Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

What’s the Matter with Kansas? (Dishonest Darwinists coming to a state near you)
National Review ^ | 08/03/2006 | David Klinghoffer

Posted on 08/03/2006 9:23:14 AM PDT by SirLinksalot

What’s the Matter with Kansas?

Dishonest Darwinists -- coming to a state near you.

By David Klinghoffer

-----------------------------------

State school-board elections don’t normally receive much national media attention. Yet the school-board primary race in Kansas on Tuesday, representing a key front in the Darwin wars, was an exception.

Will Darwinism be taught as unquestionable dogma? That’s the question that voters decided. In Kansas, it seems it will.

Kansas has been one of five states with biology curricula that include instruction about the evidence both for and against neo-Darwinism, requiring that students learn about the “critical analysis” of evolutionary theory. Darwin advocates worked hard to defeat the majority on the education board and eliminate this requirement. On Tuesday they succeeded in this first objective, and the second will follow in due course.

The current “controversial” Kansas Science Standards very clearly do not mandate that students learn about intelligent design. On the contrary, as the board explained, “We also emphasize that the Science Curriculum Standards do not include Intelligent Design.”

Can’t get much clearer than, can you? Yet an outfit called Kansas Citizens for Science argued exactly the reverse — that the Kansas Science Standards do indeed mandate instruction about ID. It ended up convincing the voters. Or rather, deceiving them.

It was all part of a campaign, on behalf of liberal candidates for the education board that included other bold falsehoods. For example, the Darwin faction scared Kansas educators with the prospect of being sued on the basis of the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover decision in Pennsylvania. In fact, Kitzmiller is irrelevant to a curriculum in Kansas that does not advocate teaching about ID.

Opponents of the school board’s majority also argued that the science standards represented “science-bashing” by an “anti-science cabal” –- in the words of an editorial in the Witchita Eagle. Hardly. The Kansas standards simply mandated that young people be exposed to a full range of mainstream views from respected scientists.

The silliest objection to be raised was that the Kansas standards — get ready — hurt poor children. As a political-action committee, the Kansas Alliance for Education, put it during the lead-up to the election, “the best chance children, especially those in poverty, have to experience economic self-sufficiency and become tax-paying citizens is to receive a quality education.” According to this PAC, learning to critically analyze scientific evidence is incompatible with a “quality education.”

You would have thought that being able to understand both sides of a scientific issue would be a valuable intellectual experience for anyone to have.

Unfortunately, scare tactics like these persuaded voters to unseat key members of the Kansas board of education. Well, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. Much the same thing happened in Ohio.

In February, Darwinists succeeded in pressuring that state’s board of education to repeal the Ohio science standard requiring that students, “Describe how scientists continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.” In Ohio, too, the media warned of the danger to “the future of the nation” from a policy that they said encouraged scientific illiteracy.

The dogmatism and dishonesty of some orthodox Darwinists is simply breathtaking. Yet, having prevailed in Ohio, they triumphed in Kansas and further victories elsewhere may be expected. So it seems increasingly likely that students will be kept in the dark after all about an issue with not only scientific ramifications but critically important moral ones too.

----------------------------------------

David Klinghoffer is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and the author most recently of Why the Jews Rejected Jesus: The Turning Point in Western History.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; US: Kansas
KEYWORDS: anothercrevothread; censorship; creatards; crevo; crevolist; darwin; darwinists; enoughalready; evotards; id; idiocy; intelligentdesign; kansas; makeitstop; pavlovian; politicalcampaigns; schoolboard; scienceeducation; tenthousandthtime
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 301-320 next last
To: Coyoteman

"So, how do you heat your cave?"

Inventions are not the same thing as science. Yes, we have invented lots of things, but that does not have anything to do with science. Most inventions were not done with the scientific method or science.


21 posted on 08/03/2006 10:05:09 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix
And science does not have the answers or the ability to find the answers to most things, so science has very little credibility at finding answers.

But within its limited realm, it is very very good at finding answers. Remember recently the ToE was used to predict what to look for and where to look, and now we have yet another transitional fossil, Tiktaalik. That's more in one year thn ID or creationism has done in 200 (or 5000).

The fact that something is not science does not bother me because most of science is junk anyway and it is full of politics and dishonesty. Science is like the old media--it is losing its credibility to be objective.

An interesting scientific experiment would be to measure the pH of your grapes.

