A Sign of the Return of Sanity ?? (NRR)
funky16corners
7,175 Posts
November 9, 2005School BoardEvolution Slate Outpolls Rivals By LAURIE GOODSTEINAll eight members up for re-election to the Pennsylvania school board that had been sued for introducing the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in biology class were swept out of office yesterday by a slate of challengers who campaigned against the intelligent design policy. [/b]Among the losing incumbents on the Dover, Pa., board were two members who testified in favor of the intelligent design policy at a recently concluded federal trial on the Dover policy: the chairwoman, Sheila Harkins, and Alan Bonsell. The election results were a repudiation of the first school district in the nation to order the introduction of intelligent design in a science class curriculum. The policy was the subject of a trial in Federal District Court that ended last Friday. A verdict by Judge John E. Jones III is expected by early January. "I think voters were tired of the trial, they were tired of intelligent design, they were tired of everything that this school board brought about," said Bernadette Reinking, who was among the winners.The election will not alter the facts on which the judge must decide the case. But if the intelligent design policy is defeated in court, the new school board could refuse to pursue an appeal. It could also withdraw the policy, a step that many challengers said they intended to take. "We are all for it being discussed, but we do not want to see it in biology class," said Judy McIlvaine, a member of the winning slate. "It is not a science."The vote counts were close, but of the 16 candidates the one with the fewest votes was Mr. Bonsell, the driving force behind the intelligent design policy. Testimony at the trial revealed that Mr. Bonsell had initially insisted that creationism get equal time in the classroom with evolution. One incumbent, James Cashman, said he would contest the vote because a voting machine in one precinct recorded no votes for him, while others recorded hundreds.He said that school spending and a new teacher contract, not intelligent design, were the determining issues. "We ran a very conservative school board, and obviously there are people who want to see more money spent," he said.One board member, Heather Geesey, was not up for re-election.The school board voted in October 2004 to require ninth grade biology students to hear a brief statement at the start of the semester saying that there were "gaps" in the theory of evolution, that intelligent design was an alternative and that students could learn more about it by reading a textbook "Of Pandas and People," available in the high school library. The board was sued by 11 Dover parents who contended that intelligent design was religious creationism in new packaging, and that the board was trying to impose its religion on students. The parents were represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and a private law firm, Pepper Hamilton LLP.
Comments
Arnold's props were shut down too.
That's great! They were projecting they would pass....
In regards to Kansas, in the Post today I was reading one of the 4 on the School Board there bemoaning how now they are "the laughing stock of the world".
You sure got that right, sister! But we are all laughing to keep from crying becuz it's only a matter of time in most places in the US that the zealots try to hijack local school boards with their skullduggery.
I know. I'm kinda shocked, but in a good way.
ThAts THe cRAziEst shIT I eVER hEArd!
The standards press beyond the broad mandate for critical analysis of evolution that four other states have established in recent years, by recommending that schools teach specific points that doubters of evolution use to undermine its primacy in science education.
Among the most controversial changes was a redefinition of science itself, so that it would not be explicitly limited to natural explanations.
I love that this was your 666th post.
I find that when I am trying to explain why my religious beliefs should be considered 'science', it helps if you are in a position to re-write the definition of what 'science' means. Definitions are such subjective and ever-changing criteria. I mean really...what IS 'science' anyhow?
not really
SCIENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNCccccce Goooooood
I think its time to start hunting and burning witches too.
Yeah, in general I wouldn't be getting tooo amped. Shit is still BizzaroWorld.
After all, now Frist is trying to create an issue that the whistleblowing of the secret 'black prisons' is a treasonous act of leaking national security secrets.
After all, it wouldn't be an embarrasment if no one had ever found out, right? We wouldn't be breaking International and US law if no one ever had blown the whistle, right?
Toss the Whistleblower in jail and let us get back to protecting the world by torturing terrorists who have never been charged with anything in any court of law!
Scary stupid shit.
Also scary that the media is acting like this is some brand new revelation - that the CIA is torturing people in secret jails. I've read various credible articles touching on this for at least the last couple years. It has actually been known for some time that the CIA "renders" aka kidnaps suspected terrorists and whisks them off to be interrogated/tortured. But it's like the mainstream media didn't have the balls to write about it until Bush's approval ratings dipped below a certain point. It's also funny that the Republicans want an investigation into the leak because early indicators are that the leak came from their side of the aisle.
Especially when there are big holes in darwinian theory to begin with.
Must be the reptillians at work again!
I don't have a problem with teaching scientific alternatives to evolution, should they exist, in science class, and I don't have a problem with comparative religion being taught in a public school. I do have a problem with religious belief being passed off as science. Simple as that.
i heard they were also going to change the definition of 'reading' to 'looking at the cover of the book and guessing what it says inside'.
I don't have a problem with teaching scientific alternatives to evolution, should they exist, in science class, and I don't have a problem with comparative religion being taught in a public school. I do have a problem with religious belief being passed off as science. Simple as that.
im comfortable signing off on that.
Perhaps you need to be introduced to Flying Spaghetti Monsterism to truly see the light. Acknowledge your creation by His Noodly Appendage and become a true Pastafarian!
I find that many Christians apply that definition of 'reading' to their Bible. Or at least certain books therein.