avoid promoting the
teaching of specific religious beliefs. It defines "biological
intelligent design" as "a hypothesis that the complex form and function
observed in biological structures are the result of intelligence" and
"requires any proposed identity of that intelligence to be verifiable by
present-day observation or experimentation."

More broadly, the bill mandates that all science taught in Missouri
public elementary and secondary schools be "standard science," defined as
"knowledge disclosed in a truthful and objective manner [about] the
physical universe without any preconceived philosophical demands
concerning origin or destiny . . . based upon verified empirical data
obtained through observation and experimentation. . . ."

If scientific theory is taught, "the theory shall be identified as
theory."

The group that launched the idea describes the bill as "a truth in
labeling law for the teaching of science." Stating that evolution should
be identified as theory, the Missourians for Excellence in Science
Education position paper asserts, "The commingling of factual data with
speculation and theory is currently misleading and confusing to both
teachers and students."

H.B. 911 is currently in the Missouri House education committee, chaired
by Republican Rep. Jane Cunningham.

In Texas, which already has a law on the books requiring science texts to
spell out strengths and weaknesses of all scientific theories discussed
in hem, the state board of education recently adopted 11 new biology
textbooks in a compromise hat included a commitment to correct certain
errors relating to evolutionary theory. While four of the 15 board
members objected to how nine of the books portray the theory of
evolution, they joined a unanimous vote on November 7 to approve all the
texts with corrections.

"We were not trying to put creationism in. We were asking merely that the
law be followed," explained board member Terri Leo. "There are no
transitional species ever found" in the fossil record.

The errors to be corrected include the removal of old, inaccurate Haeckel
diagrams comparing human embryos and those of other species in an attempt
to demonstrate common ancestry under evolutionary theory. The revisions
drew praise from the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, which promotes
the theory of intelligent design.

"This is real progress (I'd sure hate to see "real" regress) in the
cause of science education reform," said institute president Bruce
Chapman. "Finally fixing these errors is an important step to improving
the accuracy of science education about evolution."

*************
Burgy

www.burgy.50megs.com/astory.htm (a story to tell)

Ubi Caritas

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Received on Wed Mar 17 19:31:48 2004