22 posted on 08/03/2006 10:05:45 AM PDT by Virginia-American
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: LibertarianSchmoe
"Are you also open to the criticism of the criticisms? I'm certainly interested in hearing what the flaws are in the science of evolution, but are you prepared to listen to the counter-arguments?"

Sure, but lets put them in the classroom--not pretend that there are not arguments and that evolution theory is a done deal.
23 posted on 08/03/2006 10:06:12 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Virginia-American
"But within its limited realm,"

That is the key. Science is not equipped and will never be equipped to find the answers to most things. No sour grapes here. I just don't like the dishonesty in science.
24 posted on 08/03/2006 10:08:05 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix
Yes, we have invented lots of things, but that does not have anything to do with science. Most inventions were not done with the scientific method or science.

This one leaves me speechless.

25 posted on 08/03/2006 10:08:06 AM PDT by blowfish
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: blowfish

The truth often does that to people.


26 posted on 08/03/2006 10:08:56 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix

So how did Noah pick up the kiwis, wallabies, kangaroos & kookaburras?

It takes a modern diesel powered containership 3 weeks to get from LA to Sydney.

And if Noah picked up 2 dingoes, didn't Dingoes eat his baby?


27 posted on 08/03/2006 10:09:16 AM PDT by Utahrd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix
Let's just be honest.

Careful, don't do anything you might later regret

28 posted on 08/03/2006 10:10:22 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy (Science is about unanswered questions. Religion is about unquestioned answers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix

What about the dishonesty in falsely representing creationisn or ID as though they were science? What about the dishonesty in claiming thta there is a growing ID movement within science?


29 posted on 08/03/2006 10:11:04 AM PDT by Virginia-American
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Utahrd

"So how did Noah pick up the kiwis, wallabies, kangaroos & kookaburras?"

I don't know and I don't care. Again, it has nothing to do with religion with me. I just get tired of our society believing that science can produce answers and that science produces good answers. Most of science is junk science.


30 posted on 08/03/2006 10:11:33 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix
Most of science is junk science

What - specifically - are you referring to?

31 posted on 08/03/2006 10:12:45 AM PDT by gdani
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: middie

Bullshit. The book's theme is that Kansans are stupid for not voting Democrat to get govt handouts.


32 posted on 08/03/2006 10:13:18 AM PDT by ozzymandus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Virginia-American

I don't think ID is science and I don't really care about teaching ID. I just want evolution to be taught that it is just a theory that has flaws. It is not a fact. For science to pass it off as a done deal is dishonest.


33 posted on 08/03/2006 10:13:28 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix
Evolution has lots of flaws. Just admit it and I am fine with it. I would say the reason science does not want to admit that is because they are anti-religious. Let's just be honest.

The reason you want to find flaws in evolution appears that you are religious; why are you trying to take all of science down with evolution?

Do you really think trashing all of science for personal religious reasons is either productive, or a good idea? (Be careful what you wish for... )

34 posted on 08/03/2006 10:14:25 AM PDT by Coyoteman (I love the sound of beta decay in the morning!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: gdani
What - specifically - are you referring to?


Evidnetally you don't know much about science history if you have to ask that question.
35 posted on 08/03/2006 10:14:45 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Coyoteman

Where do you get any religion from anything that I have posted? I just want honesty. Can't you people at least be honest and admit that evolution theory has flaws. If you cannot, then you prove my point. In fact, you have turned science into a religion (faith in things).


36 posted on 08/03/2006 10:16:27 AM PDT by Hendrix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix
Evidnetally you don't know much about science history if you have to ask that question

I'm just asking for some examples. You say most of it's junk. You must have some examples in mind. Care to share?

37 posted on 08/03/2006 10:17:19 AM PDT by gdani
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix

People should not have to evolve if they don't want to.


38 posted on 08/03/2006 10:17:29 AM PDT by Utahrd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix

Even if the criticisms are unfounded, fallacy-ridden, and driven by non-(or anti-)scientific motives? Wouldn't that be like allowing an anti-semite teach our children about the Holocaust?


39 posted on 08/03/2006 10:18:23 AM PDT by LibertarianSchmoe ("...yeah, but, that's different!" - mating call of the North American Ten-Toed Hypocrite)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Hendrix
It is not a fact.

that' why it's called a theory

For science to pass it off as a done deal is dishonest.

When over 99% of biologists subscribe to it, that's a done deal. To imply otherwise is dishonest. At the level of presentation appropriate for a high school, there are no disputes among biologists.

40 posted on 08/03/2006 10:18:32 AM PDT by Virginia-American
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 301-320 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson