Posted on 12/11/2002 6:28:08 AM PST by A2J
By WILL SENTELL
wsentell@theadvocate.com
Capitol news bureau
High school biology textbooks would include a disclaimer that evolution is only a theory under a change approved Tuesday by a committee of the state's top school board.
If the disclaimer wins final approval, it would apparently make Louisiana just the second state in the nation with such a provision. The other is Alabama, which is the model for the disclaimer backers want in Louisiana.
Alabama approved its policy six or seven years ago after extensive controversy that included questions over the religious overtones of the issue.
The change approved Tuesday requires Louisiana education officials to check on details for getting publishers to add the disclaimer to biology textbooks.
It won approval in the board's Student and School Standards/ Instruction Committee after a sometimes contentious session.
"I don't believe I evolved from some primate," said Jim Stafford, a board member from Monroe. Stafford said evolution should be offered as a theory, not fact.
Whether the proposal will win approval by the full state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Thursday is unclear.
Paul Pastorek of New Orleans, president of the board, said he will oppose the addition.
"I am not prepared to go back to the Dark Ages," Pastorek said.
"I don't think state boards should dictate editorial content of school textbooks," he said. "We shouldn't be involved with that."
Donna Contois of Metairie, chairwoman of the committee that approved the change, said afterward she could not say whether it will win approval by the full board.
The disclaimer under consideration says the theory of evolution "still leaves many unanswered questions about the origin of life.
"Study hard and keep an open mind," it says. "Someday you may contribute to the theories of how living things appeared on earth."
Backers say the addition would be inserted in the front of biology textbooks used by students in grades 9-12, possibly next fall.
The issue surfaced when a committee of the board prepared to approve dozens of textbooks used by both public and nonpublic schools. The list was recommended by a separate panel that reviews textbooks every seven years.
A handful of citizens, one armed with a copy of Charles Darwin's "Origin of the Species," complained that biology textbooks used now are one-sided in promoting evolution uncritically and are riddled with factual errors.
"If we give them all the facts to make up their mind, we have educated them," Darrell White of Baton Rouge said of students. "Otherwise we have indoctrinated them."
Darwin wrote that individuals with certain characteristics enjoy an edge over their peers and life forms developed gradually millions of years ago.
Backers bristled at suggestions that they favor the teaching of creationism, which says that life began about 6,000 years ago in a process described in the Bible's Book of Genesis.
White said he is the father of seven children, including a 10th-grader at a public high school in Baton Rouge.
He said he reviewed 21 science textbooks for use by middle and high school students. White called Darwin's book "racist and sexist" and said students are entitled to know more about controversy that swirls around the theory.
"If nothing else, put a disclaimer in the front of the textbooks," White said.
John Oller Jr., a professor at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, also criticized the accuracy of science textbooks under review. Oller said he was appearing on behalf of the Louisiana Family Forum, a Christian lobbying group.
Oller said the state should force publishers to offer alternatives, correct mistakes in textbooks and fill in gaps in science teachings. "We are talking about major falsehoods that should be addressed," he said.
Linda Johnson of Plaquemine, a member of the board, said she supports the change. Johnson said the new message of evolution "will encourage students to go after the facts."
The examples cited in that webpage show in increase in the chromosone count. Are you suggesting that this is all junk DNA?
I keep asking you to refute them and you keep failing to do so and just continue your insults. Perhaps what I am saying is true and that is why you cannot refute it?????
TalkOrigins is not a legitimate source for scientific facts. That nonsense has been refuted:
In Dobzhansky’s work, numerous varieties resulted from radiation bombardment: fruit flies with extra wings, fruit flies with no wings, fruit flies with huge wings, fruit flies with tiny wings... In the end, however, they were all ... fruit flies! Dobzhansky meddled with the genetic code of an organism and effected changes on the organism’s offspring. Nearly all of the changes were detrimental to survival, and none of them resulted in an advantage over other fruit flies.
From: Refutation of True Origins article .
It also should be noted that there were numerous mutations resulting from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. None have been reported to have been favorable.
If you had been paying attention, you might have noticed there are other kinds and sources of genetic variation. Besides, how would you know if a variation is favorable? Is sickle-cell trait favorable? "Favorability" depends on environment, which changes over time.
Once again, you demonstrate your limited grasp of science. I'd be willing to bet that you haven't the faintest idea what Einstein's Field Equation really means, and probably couldn't even write it down on paper.
Chrstianity is based on the bible,
It's based on the belief that Jesus is the Messiah. The Bible is the recording of the His teachings and life.
the bible is a book, the book is around 1700 years old, some of the stories within that book are much older.
The New Testament has been pretty much established as beginning in the mid-First Century -- with the range of the books being between 1,950 and 1900 years old.
The Old Testament, which is most of the Bible, is much older.
In the dark ages, which I blame squarely on the shoulders of the church were a time of extreme nothing.
Do you known when the "dark ages" were? How long they lasted and what caused them?
The church had power and therefore what it said went.
Actually, it's authority was very iffy in the dark ages. It was a time of struggle, many of the powers involved -- notably in England -- were anti-Christian
The church believed that the earth was the center of the universe, anyone that disagreed with them was excommunicated. If the church said that something was the way it was, then that is the way it was, end of story. Threat of eternal damnation will pretty much kill anything that would disagree.
Copernicus was likley a priest and certainly a church administrator. He was well respected and a consultant to Pope Leo X. His heliocentric theory was encouraged by Cardinal Schonberg, then Archbishop of Capua. In fact, it appears that he only published at the insistance of church leaders. He was in good standing with the Catholic church when he died.
The most stident opposition came from Protestents -- note the era in which Copernicus live. The "Church" was not speaking as one voice.
Galileo Galilei is generally the one cited as evidence of the Church's anti-science tilt. But while Galileo was told to shut up -- perhaps like Dembski and Behe today -- he was not beaten, blinded tortured or burned at the stake -- as is often alleged -- and his imprisonment consisted of 22 days in a luxury apartment. He was generally also well-respected by church authorities. Many agreed with his views. He was blessed by the Pope at his death and buried in a church.
‘The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it’ (1 John 1:2)
"Those who had spent several years of their lives in company with Jesus, were, to say the least, profoundly... affected---by the experience. They spoke of "that which they had seen with their eyes, and touched with their hands" (V.1), and they were convinced that they had encountered God. "We proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father, and has appeared to us" (v. 2).
"The first Christians knew from the depths of their being that they had seen a new level of personal greatness, and wholeness, in Jesus. They were exhilarated by it. Their hearts were aglow with a bewildering joy at the magnitude of their good fortune."
"Something profoundly enlivening did happen to the disciples of Jesus. Far from diminishing them, it grew them into powerful personalities, who were giants among others of their time. The world took notice of them. Many times over, since, their testimony has been confirmed by others who have met Christ. Always, he lifts and enhances human life in all its parts. Have you found this too? May it be so."
Last evening I attended my eigth grade nephews concert under the stars---moon Christmas concert at the mall and when they did silent night these young ladies danced the hula to this song...Hawaii is a very special place---MIRACLE!
AMAZING!
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