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."
I have no respect for credentials per se, but I do look at track records. The computer scientists of 1966 fully expected to have artificial intelligence well in hand by 2001. So much for their assessment of what can and cannot be done.
The only strong argument for ID is statistical. You cannot, in physics, say that something cannot happen, only that it is extremely improbable.
But the assertion of improbability always ignores selection.
Hahahahahahahaha! Still, one thinks even a tax-hiking democrat would not use the explicit language of Christian mutual duty.
I absolutely agree with you - however, the evolutionists will define inception right off the table because the theory of evolution excludes it.
But that really has nothing to do with testing for intelligent design by looking for algorithm at inception. They are two separate issues, but so few understand. Sigh...
There is always more to discover. In the meantime, our approximations of reality are continually improving.
But there is much evidence that points to creation, not a lack of such evidence.
Ferinstance?
Escapist nonsense. Do you look both ways before you cross the street?
The preceding was written tongue in cheek, for the humor impaired...
My poor dog is crossing his paws, so I'll have to make this short. But I wanted to address this:
The computer scientists of 1966 fully expected to have artificial intelligence well in hand by 2001. So much for their assessment of what can and cannot be done.
Penrose (Emperor's New Mind) believes it can never be accomplished to the degree hoped. However, we do have an A.I. expert on the forum, tortoise, who might have more information for you if you are interested.
Kudos to you for never stopping to ask questions!!!
What is wrong with a class on bible in a high school - for students who want to take it? How is this a violation of the Constitution - someone please point me to the clause in the Constitution (don't point me to a liberal marxist judge) where it says this is not allowed. It is contrary to historical precedent. The reason all of this has happened is because the government got into the education business and public schools became govt. schools. The Constitution does not allow for the State to be the educator. Where does it say that is a function of the Federal Govt. in the Constitution? Because they delved where they do not belong, they then said any religion in schools falls under "separation of church and state" with the schools being an extension of the state.
JS: I think you underrate the state of science in Darwin's time. Biology and geology were both established on sound footings before Darwin began his voyage.
Leonardo da Vinci weighed in on fossilized shellfish back around 1500 when he disputed the idea of a Biblical Flood.
That reminds me... The Muslims have already attacked us with biological weapons -- the retro virus. It's vede series.
Sounds like military intelligence.
Socrates was a Greek pagan as were all of the Greek philosophers. Plato had some things right - ideals do exist - problem was the greek gods were not big enough to be the source of the ideals. So, using Greek philosophy as your proof God's moral precepts are arbitrary doesn't work. It may have been arbitrary for the Greek gods, but not the REAL God. The Christian God is much bigger than any of the Greek gods - their gods were limited in their power and authority.
Your problem goes deeper than this, however. If morals are arbitrary, then there is no right and wrong, except that which man states as his personal preference (or societal preference). On this basis, relativism is your only refuge. If relativism is your only refuge, you are in big trouble because moral relativism is logically and practically indefensible. I can e-mail you a sound refutation for moral relativism if you like.
Things go better without gore. Has anyone notice how civil things are? Lots of disagreement, but generally on point?
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