The lack of common sense and morals does more to put children at risk than what the president has advocated here. Perhaps these scientists need to get themselves to some English classes before they couch their arguments in words like "puts (kids) at risk."
He also gave his opinion that the children should be exposed to the arguments on both sides. "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought," Bush said. "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes." That's not teaching ID. Teaching it would be presenting it as fact rather than one side of an argument.
And about Gloria Goes to Gay Pride Parade?
I guess I don't have a problem mentioning to students that some people do not believe in evolution, but rather believe in intelligent design (I.D.).
Beyond mere mention though, what else would you teach about I.D.? There are as many "stories" about creation as there are religions.
The I.D. proponents had better be careful what they wish for, as the "stories" being taught may not be the "stories" they want to be taught.
Did you know that in islam, there are about 5 different versions of creation, which lasted from 4-8 days, depending on which version you believe?
Perhaps they could teach a different version each day - islam, buddism, hinduism, shintoism, apache, cree, aztec, scientology, etc., etc., etc.
Suspecting that christians are the main proponents of I.D., I suggest to them that the christian version of creation will get little coverage by the PC teachers we have today in our schools.
There is a simple solution - TAKE YOUR KIDS TO CHURCH!
I think this was (another) really dumb move by the Prez..
LOL What a bunch of hooey.
Slightly histrionic title.
So what? Discovery Institute has a list of 200 High School graduates who are skeptical of evolution.
Biography:
Since 1970 Fred Spilhaus, an oceanographer, has served as Executive Director of the American Geophysical Union,
******
Behind the Ignorance
Why are some groups more vulnerable to believing in Biblical accounts than accepting scientific explanations?
snip
Creationists have also become active in electing sympathizers to local and state educational agencies. In Kansas last week, for example, the state Board of Education voted to permit the teaching of creationism in local public schools.
This has prompted the American Geophysical Union to prepare a "call to arms" to member groups, encouraging them to become more involved in local and state education issues. Fred Spilhaus, executive director of the AGU released a statement last week warning, "Once again, those who value science and support the teaching of evolution but were too busy to participate in local politics lost, and science education will suffer as a result, as will science itself."
Spilhaus added, "Scientists would be well-advised to run for schools boards or, at the very least, to actively support well-informed candidates. If scientists want to see good science taught in the schools, they can't just participate as teachers. They have to get out and get into the policy making aspect of it."
******
An Unintelligent Decision
Scientists blast the Smithsonian for showing a creationist film
by Mike Martin
The Smithsonian Institution's decision to show a controversial film recently had scientists calling on the august national repository to censor itself and cancel a sponsored screening of The Privileged Planet.
“The Privileged Planet promotes creationism in the form of ‘intelligent design,’” explained American Geophysical Union (AGU) executive director Fred Spilhaus. “It fosters the idea that science should include the supernatural. This is unacceptable.”
snip
The idea of an “intelligent designer” suggests divine intervention to many scientists. By showing the film, “the Smithsonian Institution associates science with creationism and damages its credibility,” AGU's Spilhaus said.
snip
“I was not prepared for the level of venom, misinformation, and outright lies about our book and film,” Gonzalez, who has authored some sixty articles in well-respected astrophysical journals about the formation and evolution of planetary systems, told Science & Spirit in an exclusive interview.
He said that his book and film are “based entirely on widely accepted, mainstream science,” and believes the attacks were motivated by “scientific partisanship” that is distorting the definition of design.
“The only card our critics seem to keep playing is that we are 'creationists' and we are up to no good,” he said. “Intelligent design has positive theistic implications, but it is not dependent on religious assumptions.”
******
Fred Spilhaus, insisted the Smithsonian Institute reconsider and called on other researchers to file a protest on the Smithsonian-website.
In the United States, the Creationists are waging a campaign against Evolutionism - which was a reputed reason for criminality, drug misuse and wars.
The Creationists have had their successes: In many US Federal States there are juristic and political controversies upon Darwin’s ideas in schools. School book publishers excluded mention of Darwin. Draft laws insist that schools give equal treatment to Creationism and evolution – even though US-law regulates the separation of church and state. But those faithful to the Bible enjoy the backing of the U.S. “moral majority. A survey by research centre Gallup showed only 10 percent of Americans trusted the theory of Evolution, whereas 45 percent think God had created Earth about 10,000 years ago.
After a 28 May article in the New York Times, the museum took a positive step and withdrew its cosponsorship and refunded the Discovery Institute's $16,000, on the grounds that it "determined that the content of the film is not consistent with the mission of the Smithsonian Institution's scientific research." But it still plans to show the film, and it is unlikely that disclaimers, explanations, or excuses will prevent proponents of "intelligent design" from claiming legitimacy from their association with the Smithsonian Institution.
snip
This is an opportunity for you to express your point of view to members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents (http://www.si.edu/about/people.htm). The film is also being offered to PBS stations. If you notice that your local station puts it on the schedule, you may also want to contact it. It is important for each of us as scientists to speak up in the defense of the integrity of science.
--Fred Spilhaus, Executive Director
"Only 10 percent [of Americans] said they believe in evolution with no participation from God".
"Among scientists, only 5 percent hold the literal Bible view, 40 percent believe in theistic evolution and a majority, 55 percent, believe in evolution without help from God."
God created the world.
God created human beings.
God gave human beings the desire to be free.
God created freedom (the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness).
Belief that God did not create the world leads people to believe strange notions like government is god or The Supreme Court is a god with nine heads, and that our rights are given to us by government.
Rights given to us by government or by human beings can be taken away. Rights given to us by God the Creator cannot be taken away.
Lacking belief that God created the universe makes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness erode and fall apart.
Not recognizing that God created the universe (intelligent design), that's risky.
I am curious, and maybe someone here knows. When anthropologists/archaeologists unearth artifacts that they believe were used by humans in millennia past -- stones used to grind grain, that sort of thing --, are there not criteria that are used to assess whether the object really was used and/or modified for the presumed purpose (as opposed to being a random chunk that happens to look like a tool)? Wouldn't this necessarily be a test for design?
world-gone-mad alert.
Debate over evolution shuts down IMAX film
Cape Cod Times, MA - Jul 5, 2005
... Fred Spilhaus, American Geophysical's executive director, said the movie ''A Privileged Planet'' promotes ''creationism in the form of intelligent design ...