Re: Evolution a hot political topic in Kansas

"On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:40:07 -0400, in article
<XeGdnWsN_eR4dwzVnZ2dnUVZ_hGdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Steven L. stated..."

Glend wrote:
Ask Republican candidates for the Kansas State Board of Education
about the issues they think are most important and you will hear about
the teacher shortage or engaging students with vocational education.

On the campaign trail, however, many voters are using evolution as
their litmus test.

"Everybody wants to talk about evolution and creationism," said
Bill Pannbacker, a candidate for the District 6 seat.

Off and on, evolution, creationism and now intelligent design have
consumed the state school board for about a decade. The yo-yo control
of the board ? from the hands of conservative Republicans to moderate
or liberal Republicans and Democrats ? has kept the issue alive.

"Somebody called it the elephant in the room," said Kathy Martin, an
incumbent and Pannbacker's opponent. "I don't see that as ever
completely being resolved."

As with each board election when five of 10 seats are up for grabs,
power can easily shift hands. In 2005, a conservative-controlled state
board pushed through state science standards critical of evolution and
refused to limit the definition of science to a field that seeks
natural explanations ? a move decried by science associations. When
elections shifted power into the hands of six moderate or liberal
members, the board changed course.

Of all four Republicans running for election in District 6 and in
District 4, only Pannbacker clearly opposes the conservatives' stance.
Pannbacker, a 59-year-old farmer in Washington, has experience serving
on a local school board.

"Science is the study of naturally occurring events," he said in
response to a Topeka Capital-Journal questionnaire. "Supernatural
events are a matter of faith."

Martin, who voted for the 2005 standards, worries that evolution is
sometimes taught as a sort of dogma. Attempts to keep certain
criticisms of evolution out of classrooms ? arguments that many
scientists say are bogus ? seems a lot like censorship to Martin.

"Why would anything in science ever be limited?" asked Martin, a 62-
year-old retired teacher from Clay Center who still substitutes. "In a
way, that's what a certain group of scientists are wanting to do."

The rest:

http://cjonline.com/stories/073108/sta_311695380.shtml

Everything in science is limited, Martin. "Science" without
constraints is just story-telling. You have shown that you prefer
story-telling to science, and most absurdly, you prefer story-telling
to science in SCIENCE classes.

I think that one of the big misconceptions some of these folks have, is
that they think that the elementary school classroom is a debating
society for debating all sides of a radical idea.

Well, of course, nobody really thinks that. The thing is,
people will say all sorts of silly things in order to
pretend have a reason for their inherently unreasonable
feelings. They don't like evolution, and therefore will
say anything that supports that feeling. Don't take it
seriously, as if they really meant it.


In science, there is definitely a place for debate of radical ideas.
But the elementary school classroom is NOT that place. Because students
need to first get a grounding in mainstream scientific opinion.

If these folks really want to allow public school teachers to debate
radical ideas so that students can hear "both sides of a controversy,"
would they apply that same principle to sexuality education? How about
if a teacher told the students:

There is nothing *inherently* wrong with teenagers having sex out of
wedlock, provided there were effective methods to deal with STDs and
pregnancy. And that therefore, abstinence is only an option, and not a
very good one either.

I demand equal time to teach THAT controversy.



I suggest "equal time" for a "controversy" that will get
even more attention from the community:

Let the students debate the rules of basketball/football.


--
---Tom S.
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand."
attributed to Josh Billings

.

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