Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor
(NOTE: Correction and Update Below)
A Missouri lawmaker has proposed legislation that would make learning about evolution in public schools “optional.” State Rep. Rick Brattin (R), the main sponsor of House Bill 291—also known as the “Missouri Standard Science Act”—introduced the bill in January. Brattin told KCTV, a local station, that teaching only evolution in school was “indoctrination.” He continued, “Our schools basically mandate that we teach one side. It is an indoctrination because it is not objective approach.”
The Kansas City Star reported that Brattin said, “…forcing students to study the natural selection theories developed by Charles Darwin a century and a half ago can violate their religious faith. It’s an absolute infringement on people’s beliefs.” Critics of Brattin’s bill say his legislation “would allow religious faith in biblical explanations to crowd out sound science.”
HB 291 would require schools to notify parents if “the theory of evolution by natural selection” was being taught at their child’s school—and give students the opportunity to “opt out of the class.” According to Dana Liebelson of Mother Jones, HB 291 “redefines a few things you thought you already knew about science.”
Liebelson:
For example, a “hypothesis” is redefined as something that reflects a “minority of scientific opinion and is “philosophically unpopular.” A scientific theory is “an inferred explanation…whose components are data, logic and faith-based philosophy.” And “destiny” is not something that $5 fortune tellers believe in; Instead, it’s “the events and processes that define the future of the universe, galaxies, stars, our solar system, earth, plant life, animal life, and the human race.”
Liebelson added that the “Missouri Standard Science Act” also requires that public elementary and secondary schools in the state—as well as introductory science classes at public universities—“give equal textbook space to both evolution and intelligent design.”
From the National Center for Science Education:
HB 291’s text is about 3000 words long, beginning with a declaration that the bill is to be known as the Missouri Standard Science Act, followed by a defectively alphabetized glossary providing idiosyncratic definitions of “analogous naturalistic processes,” “biological evolution,” “biological intelligent design,” “destiny,” “empirical data,” “equal treatment,” “hypothesis,” “origin,” “scientific theory,” “scientific law,” and “standard science.”
Among the substantive provisions of the bill, applying both to Missouri’s public elementary and secondary schools and to introductory science courses in public institutions of higher education in the state: “If scientific theory concerning biological origin is taught in a course of study, biological evolution and biological intelligent design shall be taught. Other scientific theory or theories of origin may be taught.”
For public elementary and secondary schools, HB 291 also provides, “If scientific theory concerning biological origin is taught in a textbook, the textbook shall give equal treatment to biological evolution and biological intelligent design.” After the bill is enacted, new textbooks purchased for the public schools will have to conform to the equal treatment requirement. A committee will develop supplementary material on “intelligent design” for optional interim use.
Eric Meikle, the education director at the National Center for Science Education, said that he couldn’t “imagine” that any mainstream textbook publisher would comply with the bill’s textbook requirement. Meikle said, “The material doesn’t exist.”
Brattin told The Riverfront Times that he was a “science enthusiast” and “a huge science buff.” He added. “This [bill] is about testable data in today’s world.” Meikle disagrees with Brattin. Meikle told Mother Jones, “This bill is very idiosyncratic and strange. And there is simply not scientific evidence for intelligence design.”
And people wonder why some of our students are falling behind international peers in science.
Creation Science 101 by Roy Zimmerman
Correction and Update
It has been called to my attention by Willy Kessler that HB291 was introduced in 2013 and “allowed to die.” Brattin was sponsor of another bill (HB 1472) this year which would require Missouri public schools to notify parents when evolution is being taught and to allow students to opt out of classes.
From the National Center for Science Education (January 17, 2014)
Antievolution legislation in Missouri
Missouri’s House Bill 1472, introduced in the House of Representatives on January 16, 2013, is the third antiscience bill of the year, following Virginia’s HB 207 and Oklahoma’s SB 1765. If enacted, the bill would require “[a]ny school district or charter school which provides instruction relating to the theory of evolution by natural selection” to have “a policy on parental notification and a mechanism where a parent can choose to remove the student from any part of the district’s or school’s instruction on evolution.” Parents and guardians would receive a notification containing “[t]he basic content of the district’s or school’s evolution instruction to be provided to the student” and “[t]he parent’s right to remove the student from any part of the district’s or school’s evolution instruction.”
NCSE’s deputy director Glenn Branch commented, “House Bill 1472 would eviscerate the teaching of biology in Missouri.” Quoting “The OOPSIE Compromise — A Big Mistake,” which Eugenie C. Scott and he wrote for Evolution: Education and Outreach in 2008, he added, “Evolution inextricably pervades the biological sciences; it therefore pervades, or at any rate ought to pervade, biology education at the K–12 level. There simply is no alternative to learning about it; there is no substitute activity. A teacher who tries to present biology without mentioning evolution is like a director trying to produce Hamlet without casting the prince.” Teachers, schools, and districts would suffer as well, Branch observed. “The value of a high school education in Missouri would be degraded.”
