Profs provide Darwin's defense in evolution case

The Emory Wheel Online ^ | 11-15-04 | Chris Megerian

[beavus]

The poofists strike again.

According to science, ALL knowledge should be “approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.” To specifically label evolutionary biology with that dictum can only mislead kids into thinking it is okay to blindly accept other theories--which I suppose is the point--to make it easier to brainwash kids into blind acceptance of the absurdities of poofism.

Mankind lurches forward as the medieval mindset strains to hold it back in the darkness.

[My2Cents]

Moreno recently created a petition against the stickers that reads, “We feel that it is our duty as scientists, educators, and citizens that secondary level science classes teach science and not religion.”

Then he shouldn't have any problem with the warning label...

[beavus]

Then he shouldn't have any problem with the warning label...

Sure. As long as the label is attached to everything that is tought. It doesn't make sense to isolate evolutionary biology.

[Prime Choice]

At issue in the case that began in a federal district court on Monday is a sticker that Cobb places in all biology textbooks warning students that evolution is only “a theory, not a fact” and should be “approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.”

It should also be noted that the misnamed "law of gravity" is only a theory as well. And it too must be "approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

I'll never understand why some people think that Divine creation and evolution are mutually exclusive. If you ask me, the sheer complexity of evolution is demonstrable proof of God's existence and His intelligent design of all things living.

[beavus]

It should also be noted that the misnamed "law of gravity" is only a theory as well. And it too must be "approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

Precisely.

[BMCDA]

Ping

[Warlord]

"According to science, ALL knowledge should be “approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered ...”

The problem is that "ALL" knowledge is NOT considered, just evolutionary biology, and that which is presented is studied carelessly and uncritically. The whole thing is like a Discovery Channel docudrama, marketed to make the anti-"poofers" feel a false sense of intelligence.

[fr11]

In fact, Moreno said, evolution is as credible a scientific theory as gravity.

It takes a lot of "faith" to believe that.

[Timm]

This hillbilly stuff is an embarrassment to Republicans. Sorry, creationist freepers, but there it is.

[Endeavor]

"Freed said he thinks the creators of the sticker misused the word “theory.” A scientific theory is much closer to a fact than most people understand, he said."

What horsesh*t.

I see nothing religious about the label. It is truthful. It encourages free thought. It encourages analytical thought. What's so terrible about that?

[ProudVet77]

The way I was taught, a theory is a hypothesis that has not been disproved. Challenge as it much as you want, a theory will prove itself to be correct.
Sadly the term theory has been applied to Darwin, which at best is a hypothesis. Darwin's "theory" has never been proved, and never been found to lead to predictable results. Punctuated equilibrium is probably much closer to what has really happened.

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

Wasn't it Mencken who wanted a sign above every church saying "Important If True"?
I wouldn't have any problem with a "theory" warning label on non-factual information in any subject. Someone else brings up the example of gravity. Yes, like electricity, the fundamental underpinnings of gravity are theoretical. If that's what they're teaching, then it should come with a warning. If, as is more likely the case, they're teaching facts about the observed behavior of gravity or electricity, that doesn't need a disclaimer.

[fr11]

This hillbilly stuff is an embarrassment to Republicans.

You're every bit as smug and condescending as your liberal counterparts.

[Junior]

Ping.

[beavus]

The problem is that "ALL" knowledge is NOT considered, just evolutionary biology, and that which is presented is studied carelessly and uncritically. The whole thing is like a Discovery Channel docudrama, marketed to make the anti-"poofers" feel a false sense of intelligence.

As soon as the poofists demonstrate an actual poof, they can make their argument. However, since no one has seen the space-time continuum disrupted for the magical appearance of a complex organism, most thinking people will consider challenges to that most fundamental of physical observations (continuity) to be unfounded at best, insane at worst.

[beavus]

It takes a lot of "faith" to believe that.

In your way of thinking, what DOESN'T require faith? Blind acceptance?

[My2Cents]

If you ask me, the sheer complexity of evolution is demonstrable proof of God's existence and His intelligent design of all things living.

I think most evolutionists would reject your suggestion that a "god" had anything to do with it.

[beavus]

I see nothing religious about the label. It is truthful. It encourages free thought. It encourages analytical thought. What's so terrible about that?

The label is true. That it is applied only to evolutionary biology is misleading. It's like me telling people that you didn't punch your mother today. It's true, but intended to mislead.

[Ichneumon]

[In fact, Moreno said, evolution is as credible a scientific theory as gravity.]
It takes a lot of "faith" to believe that.

You may have a point there, since evolutionary theory is far BETTER established and understood than gravitational theory.

[Michael_Michaelangelo]

Scientists Defend School Board's Use of Evolution Disclaimer Sticker

Professors say evolution disclaimer is 'reasonable', by R. Robin McDonald and Greg Bluestein Fulton County Daily Report 11-12-2004

[Excerpt]

Calling evolution "a theory in crisis," more than two-dozen scientists have come to the defense of the Cobb County, Ga., Board of Education. The scientists, all Ph.D.'s, portray evolution as "a live and growing scientific controversy."

Among them are professors of microbiology, biochemistry and biophysics, who have filed a friend-of-the-court brief siding with the school board's 2002 decision to place a disclaimer about evolution in the front of its high-school biology textbooks. At the board's direction, a sticker placed in every Cobb biology textbook warns students that evolution is "a theory, not a fact," and should be "critically considered."

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Obviously these scientists are being paid-off by those pesky Religious folk! [/raving atheist mode]