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Evolution Debate Led to Ouster, Official Says
Associated Press ^ | November 30, 2007 | The Associated Press

Posted on 12/01/2007 12:39:07 PM PST by Alter Kaker

AUSTIN, Tex., Nov. 29 (AP) — The state’s director of science curriculum said she resigned this month under pressure from officials who said she had given the appearance of criticizing the teaching of intelligent design.

The Texas Education Agency put the director, Chris Comer, on 30 days’ paid administrative leave in late October, resulting in what Ms. Comer called a forced resignation.

The move came shortly after she forwarded an e-mail message announcing a presentation by Barbara Forrest, an author of “Creationism’s Trojan Horse.” The book argues that creationist politics are behind the movement to get intelligent design theory taught in public schools. Ms. Comer sent the message to several people and a few online communities.

Ms. Comer, who held her position for nine years, said she believed evolution politics were behind her ousting. “None of the other reasons they gave are, in and of themselves, firing offenses,” she said.

Education agency officials declined to comment Wednesday on the matter. But they explained their recommendation to fire Ms. Comer in documents obtained by The Austin American-Statesman through the Texas Public Information Act.

“Ms. Comer’s e-mail implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that T.E.A. endorses the speaker’s position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral,” the officials said.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: creationism; evolution; id; scienceeducation
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To: js1138
"proceed to post black knight graphics as your primary line of argument." -js1138

The Monty Python graphics are *not* my primary line of argument, but rather, are used to show that you don't know when you've been beaten, much like that Black Knight.

You repeat ad nausium the same "modern Fish" nonsense, not even realizing that you are making an even weaker case for the very Evolutionary Theory that you would beg to defend.

Sad.

Evolutionary Theory falls flat if there is no evolutionary path for the immune trait in coral to evolve into humans, for instance, yet you trumpet the lack of a link as if it *supported* Evolution!

Talk about backwards thinking!

281 posted on 12/05/2007 6:39:27 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack

Humans are not descended from coral. You have simply misread a story discussing the common ancestor of coral and humans.


282 posted on 12/05/2007 6:47:58 AM PST by js1138
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To: js1138
"Humans are not descended from coral. You have simply misread a story discussing the common ancestor of coral and humans." - js1138

Nope. You have simply misunderstood that the lack of a genetic path for coral traits making it into humans means code skipping rather than Evolution.

Thus, your supposed "complaint" above is actually an ever bigger problem for Evolution (because you're saying there is no evolutionary path to explain the DNA evidence in hand).

283 posted on 12/05/2007 6:51:54 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack; js1138
Evolutionary Theory falls flat if there is no evolutionary path for the immune trait in coral to evolve into humans, for instance, yet you trumpet the lack of a link as if it *supported* Evolution!

I think we should all be careful of hanging our argument on one unknown, such as this, be it if we are Evolutionists, Creationists, or Theistic Evolutionists (like myself) because if this one point breaks, so does the argument. A gap in knowledge doesn't represent proof, it only represents a gap in knowledge. How long did young-Earth Creationists use the degrading magnetic field as 'proof' of a young earth before we knew that it fluctuated? How long did Evolutionists use Piltdown man as 'proof'? Science involves evolving (for lack of a better term) knowledge.

284 posted on 12/05/2007 6:54:35 AM PST by mnehring
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To: muawiyah
When you eqate "evolution"with ay and all change tou lose control of the word as well as any understanding of the process it describes.

So for decades, thousands of life scientists have "lost control of the world and any understanding of the process it describes." Meanwhile, said understanding is no problem for a retired bureaucrat whose 30 year career had absolutely nothing to do with biology.

You think very highly of yourself, that is for damn sure.

285 posted on 12/05/2007 6:57:52 AM PST by freespirited (I'm voting for the GOP nominee.)
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To: mnehrling
How long did Evolutionists use Piltdown man as 'proof'?

Some researchers never did buy into Piltdown. It was primarily the British researchers who were fooled because that was the set of traits they were looking for. Folks working in other areas of the world were expecting a different set of traits and it turns out they were correct.

286 posted on 12/05/2007 7:01:50 AM PST by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: Southack
"The intelligent design crowd, creationists, postulate the a priori that a God set everything in motion."

That's incorrect.

An Intelligent Design proponent can cite transgenic lab animals and note that they were created by intelligent intervention (e.g. Man).

