Tag: science

January 7, 2006

In light of Dover, Ohio Board of Education to reconsider their ID lesson plan

Ohio’s Board of Education (OBE) in March of 2004 adopted a “critical analysis of evolution” model lesson after a long hard fought campaign between those who support real science and those who want to force children to learn religion in the public schools.

In light of the Dover decision and this new evidence of the behind the scenes manipulation, Americans United are prepared to file a lawsuit against the OBE.

The Board has been meeting with its legal team and is trying to decide if they will remove the lesson plan.

The OBE will meet next Tuesday January 10 starting at 8 AM in Columbus.

Help them decide in the next post of Secular Left

Read the postIn light of Dover, Ohio Board of Education to reconsider their ID lesson plan
December 25, 2005

No, Virginia, there is no Santa or anything else mythical

We are told we are “affected” by skepticism that we only believe what we see. Our minds are small, we are told, unable to grasp the whole “truth” of the vast universe. We are told that there would no art or romance and we would live in a dreary world indeed. We are told children need to believe or all light in the world would be extinguished — What the hell!?!

What is interesting about the editorial is if you substitute “Jesus” or “God” for “Santa Claus” you can read some of the very same arguments used to rebut those who don’t believe in any of them.

Here is how I rewrite the editorial had it come to me in 1897:

Virginia, your little friends are right. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their minds. We may not know everything about this great universe of ours, but we know there is the possibility we may learn.

Read more in the latest episode of Secular Left

Read the postNo, Virginia, there is no Santa or anything else mythical
December 21, 2005

Judge throws book at Dover Board in ruling

On December 20, 2005, Judge John E. Jones III, In The United States District Court For The Middle District Of Pennsylvania, ruled that the Dover District School Board violated the US Constitution when they changed the 9th grade Biology curriculum to include Intelligent Design (ID).

Some of the members of the Board who voted for the change didn’t even know what ID was all about.

The Judge also took to task some members who lied under oath and tried to cover their tracks when the change caused some issues for the community.

Read the postJudge throws book at Dover Board in ruling
December 20, 2005

Victory for real science in Dover, PA

Judge in Dover case rules in favor of the parents who wanted to keep ID out of their children’s classroom

“We find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board’s real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom,” he wrote in his 139-page opinion.

Jones wrote that he wasn’t saying the intelligent design concept shouldn’t be studied and discussed, saying its advocates “have bona fide and deeply held beliefs which drive their scholarly endeavors.”

But, he wrote, “our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom.”

More later —

Read the postVictory for real science in Dover, PA
November 4, 2005

Vatican reaffirms Evolution

Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into “fundamentalism” if it ignores scientific reason.

Monsignor Gianfranco Basti, director of the Vatican project STOQ, or Science, Theology and Ontological Quest, reaffirmed John Paul’s 1996 statement that evolution was “more than just a hypothesis.”

Read the postVatican reaffirms Evolution
October 29, 2005

Tom Brokaw looks inside Christian Evangelicals