Louisiana passes first antievolution "academic freedom" law

[Olin Elliott]

What's really scary about this is that rejecting evolution requires rejecting the entire framework of modern science, as well as a body of evidence that is overwhelming in scope.  It requires a kind of intellectual dishonesty -- or at the very least willful ignorance -- that almost has to be called pathological.  If they want to teach religion in school lets have religion courses that teach all the world's religions in depth.  But of course, that's not what this is about.  Its about indoctrination. 

Olin
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: William T Goodall<mailto:wtg at wtgab.demon.co.uk> 
  To: Brin-L<mailto:brin-l at mccmedia.com> 
  Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2008 10:17 AM
  Subject: Louisiana passes first antievolution "academic freedom" law


  http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080627-louisiana-passes-first-antievolution-academic-freedom-law.html<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<mailto:wtg at wtgab.demon.co.uk>
  Web  : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk<http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk/>
  Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/<http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/>

  Debunking bullshit is a thankless task.

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