Sisters High School biology teacher fired [Nazi/Planned Parenthood Powerpoint Made Public]

http://www.bendweekly.com/ ^ | Mar 23,2007 | Alisha Wilson

[Diago]

Sisters High School biology teacher fired amid controversial curriculum

Mar 23,2007 00:00 by Alisha Wilson

Board member releases teacher’s powerpoint presentation; says it was a “calculated decision on his part to bend young minds”

Kris Helphinstine, a part-time biology teacher at Sisters High School was fired by the school board Monday night for deviating from the curriculum on the theory of evolution after only eight days on the job, four of which were spent teaching his own theories of evolution through a PowerPoint presentation that referenced Nazi Germany and Planned Parenthood.

When asked why Helphinstine was dismissed, school board chairman Mike Gould said, “He lacked judgment in departing from the district science curriculum in a very controversial subject area and this departure occurred without any consultation or without an appropriate supervisor. This is a sensitive area. When teachers teach in certain areas, they have to teach it straight down the line.”

 

Helphinstine’s curriculum included two controversial powerpoint presentations. View the presentations "Eugenics" and "Human" - links are provided below.

Helphinstine’s PowerPoint presentation displayed the following quote from a leading British evolutionist who is commonly referenced by Creationists. “The theory of evolution (is) a theory universally accepted not because it can be proved by logically coherent evidence to be true but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible.” (D.M.S. Watson, “Adaptation,” Nature, Vol. 123 [sic Vol. 124] (1929), p. 233).

“He taught that evolution doesn’t exist,” said seven-year board member Glen Lasken. “Of course we want our students to think, but this went beyond that. He spent four days dismantling the theory of evolution for these kids. He was terminated for a gross error in judgment, without checking with the superintendent or principal. This was an extreme error in judgment.”

In a phone interview, 27-year old Helphinstine said that his whole purpose was to promote critical thinking. “Eugenics, the self directed evolution of mankind is an interesting subject. Every teacher brings in supplemental material. What is standard curriculum?” asked Helphinstine who has a master’s degree in science from Oregon State University.

The PowerPoint presentation included photos of dead bodies taken during the Holocaust and referenced a 1941 article printed in The Journal of American Psychiatric Association calling for the killing of mentally retarded children, referred to as “natures mistakes”.

“He was trying to make the point that not only is evolution wrong; he suggested that evolution is used for bad purposes. Evolution was used as an experimental basis in Nazi Germany. He said the founding fathers of Planned Parenthood are Nazis. His PowerPoint presentation of the Holocaust is pretty revolting stuff. What is most discouraging is that he says he was trying to encourage critical thinking. This was a calculated decision on his part to bend young minds,” says Lasken.

Board members met with Helphinstine in private for approximately 90 minutes before a public meeting on the matter, though the teacher did not stay for the public forum.

“Mr. Helphinstine was dismissed for failing to teach science in a freshman biology class. He didn’t expressly teach Creationism but provided significant messages from advocacy groups in his presentation. The materials he submitted were not age appropriate,” said board member Jeff Smith.

>View Helpinstine's powerpoint presentation named 'Eugenics'

>View the presentation named 'Human'

(Both links will open in a new browser window.)

[Stingray]

"In fact, I would argue that the foundation the Holocaust was not put forth by an Austrian madman, but rather it was established in the Universities of Germany."

And what were those univesities teaching? ;)

You have to remember: in the early part of the last century, Darwin's ideas were still relatively new, and they burst on the scene with such force that academicians and politicians alike couldn't wait to wrap their heads around it.

It could be argued that Hitler was only pandering to the populace (although his views on evolution were also deeply held), but the German populace had embraced these ideas, too, because they fed on the German notion of personal and national superiority. Between-the-wars Germany had a severe superiority complex, and the writings of Darwins only reinforced this. It gave them a "scientific reason" to feel the way they did, not only about themselves, but about their Jewish neighbors.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

ping for later read

[Campion]

If Sisters is a Catholic School, the very fact ...

