Tuesday, February 13, 2007
They Still Don't Get It
CBS News reports that evolution is again up for debate in Kansas. A new "evolution friendly" school board is considering a revision to the state's science standards, and the board is expected to "dump" the anti-evolution (anti-intellectual!) standards that were adopted in 2005. That's good news for science and intellectual integrity!
Of course, there are dissenters. Ken Willard, a Republican who supported the anti-evolution/anti-intellectual standards adopted by the previous board, had this to say:
"There's this, I think, political agenda to just ensure that evolution is the driving, underlying notion that has to be accepted in Kansas science standards in order for Kansas to keep its head up in the world, which is just bizarre."
What's bizarre is that he just doesn't get it. It's important, perhaps, that Kansas isn't the laughingstock of the intellectual world, but it's even more important that the integrity of scientific and intellectual processes are maintained. Silly religious beliefs led silly politicians to enshrine anti-evolution beliefs in the science standards. What does that teach kids about science, reason, and intellectual activity? That popularity counts more than veracity?
Of course, there are dissenters. Ken Willard, a Republican who supported the anti-evolution/anti-intellectual standards adopted by the previous board, had this to say:
"There's this, I think, political agenda to just ensure that evolution is the driving, underlying notion that has to be accepted in Kansas science standards in order for Kansas to keep its head up in the world, which is just bizarre."
What's bizarre is that he just doesn't get it. It's important, perhaps, that Kansas isn't the laughingstock of the intellectual world, but it's even more important that the integrity of scientific and intellectual processes are maintained. Silly religious beliefs led silly politicians to enshrine anti-evolution beliefs in the science standards. What does that teach kids about science, reason, and intellectual activity? That popularity counts more than veracity?
