Louisiana passes first antievolution "academic freedom" law

[William T Goodall]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080627-louisiana-passes-first-antievolution-academic-freedom-law.html

"Louisiana passes first antievolution "academic freedom" law
By John Timmer | Published: June 27, 2008 - 02:13PM CT

As we noted last month, a number of states have been considering laws  
that, under the guise of "academic freedom," single out evolution for  
special criticism. Most of them haven't made it out of the state  
legislatures, and one that did was promptly vetoed. But the last of  
these bills under consideration, the Louisiana Science Education Act  
(LSEA), was enacted by the signature of Governor Bobby Jindal  
yesterday. The bill would allow local school boards to approve  
supplemental classroom materials specifically for the critique of  
scientific theories, allowing poorly-informed board members to stick  
their communities with Dover-sized legal fees.

The text of the LSEA suggests that it's intended to foster critical  
thinking, calling on the state Board of Education to "assist teachers,  
principals, and other school administrators to create and foster an  
environment within public elementary and secondary schools that  
promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and  
objective discussion of scientific theories." Unfortunately, it's  
remarkably selective in its suggestion of topics that need critical  
thinking, as it cites scientific subjects "including, but not limited  
to, evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."

Oddly, the last item on the list is not the subject of any scientific  
theory; the remainder are notable for being topics that are the focus  
of frequent political controversies rather than scientific ones."




-- 
William T Goodall
Mail : wtg at wtgab.demon.co.uk
Web  : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/

Debunking bullshit is a thankless task.