Personally, I'm torn on some of these issues, not a big fan of the polar opposite positions generally argued. For me, the Bible is not a particularly credible reference book to document the history of the universe or the origin of man. Written by Jewish men, it proclaims the Jews as "God's chosen people" and annihilation of other ethnicities, their "men, women and children" as God-driven; the Amalekites, Hittites, Amorites, etc. Bible thumpers reason that killing a tiny cockroach prevents it from maturing into an adult cockroach. Limiting the creation, foresting, populating of this planet to 6 "days" seems more fable than history.
On the other hand, those who want the evolution theory swallowed in its entirety without question are also faith-driven or captives of credulity. Darwin doubted his own theory which says little about the development of insects or birds, how reproduction occurred before a species was finished developing or the amazing design features of the human eye, etc.
I will stop there. Religious influence on textbooks is inappropriate in any context.
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| Chairwoman Barbara Cargill State Board of Education |
According to at least one observer inside the Austin hotel ballroom where reviewers are going over proposed new science textbooks for Texas public schools, State Board of Education (SBOE) Chairwoman Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, spent much of Wednesday working with those supposedly independent panels. Cargill is one of the state board’s leading evolution critics. During a state Senate hearing last spring, for example, Cargill insisted that instructional materials should teach “another side” when discussing evolution.
Cargill reportedly spent time with all of the biology review panels but considerably more working with a panel that includes arch-creationist Raymond Bohlin, vice president of vision outreach for the fundamentalist Christian organization Probe Ministries in Plano. Bohlin is one of at least six creationists nominated by SBOE members to review the proposed new textbooks. The reviewers are charged with reporting to the Texas education commissioner and the SBOE whether the proposed textbooks and online instructional materials cover the state’s curriculum standards.
Publishers often make changes to their textbooks in response to objections raised by the review panels. All interaction between the review panels and publishers is outside of public view. State lawmakers in 1995 reined in the ability of SBOE members to pressure publishers into making changes to textbook content. Further, the state board’s own rules bar “contact with any publisher or other person having an interest in the content of instructional materials under evaluation by the panel [of reviewers].” That rule is intended to prevent undue influence on the reviewers. The interference of board members in the work of the independent review panels would appear to represent an end-run around both the law and the board’s own rules.
Indeed, Cargill’s interference with the work of the panels raises serious questions about the integrity of the review process:
Is it appropriate for the SBOE chair to be influencing the work of the independent review panels?
Did state board members authorize Cargill to speak to the panelists on the board’s behalf? Or did she choose on her own to insert herself in to the process? If so, why?
What did Cargill tell reviewers? Did she discuss evolution or her concerns about what the instructional materials say about evolution, which has been the most controversial topic in every science curriculum and textbook review that comes before the board?
Why did Cargill appear to spend so much time with one particular panel on Wednesday?
Does Cargill realize that the presence of the state board chair could be intimidating for reviewers or, at the very least, could exert undue influence on their work?
Cargill’s interference helps make clear the importance of shining some sunlight on this entire review process. Observers in the hotel ballroom, including the news media, are permitted to watch only from a distance. They are not privy to the interactions between review panelists themselves nor their interactions with publishers. Yet publishers make changes to their textbooks based on objections they hear from panelists. Now we know that Cargill, a politician with her own ideological agenda, has essentially inserted herself in to those interactions.
It would be no surprise if Texans began to see the adoption of new science textbooks for their schoolchildren as corrupted by the same “culture war” politics that have caused so many problems at the State Board of Education for years.
The border population is living proof that evolution does not exist, only devolution....
ReplyDeletefuck you, fuck you very, very muuuuch! we hate what you do and we hate your whole crew so please don't stay in touch...
DeleteAs if we needed anymore proof.
DeleteThose are song lyrics, dumbass.
DeleteWe need to get religion out of the classroom and out of politics. If we teach religion, it should be fair to all faiths and religions....a historical perspective and not favorable to any faith. I think one of the best ways to take religion out of politics and government would be to end the tax-free status of churches. The idea of the tax exemption came about when the church provided social services to the community......few do that anymore, they merely hide behind the tax exempt status and accumulate wealth. Thus now both the government and the churches tax citizens and both the churches and the government screw the taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that the government and the media spend so much time telling us that Islamic radicalism is reflective of a small minority of Moslems and we should not characterize Islam as radical.....yet the same government and same media tell us that all people who own guns are radical....even though only a few radicals are responsible.
Creationism is not necessarily contradictory to the theory of evolution. To think that the wonder of life on earth and the abject mystery of the universe is somehow an accident really stretches the imagination. There had to be some sort of creation for all this matter to come about. The evolutionists, however, always go back to the "big bang" and quit. I hold for the possibility of more than one universe, maybe thousands of universes, all fashioned by the same hand, force.
ReplyDelete"I hold for the possibility of more than one universe, maybe thousands of universes, all fashioned by the same hand, farce."
ReplyDeleteThere, fixed that typo for you.
LMAO!!!
Delete