Posted on 06/22/2003 5:29:39 PM PDT by Aric2000
In Cobb County, Ga., controversy erupted this spring when school board officials decided to affix "disclaimer stickers" to science textbooks, alerting students that "evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things."
The stickers were the Cobb County District School Board's response to intelligent design theory, which holds that the complexity of DNA and the diversity of life forms on our planet and beyond can be explained only by an extra-natural intelligent agent. The ID movement -- reminiscent of creationism but more nuanced and harder to label -- has been quietly gaining momentum in a number of states for several years, especially Georgia and Ohio.
Stickers on textbooks are only the latest evidence of the ID movement's successes to date, though Cobb County officials did soften their position somewhat in September following a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. In a subsequent policy statement, officials said the biological theory of evolution is a "disputed view" that must be "balanced" in the classroom, taking into account other, religious teachings.
Surely, few would begrudge ID advocates their views or the right to discuss the concept as part of religious studies. At issue, rather, is whether ID theory, so far unproven by scientific facts, should be served to students on the same platter with the well-supported theory of evolution.
How the Cobb County episode will affect science students remains uncertain since, as the National Center for Science Education noted, the amended policy statement included "mixed signals."
But it's clear that the ID movement is quickly emerging as one of the more significant threats to U.S. science education, fueled by a sophisticated marketing campaign based on a three-pronged penetration of the scientific community, educators and the general public.
In Ohio, the state's education board on Oct. 14 passed a unanimous though preliminary vote to keep ID theory out of the state's science classrooms. But the board's ruling left the door open for local school districts to present ID theory together with science and suggested that scientists should "continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory."
In fact, even while the state-level debate continued, the Patrick Henry Local School District, based in Columbus, passed a motion this June to support "the idea of intelligent design being included as appropriate in classroom discussions in addition to other scientific theories."
Undaunted by tens of thousands of e-mails it has already received on the topic, the state's education board is now gamely inviting further public comment through November. In December, Ohio's Board of Education will vote to conclusively determine whether alternatives to evolution should be included in new guidelines that spell out what students need to know about science at different grade levels.
Meanwhile, ID theorists reportedly have been active in Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, New Jersey and other states as well as Ohio and Georgia.
What do scientists think of all this? We have great problems with the claim that ID is a scientific theory or a science-based alternative to evolutionary theory. We don't question its religious or philosophical underpinnings. That's not our business. But there is no scientific evidence underlying ID theory.
No relevant research has been done; no papers have been published in scientific journals. Because it has no science base, we believe that ID theory should be excluded from science curricula in schools.
In fact, the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general scientific society in the world, passed a resolution this month urging policy-makers to keep intelligent design theory out of U.S. science classrooms.
Noting that the United States has promised to "leave no child behind," the AAAS Board found that intelligent design theory -- if presented within science courses as factually based -- is likely to confuse American schoolchildren and undermine the integrity of U.S. science education. At a time when standards-based learning and performance assessments are paramount, children would be better served by keeping scientific information separate from religious concepts.
Certainly, American society supports and encourages a broad range of viewpoints and the scientific community is no exception. While this diversity enriches the educational experience for students, science and conceptual belief systems should not be co-mingled, as ID proponents have repeatedly proposed.
The ID argument that random mutations in nature and natural selection, for example, are too complex for scientific explanation is an interesting -- and for some, highly compelling -- philosophical or theological concept. Unfortunately, it's being put forth as a scientifically based alternative to the theory of biological evolution, and it isn't based on science. In sum, there's no data to back it up, and no way of scientifically testing the validity of the ideas proposed by ID advocates.
The quality of U.S. science education is at stake here. We live in an era when science and technology are central to every issue facing our society -- individual and national security, health care, economic prosperity, employment opportunities.
Children who lack an appropriate grounding in science and mathematics, and who can't discriminate what is and isn't evidence, are doomed to lag behind their well-educated counterparts. America's science classrooms are certainly no place to mix church and state.
Alan I. Leshner is CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and executive publisher of the journal Science; www.aaas.org
Post # 11: You'll need permission from the eloons first.
Post # 87: And ConservaBabes are a lot funnier at parties than soured up evo chicks.
Post # 107: Earth to Cobalt.. This thread is about an article where EVOS don't want any challenging theories. Freudian projection?
Post # 131: Your idea of discourse fits in better with Castro's.
Post # 141: That's because their crap religion is all they have.
Post # 154: Oh yeah, no wonder they hate the Good Book.
Post # 204: This is why the heathen doth rage.
Post # 248: getta grip, and see a priest for that hellfire fear thing you got going.
Post # 287: Obviously you don't know much about evolution, but much about nuts.
Post # 292: Latent guilt complex is the likely culprit.
Post # 301: Some rest and a 1/5th of "tonic" should cure that.
Post # 316: You were asked if you are a muslim. Going into a hissy fit over atheism just reveals your real weaknesses, in public.
Post # 338: Yeah, repent. You'll feel better in no time.
Post # 391: Sounds like his ability to explain himself is on a par with his ability to explain evolunacy.
Post # 623: Dishonesty, thy name is elunacy.
Post # 632: check yer drawers
Post # 663: Like I've been saying, you can't prove your crap theory.
Post # 666: u gals must be totally frustrated then.
Post # 671: just another heathkit wannabe...
Post # 673: latex, no doubt..
Post # 674: I bet you only read Playgirl for the scientific articles, right?
Post # 686: Shouldn't you be tending to the blushing bride?
Post # 691: Give it up sparky.
Post # 695: yeah, ya'll better do as patty sez
Post # 696: Calm down reap, before you strip a nut valve...
Post # 709: I thought patty told you to shut yer piehole?
Post # 710: Shouldn't you be taking out the garbage and mowing the lawn?
Post # 716: You're just jealous cuz you gotta go to the zoo to visit yours....
Post # 722: The Closet Collection™?
Post # 723: Actually it looks like you scored Dahmer's Grab Bag on Ebay. Although C kinda reminds me of you. The overbite gave it away...
Post # 760: The chihuahua is back...
Just wanted your pearls of wisdom all recorded in one place.
In fairness to his scientific contributions, post 715 contains a link to a site containing three--Count 'em! Three!--old, recycled gore3K screeds.
Do you chose to believe that or are you brainwashed ....
I have a brain so we must not have a common ancestor.
Good thought Bellflower!
Look, my friend, if Darwin was right, you should be able to prove it via the fossils, without these outlandish theories. Just show us the proof. Darwin said it would be everywhere.
But seriously, it shows that we should bother to look at your sources to remind us how weak your argument (and evidently, logic) is. Just keep saying it, Vade. I believe. I believe. I believe.
Google will remember them long after they are banned for being the adolescent morons that they are.
Say, have you looked into Professor Crick's theory? You know, the guy who discovered DNA? He believes that aliens landed on the earth millions of years ago and planted the first life that eventually evolved. Said otherwise, there was not enough time available. I'll see if I can get you his phone number.
BwaHaHaHa!!!
(I crack myself up) Though the story about Crick is true.
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