05.28.08
Louisiana creationism bill
From Dawkins site
Louisiana’s latest creationism bill moves to House floor
by National Center for Science Education
Call to Action
If you thought the Dover Trial would rid us of the Creationists and the Discovery Institute, think again. The National Center for Science Education (www.ncseweb.org/) as well as educators across the US are having to spend time, effort and money fighting to save public education. Currently the most critical situation is int he State of Louisiana. Please help fight Senate Bill 733.
Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of NCSE also warns “We anticipate that next fall or spring (depending on the legislative calendar) there will be new bills proposed in several states (we already know of bills being proposed in OK, NM, and TX, and anticipate IN and some other states.) If the LA bill passes, it will encourage creationists in other states to try the model legislation (originally from an Alabama bill, but tweaked by the Discovery Institute — http://www.academicfreedompetition.com/freedom.php )”
Reposted from the National Center for Science Education:
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2008/LA/66_louisianas_latest_creationism_5_23_2008.asp
go to original article for relevant links
On May 21, 2008, Senate Bill 733, the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act, was unanimously passed by the Louisiana House Education Committee. Before passage, the bill was amended slightly from the form which passed the Senate on April 29, 2008, as previously reported by NCSE. It now moves to the full House.
The Associated Press reports (May 21, 2008) that, over the course of a hearing that lasted close to three hours, “Science teachers called Senate Bill 733 a veiled attempt to add religion to science classes.” The bill singles evolution out from other scientific theories, and states that a teacher “may use supplemental textbooks and other instructional materials to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner.”
In the House hearing, some critics pointed out that the bill’s stated goals are already covered by policies set by the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Baton Rouge Advocate reports Tammy Wood, a science teacher from the Zachary, Louisiana school district, told the committee: “There is absolutely no need for this bill,” and added “I am begging you here today to kill this bill.”
After the bill passed the state Senate, Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, wrote to the New Orleans Times-Picayune (May 6, 2008), and echoed the same sentiments. “Proponents offer deceptive arguments about encouraging students to think critically,” he observed. “But Louisiana’s education standards already do that. The real intent is to introduce classroom materials that raise misleading objections to the well-documented science of evolution and offer a religious idea called intelligent design as a supposed alternative. That would unleash an assault against scientific integrity, leaving students confused about science and unprepared to excel in a modern workforce.”
While bill sponsor Senator Ben Nevers (D-Bogalusa) insisted to the AP on May 21 that “I plainly state in this bill that no religion will be taught,” he previously told the Hammond Daily Star (April 6, 2008) that the bill was drafted by a group which “believe[s] that scientific data related to creationism should be discussed.” Similarly, bill supporter David Tate, a member of the Livingston Parish School Board, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune (April 18, 2008), “I believe that both sides — the creationism side and the evolution side — should be presented and let students decide what they believe,” adding that the bill is needed because “teachers are scared to talk about” creationism.
At the hearing in the House committee, Caroline Crocker, CEO of the Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness (IDEA) Center, “said Darwinian evolution is outdated and doesn’t explain new findings in science. She also said she had been persecuted in the academic world because of her views,” according to the AP. NCSE examined her claims of persecution in our response to her appearance in Ben Stein’s antievolution movie, Expelled.
Opponents cited these statements to argue that the bill would open classrooms to creationism. House Education Committee Chairman Don Trahan (R-Lafayette) responded by proposing an amendment which the AP explains “would give the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education the ability to prohibit introduction of materials.”
NCSE board member Barbara Forrest told the committee that even the amended version was too broadly written. “Anything could get into the classroom,” the AP reports her telling the committee.
That prospect worries the Baton Rouge Advocate’s editorial board, which wrote (May 21, 2008) that the bill will “provide a full-time living for dozens of lawyers in the American Civil Liberties Union. They will have a field day suing taxpayer-funded schools as groups use Nevers’ language to push Bible-based texts in the schools. That’s unconstitutional, and we can see the taxpayer paying — and paying, and paying — for this policy in the future.”
May 23, 2008
Associated Press Report:
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/80521030
The Baton Roughe Advocate:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/19139834.html
The New Orleans Times-Picayune:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/panel_oks_bill_on_science_text.html
C. David Parsons said,
May 28, 2008 at 5:45 pm
GOD BLESS THE ACLU FOR HELPING ATHEISTS CORRUPT THE INNOCENTS WITHIN THE CLASSROOM.
(Prov 25:21 KJV) If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
(Prov 25:22 KJV) For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
HERE IS LIVING BREAD FOR THE HATERS OF GOD.
THE BIGGER PICTURE IN THE DEBATE ON DARWINISM IS NOT INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
The reason is elementary: the Discovery Institute and other ID proponents leave out the Triune God, Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Hence, Richard Dawkins can make the case for “aliens†seeding the earth.
The Quest for Right, a series of 7 textbooks created for the public schools, represents the ultimate marriage between an in-depth knowledge of biblical phenomena and natural and physical sciences. The several volumes have accomplished that which, heretofore, was deemed impossible: to level the playing field between those who desire a return to physical science in the classroom and those who embrace the theory of evolution. The Quest for Right turns the tide by providing an authoritative and enlightening scientific explanation of natural phenomena which will ultimately dethrone the unprofitable Darwinian view.
“I am amazed at the breadth of the investigation – scientific history, biblical studies, geology, biology, geography, astronomy, chemistry, paleontology, and so forth – and find the style of writing to be quite lucid and aimed clearly at a general, lay audience.” ― Mark Roberts, former Editor of Biblical Reference Books, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
The Quest for Right series of books, based on physical science, the old science of cause and effect, has effectively dismantled the quantum additions to the true architecture of the atom. Gone are the nonexistent particles once thought to be complementary to the electron and proton (examples: neutrons, neutrinos, photons, mesons, quarks, Z’s, bosons, etc.) and a host of other pseudo particles.
To the curious, scientists sought to explain Atomic theory by introducing fantastic particles that supposedly came tumbling out of the impact between two particles, when in fact, the supposed finds were simply particulate debris. There are only two elementary particles which make up the whole of the universe: the proton and electron. All other particles were added via quantum magic and mathematical elucidation in an attempt to explain earthly phenomena without God.
Introducing the scheme of coincidence, which by definition, “is the systematic ploy of obstructionists who, in lieu of any divine intervention, state that any coincidental grouping or chance union of electrons and protons (and neutrons), regardless of the configuration, always produces a chemical element. This is the mischievous tenet of electron interpretation which states that all physical, chemical, and biological processes result from a change in the electron structure of the atom which, in turn, may be deciphered through the orderly application of mathematics, as outlined in quantum mechanics. A few of the supporting theories are: degrading stars, neutron stars, black holes, extraterrestrial water, antimatter, the absolute dating systems, and the big bang, the explosion of a singularity infinitely smaller than the dot of an “i†from which space, time, and the massive stellar bodies supposedly sprang into being.
The Quest for Right is not only better at explaining natural phenomena, but also may be verified through testing. As a consequence, the material in the several volumes will not violate the so-called constitutional separation of church and state. Physical science, the old science of cause and effect, will have a long-term sustainability, replacing irresponsible doctrines based on whim. Teachers and students will rejoice in the simplicity of earthly phenomena when entertained by the new discipline.
Continue your education by reading The Quest for Right. http://questforright.com