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Bill requiring evolution disclaimer clears House
Claremore Progress ^ | 2/27/04 | Sean Murphy

Posted on 02/27/2004 12:04:20 PM PST by Michael_Michaelangelo

OKLAHOMA CITY (CNHI) — The Oklahoma House passed a bill Monday that would require public school textbooks that discuss evolution to include a disclaimer stating that it is a controversial theory and not fact.

Rep. Bill Graves successfully included the language in House Bill 2194, a measure that originally changed the format for Braille versions of instructional materials.

“I think so many of the textbooks make it appear that evolution is a scientific fact and it’s not,” said Graves, R-Oklahoma City. “Even the U.S. Supreme Court says it’s a theory, so I was just trying to make that clear.

“I think it’s very important for children to know,” Graves said. “If they just believe that they came from some slime in a swamp that’s a whole lot different from being created in the image of God.”

According to the bill, any state school district textbook that discusses evolution would have to include a disclaimer that states, in part, “This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory which some scientists present as scientific explanation for the origin of living things, such as plants and humans. No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life’s origins should be considered as theory, not fact.”

The disclaimer goes on to state, “Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday you may contribute to the theories of how living things appeared on earth.”

The bill passed on a 96-0 vote and now heads to the Senate.

Officials with the State Department of Education did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Sean Murphy is the Capitol Bureau reporter in Oklahoma for Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. He can be reached at smurphy@cnhi.com.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Oklahoma
KEYWORDS: creation; crevolist; education; evolution; god; scienceeducation; textbooks
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To: Right Wing Professor
And 47.3% of all so-called "statistics" are also made up on the spot. ;^)
21 posted on 02/27/2004 12:45:18 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: yellowdoghunter
I'll restrict myself to the 96 who represent the people in the state government.
22 posted on 02/27/2004 12:45:55 PM PST by Rudder
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To: Right Wing Professor
97.37946 percent of all statistics (at least on this thread) are made up.
23 posted on 02/27/2004 12:46:43 PM PST by js1138
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To: Dog Gone
No one was present when life first appeared on earth.

I thought we were told that Adam and Eve were there within a week

Besides, surely God isn't 'no one'. Looks to me this guy is an atheist.

24 posted on 02/27/2004 12:47:40 PM PST by Right Wing Professor
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To: yellowdoghunter
The pro-evolution group is only bested by the liberals in their vitriolic hatred for creationists.
25 posted on 02/27/2004 12:47:42 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: yellowdoghunter
Please don't refer to Oklahomans as ignorant.

Well, if they aren't now, they surely will be in a few years when they try to go to accredited colleges with the OK-sponsored nonsense they were taught in school.
26 posted on 02/27/2004 12:48:52 PM PST by whattajoke
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To: yellowdoghunter
Please don't refer to Oklahomans as ignorant

Worse still, there's no way they deserved to be in the BCS game.

27 posted on 02/27/2004 12:51:02 PM PST by Right Wing Professor
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To: Michael_Michaelangelo
next on the list: the "controversial" theory (!!) of ... Gravity. don't let the godless communists fool you, it's just a theory! says the Supreme Court!
28 posted on 02/27/2004 12:51:41 PM PST by gawd
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To: Michael_Michaelangelo
No one was present when life first appeared on earth

so, no one was alive before life started? gosh, thanks for clearing that up.

29 posted on 02/27/2004 12:53:23 PM PST by gawd
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To: Blood of Tyrants
The pro-evolution group is only bested by the liberals in their vitriolic hatred for creationists.

Yawn. Just the usual snake-handling hate speach.

30 posted on 02/27/2004 12:55:15 PM PST by balrog666 (Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.)
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To: Michael_Michaelangelo
They have apehead man creature pictures and fake skulls evolving into human man heads at the Natural History Museum children's section. My daughter asked me what that was. I told her it was some nonsense some people made up who want to believe they're decended from monkeys.
31 posted on 02/27/2004 1:01:11 PM PST by Cinnamon Girl
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To: JohnnyZ
Bears repeating: Scientific theories should always be presented as theories rather than fact.
32 posted on 02/27/2004 1:04:31 PM PST by Theo
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To: Cinnamon Girl
I told her it was some nonsense some people made up who want to believe they're decended from monkeys.

Did your daughter then say, "Actually, mommy, that's not what the theory of evolution states at all. Why would you tell me this creationist strawman lie when I ask you intelligent questions?"
33 posted on 02/27/2004 1:07:44 PM PST by whattajoke
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To: Cinnamon Girl
I told her it was some nonsense some people made up who want to believe they're decended from monkeys.

Do you actually believe this codswallop you just posted?

34 posted on 02/27/2004 1:08:11 PM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: Cinnamon Girl
I told her it was some nonsense some people made up who want to believe they're decended from monkeys.

Did you tell her thunder was the noise of the gods bowling too?

35 posted on 02/27/2004 1:12:18 PM PST by balrog666 (Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.)
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To: Cinnamon Girl
They have apehead man creature pictures and fake skulls evolving into human man heads at the Natural History Museum children's section. My daughter asked me what that was. I told her it was some nonsense some people made up who want to believe they're decended from monkeys.

this deserves a darwin award nomination. ah, the irony.

36 posted on 02/27/2004 1:13:28 PM PST by gawd
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To: whattajoke
You're careful to explain to your children how G-d created the universe, right? And you read them Genesis, detailing the order of creation, right?
37 posted on 02/27/2004 1:13:31 PM PST by Cinnamon Girl
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To: Cinnamon Girl
You're careful to explain to your children how G-d created the universe, right? And you read them Genesis, detailing the order of creation, right?

I'll do us both a favor and leave this one alone. I think my kid would find the Genesis ordering of creation a bit confusing, since it has conflicting statements. Heck, I wouldn't even know how to pronounce, "G-d."
38 posted on 02/27/2004 1:18:06 PM PST by whattajoke
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To: Cinnamon Girl
You're careful to explain to your children how G-d created the universe, right? And you read them Genesis, detailing the order of creation, right?

if I may answer that,
genesis actually contains two distinct and incompatible creation stories.

39 posted on 02/27/2004 1:18:18 PM PST by gawd
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To: gawd
next on the list: the "controversial" theory (!!) of ... Gravity. don't let the godless communists fool you, it's just a theory! says the Supreme Court!

You do realize that Newtonian physics has been disproven, or shown to be not applicable to the world we live in, or only applicable to motion on the earth . . . depends how you want to look at it, the point is his rules aren't universally applicable.

There is so much that ISN'T understood about evolution and many other theories (the Big Bang theory gets revised every couple months, seems like) that it is important to teach what is known, what is theorized, what is hypothesized, and the difference between them, and how to approach them critically in a scientific manner.

40 posted on 02/27/2004 1:21:39 PM PST by JohnnyZ (People don't just bump into each other and have sex. This isn't Cinemax! -- Jerry)
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