Posted on 09/30/2008 7:21:06 PM PDT by Soliton
AUSTIN — Scientists from Texas universities on Tuesday denounced what they called supernatural and religious teaching in public school science classrooms and voiced opposition to attempts to water down evolution instruction.
The newly formed 21st Century Science Coalition said so far it has 800 members who have signed up online.
"Texas public schools should be preparing our kids to succeed in the 21st century, not promoting political and ideological agendas that are hostile to a sound science education," said David Hillis, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin.
The State Board of Education is considering new science curriculum standards. It is expected to vote next spring. Because Texas is such a large purchaser of textbooks, its ongoing science debate affects textbooks nationwide.
An academic work group proposed that Texas standards for biology courses eliminate the long-held language of teaching students the "strengths and weaknesses" of theories.
The science coalition supports that language change because it says talking of "weaknesses" of evolution allows for religion-based concepts like creationism and intelligent design to enter the instruction. The Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based group that says it monitors the influence of the religious right, also praises the proposed language change.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Thank who?
Huzzahs to you, metmom. Well stated! Only fools or tyrants try to pass off theories as facts. Some people are both.
Can you say Big Government Liberals posing as small government libertarians to give cover for their obvious liberalism on a conservative website?
This whole tack just doesn't appeal to me. Science depends on freedom of thought and discussion, and the idea of ruling out certain ideas categorically just runs against my grain.
I do appreciate that the creationist agenda is advanced not in the spirit of free inquiry, but what is to be done in this case?
The renaissance and enlightenment ideals of scientific practice were those of a fraternal elite who sought to attract men of ability by the power and appeal of their exciting and revolutionary ideas.
In this they were phenomenally successful, and we all know the story. Their ideals were established as conventional wisdom and made the foundation for our technological society. Yet, the establishment of far-reaching results such as Evolution and Cosmology as socially mandated doctrine rests uncomfortably on the foundational ideals of science.
I still maintain that the best way to teach Evolution would be to place a copy of Darwin's Origin of Species at the top of a greased pole wrapped in barbed wire, and forbid it's reading.
An ignorant sheephearder seems to have a differing opinion...
1 Cor. 15:39
All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
Oh??
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
“Preference” sounds so.... voluntary, doesn’t it?
Unlike reality where the curriculum is FORCED on the parents & children by lawsuit backed by the force of government guns.
The latter position has NO MORAL GROUNDING, and thus is arguing, morally and rhetorically, from an extreme point of weakness. In other words, when your position is forced on others, you have admitted that you have lost the moral side of the argument.
Yes, it does. So non-confrontational, so tolerant, .....
so fake.... in light of the facts
They are also in the habit of slandering social conservatives as "science-deniers", a typical far-left tactic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.