That has nothing to do with God.

I can cite - at a job interview - that a positive aspect of my work history is that monkeys never fly out of my butt.....what's THAT got to do with the price of tea in China?

When talking ID, you're either talking God or aliens.  Pretending those aren't the options is the very definition of disingenuous.

287 posted on 12/05/2007 7:03:47 AM PST by Psycho_Bunny (Islam is the E-Ticket ride at Nutsberry Farm)
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To: Coyoteman
The point is that either a gap, an unknown, or an error doesn’t demolish the entire theory, it is just that, a gap, unknown, or error.
288 posted on 12/05/2007 7:05:17 AM PST by mnehring
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To: Psycho_Bunny
"When talking ID, you're either talking God or aliens. Pretending those aren't the options is the very definition of disingenuous." - Psycho_Bunny

Try again. God and aliens didn't create transgenic species in the lab.

289 posted on 12/05/2007 7:16:29 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack
Try again, you replied to

"The intelligent design crowd, creationists, postulate the a priori that a God set everything in motion."

that

An Intelligent Design proponent can cite transgenic lab animals and note that they were created by intelligent intervention (e.g. Man).

That has nothing to do with God.

which is a complete and total nonsense - and circular- response that has absolutely nothing to do with the original statement since Man was not around to have anything to do with setting life on Earth in motion.

290 posted on 12/05/2007 7:27:19 AM PST by Psycho_Bunny (Islam is the E-Ticket ride at Nutsberry Farm)
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To: Southack

Next time you have a lucid moment you might consider which is more likely: mainstream science, the Discovery Institute, Answers in genesis and the ICR are all conspiring together to deny Southhack his Nobel Prize, or perhaps Southhack has misread an article that discusses a common ancestor of humans and corals.


291 posted on 12/05/2007 7:30:11 AM PST by js1138
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To: Psycho_Bunny
"which is a complete and total nonsense - and circular- response that has absolutely nothing to do with the original statement since Man was not around to have anything to do with setting life on Earth in motion." - Psycho_Bunny

Yes, your quote is complete and total nonsense...and conjecture (since we have little evidence of that time frame to support much speculation in any direction).

Try again.

292 posted on 12/05/2007 7:31:42 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: js1138

It’s no surprise that you want to change the subject from that of your point that there is no Evolutionary path from coral to humans over to a nonsensical issue such as Southack getting one or more Nobels.

You really are quite defeated in this debate, as your attempts at digressions, repetitions, and insults attest.


293 posted on 12/05/2007 7:34:17 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: freespirited

Yeah. And all that other stuff in my paragraph from which you excerpted that small bit.


294 posted on 12/05/2007 7:45:03 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: freespirited

Yeah. And all that other stuff in my paragraph from which you excerpted that small bit.


295 posted on 12/05/2007 7:45:04 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: Southack
It’s no surprise that you want to change the subject from that of your point that there is no Evolutionary path from coral to humans

I haven't changed the subject. Coral is not an ancestor to humans. There is no path to explain.

Find a college level textbook or a journal that says it is.

I have found the article discussing the genes shared by coral and humans. You have simply misread it.

296 posted on 12/05/2007 7:45:45 AM PST by js1138
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To: Psycho_Bunny
Where is the seat ofconsciousness?

Is it linked to the genome's control center?

ID does not need to involve either aliens or a demigod or God,

297 posted on 12/05/2007 7:49:16 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: js1138
"I haven't changed the subject. Coral is not an ancestor to humans. There is no path to explain." - js1138

Ah, now you're back to coral and off of Nobels for Southack. How refreshing!

Too bad that there is no evolutionary path for traits in coral to make it into humans, though. That DNA evidence alone dooms Evoltuionary Theory to the dustbin.

298 posted on 12/05/2007 7:50:32 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: freespirited

One last thing. Old saying ~ the dog barks (you) but the caravan (body of knowledge) moves on.


299 posted on 12/05/2007 7:54:05 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: mnehrling
Besides most of Genesis was handed down before Babylon invented the week, etc. At best Genesis reflects obly a small part of pre-Babylonian/Sumerian philosophy and traditions.

Whatever a day was before the inventors of that word were around is a darned good question.

300 posted on 12/05/2007 8:01:22 AM PST by muawiyah
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