"Sisters" is evidently the name of a town in Oregon. Sisters High School is the public HS in that town.

[BlackElk]

Thanks.

[Stingray]

"The influences of Hegel, Haeckel and others were also quite central to Nazism."

The issue I'm attempting to address here doesn't have anything to do with Nazism per se (although Haeckel's infamous "theory of recapitulation" was later debunked, though it was still used as proof by evols on FR for evolution, and still exists in H.S. textbooks as proof for same. Haeckel was a contemporary of Darwin).

The question is whether the high school teacher was rightfully dismissed for making the connections he did regarding Hitler and Planned Parenthood to a high school biology class. I believe he was wrongfully dismissed because - as we'll see when I can post more quotes from Hitler, Sanger, Malthus, Darwin, and his cousin Francis Galton - Eugenics was at the heart of both Planned Parenthood and Hitler's "Final Solution." It was the natural outgrowth of Darwinian thought on natural selection (as already heavily cited above), and Malthus' theories on unsustainable population growth. Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton took the natural selection "ball" and ran with it from there, surmising that if animals could be improved through natural selection (and after all, we're all nothing more than evolved apes in differing stages of our evolutionary development), certainly the human race could be improved through "artificial selection", the way cattle are bred for desired inheiritable traits.

Here is a summation of eugenics from a treatise on same:

Eugenics is the study of methods to improve the human race by controlling reproduction. The word was coined in 1883 by Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin. Galton believed that the proper evolution of the human race was thwarted by philanthropic outreach to the poor: misguided charity encouraged the "unfit" to bear more children. This upset the mechanism of natural selection. Hence, the human race needed a kind of artificial selection, which he called "eugenics," from Greek for good birth.

Introduction to Eugenics
American Life League

More later.

[Stingray]

Hi guy! Took a long haitus from posting anything anywhere. I got tired of "fighting the good fight" as it were.

It wasn't so much the evol crowd and their oft-repeated specious arguments and "proofs" that burned me out as it was some of the idiocy I saw coming from the "God used 9/11 to judge us as a nation" crowd here on FR. That was really the last straw for me, and I logged back in the other night out of boredom.

Don't know how long I'll hang around this time, but it feels good to be back. :)

Thanks for the "howdy, neighbor!" :)

[Stingray]

BTW, the Introduction to Eugenics links (both of which existed on the FR server, as they were FR threads) don't work anymore. However, if you'd like me to FReepmail those threads to you, I can do that. I saved them. :)

[mitch5501]

"...both of which existed on the FR server, as they were FR threads) don't work anymore"

Yeah I went through every link on your post.Great threads and good memories as well.

I took a year or so off and when I came back a lot of folks were missing,yourself included.Any idea what happened to Askel5,logos or OWK?

I'll await mail on those links that don't work.8-)

I'll raise a glass to you hanging around a long time FRiend! You've been missed.

God bless!

[Deut28]

Those universities were teaching the ideas put forth by Hegel (the Prussians suppressed his teachings) and Nietzsche, among others. While there was considerable conflict between the two, but both put the human mind as the absolute source of knowledge.

And that is the bedrock for the kind of horrors of social/political darwinism that you've done such a good job explaining.

I truly appreciate you bringing to the forefront the numerous quotes from Darwin himself regarding the application of his biological position to social and moral situations. Many evolution apoplogists prefer to act as if those things were never said. And will argue to the end that what was said was never acted upon. Truly an interesting phenomenon to observe.

[qman]

No history class or politcal history.

[-YYZ-]

"He is right, what is different between Hitler killing off all the mentally ill and aborting babies that may have Down's syndrome? And that's without even challenging Darwin's theory."

All very interesting and worthy of discussion and debate, no doubt. But what does it have to do with evolution, and is it a suitable subject for a high school science class?