Posted on 11/17/2004 4:25:20 PM PST by beavus
Two Emory professors went to court last week to testify in a case about the way evolution is taught in Cobb County.
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.”
Anthropology Professor Benjamin Freed and medical school Professor Carlos Moreno contend that the sticker discourages the teaching of evolution.
But because he did not fill out all of the information on his affidavit, Freed was told he could not testify in the case.
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.”
No members of the Cobb County school board who implemented the stickers could be reached for comment.
In 1995, all teaching of evolution was banned in Cobb.
In 2002, when textbooks including information about evolution were purchased by the district, a group of parents petitioned the school board to stop discussions of evolution in the classroom.
In response to the concerns of parents, the stickers were placed in the textbooks.
Freed said he thinks the sticker signals a breakdown in the separation between church and state and undermines the quality of science education in Cobb.
Partially in response to the placement of the sticker in textbooks, Freed helped found the Georgia Citizens for Integrity in Science Education in 2002.
“There had been several challenges,” he said. “But no one was standing up for science. In order to facilitate more quality in biology teaching, which is essential for the state of Georgia, a number of us decided we needed to join forces.”
The issue moved to the courts, with the American Civil Liberties Union arguing on behalf of five parents who feel the sticker violates the separation between church and state.
Moreno, who is also a member of the Georgia citizens group, said the sticker encourages students to disregard evolution and teachers to introduce nonscientific material into science classes.
“I felt this was undermining science education in Georgia, and evolution is fundamental to understanding biology,” Moreno said.
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.
In fact, Moreno said, evolution is as credible a scientific theory as gravity.
Both Moreno and Freed agreed that science needs to exist more in the public domain.
Moreno said there is a lack of understanding of scientific processes and the way scientists create theories.
Freed, who moved to Cobb in 2001 after growing up in New Jersey, where he had access to more museums of natural history, said he found the lack of acceptance of science “absolutely astounding.”
“I really didn’t see any kind of dialogue,” Freed said.
Last February, Freed was vocal in his opposition to state Superintendent Kathy Cox’s (’86C, ’90G) proposal that would have removed the word “evolution” from middle and high school curricula. She suggested that the term be replaced by the phrase “biological changes over time” but later recanted the proposal in the face of widespread criticism.
Freed said he loves having students with nonscientific majors in his classes. He said his students will one day be community members who should have a basic understanding of science, which includes fully understanding evolution.
“There’s going to be a core element that will stick with them,” he said.
And, anyway, who would want to be so negative? It could only tea-off Mother Superior.
I used to do it from time to time. Donno why I quit. I guess it's the inspiration of all those mullahs in the middle-east that has inspired me once more to recommend slaughtering the purveyors of trash.
False. First hit on a google search
In fact, the existence of Precambrian life is a prediction made by Darwin, which, needless to say, turned out to be true
Interesting web site, but are you sure all those creatures didn't just poof into existence?
Why?
Because God says so.
Yeah we know all about how eugenicists have used Darwin's theories. Hey if they sterilize or slaughter the adults and children who question it and refuse to accept it, then they just might have proof of Darwin's theory of natural selection.
To bad Darwin didn't end up with your optimism about his theory. He died a discouraged man, knowing that no tranistory species had been found in the fossil record, (already nearly completely explored toward the end of his life) when his theory demands there ought to be millions...far more than the distinct species we do recognize.
But then Darwin, even though wrong, was a far more honest man than any evolutionist today.
Huh?!
Archeopteryx was found soon after the publication of Origin of Species. It's like a bird (feathers and a beak), but it's unlike any living birds (bony tail, teeth). In fact, the teeth and skeleton are indistinguishable from those of a small meat-eating dinosaur. Sounds transitional to me!
Darwin theorized that whales have a terrestial ancestor. Until a few years ago, the creationists used this as an example of a failed prediction. Oops. Some of the intermediates have been found (do a Google search on Ambulocetus or Pakicetus)
The "missing link" between apes and people was unheard-of in Darwin's day. He did, however, think that if they were ever found, it would be in Africa. Right again!
He said his theory would fail if it could be shown that there was no Precambrian life. None was known in his time. It is now!
Lord Kelvin, not knowing anything about radioactivity, calculated that the Earth was only a few million years old. Darwin was mightily discouraged by this, since his theory requires a longer period of time. After Mme. Curie, Darwin was vindicated once again.
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