The sponsors of HB 1472 are Rick Brattin (R-District 55) and Andy Koenig (R-District 99). Both have a history of sponsoring antievolution legislation in Missouri. In 2012, Koenig sponsored and Brattin cosponsored House Bill 1276, a “strengths and weaknesses” bill, and Brattin sponsored and Koenig cosponsored House Bill 1227, which would have required equal time for “intelligent design” in public schools, including introductory courses at colleges and universities. In 2013, Koenig sponsored and Brattin cosponsored House Bill 179, a “strengths and weaknesses” bill, and Brattin sponsored and Koenig cosponsored House Bill 291, which would have required equal time for “intelligent design” in public schools, including introductory courses at colleges and universities. All died.
SOURCES
Missouri lawmaker wants to make evolution teaching optional (KCTV)
Unprecedented Attack On Evolution ‘Indoctrination’ Mounted In Missouri (Talking Points Memo)
Anti-Evolution Missouri Bill Requires College Students to Learn About Destiny (Mother Jones)
Rick Brattin, Who Wants Anti-Evolution Lessons In Missouri Schools: “I’m A Science Enthusiast” (Riverfront Times)
Missouri bill would let parents pull kids from evolution classes (Kansas City Star)
Missouri lawmaker introduces bill allowing familes to ‘opt out’ of learning evolution (Daily Kos)
“Intelligent design” bill in Missouri (National Center for Science Education)
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
I do not agree with lawmakers forcing what is taught or not taught in public schools, but it is really ironic to observe in this thread all the science lovers defend the current orthodox dogma of science without a single reference to scientific proof.
Mo. Lawmaker Wants Equal Room for Intelligent Design in Textbooks
2/12/13
http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/mo-lawmaker-wants-equal-room-for-intelligent-design-in-textbooks/d/story/O3M9kVVlgU6MWPQyZs4Ncg
Excerpt:
Evolution and intelligent design are two theories of origin. Right now, evolution is taught in science classes, but this bill wants equal treatment of both theories in schools.
“It’s bad science and that makes it bad education,” says John Heywood, professor of Biology at Missouri State University.
Heywood says intelligent design doesn’t fit the model of science.
“It makes testable predictions it has to say something about the world that can actually be checked out,” says Heywood about the model of science.
This bill would require Missouri elementary and secondary schools and introductory science classes in public universities to give equal textbook space to both evolution and intelligent design, but Heywood says it’s unconstitutional because it goes against the separation of church and state.
“Basically confusing our students as to what science is.”
Well folks, I just want to say thank you because this is my very first blog that I have ever participated in and it has been an especially pleasant experience. I think I found a home.
Spotlight on Rick Brattin
7/3/13
http://www.examiner.com/article/spotlight-on-rick-brattin
Excerpt:
Rick Brattin is the conservative State Representative serving Missouri’s 55th district. He has the standard Republican claims to want to return “both Missouri and our nation to the ideals we were founded on.” That means, like most Republicans, he has no idea what ideals this country was founded on but is pretty sure that the founding fathers were all baptist evangelicals.
Recently he made national news with what can only be thought to be a satirical piece of legislation meant to poke fun at the thought of a War on Christmas. More specifically, House Bill 278 “prohibits any state or local governmental entity or public building, place, or setting from banning or restricting the practice, mention, celebration, or discussion of any federal holiday.” This legislation is only thought necessary by people who think FOX is a news organization.
The fight to “protect Christmas” went to the governor’s desk along with another bill aimed at forbidding governments from enacting policies traceable to Agenda 21, a nonbinding resolution adopted in 1992 by the United Nations that encouraged sustainable development. Since Agenda 21 doesn’t mandate anything, that makes it just as useless.
In a press release announcing the vetoes Gov. Nixon said:
“While the problems these bills ostensibly aim to fight are only imaginary, the headaches they could create for local governments would be very real and costly. The new and unnecessary mandates imposed by these bills would have infringed on the rights of local communities and prompted a flood of frivolous litigation.”
As someone who watches Fox News RELIGIOUSLY I appreciate the humor in the video.
Justin, Liberals and conservatives, Dems and Republicans have a VERY difficult time not allowing people to choose their own way to live your life. They want to control what you say, what you eat, what you teach, your healthcare, the list goes on. Stick around, you have some like minded people w/ open minds. You know..libertarians.
Some of you may enjoy the following video, which I just found on Youtube:
Ascent of Man
No one is suggesting that all humans don’t have a right to live their lives as they choose.
Every human being has a right to live their life they way they choose, as long as it does not interfere with another human being’s equal right to live their life they way they choose. You can spend your whole life studying philosophy, psychology, sociology, history and whatever other ology you want to study. In the end it all comes down to this: Live and let live.
JUSTIN L. PETACCIO
In my 64 years, I’ve yet to meet that human being who has the market cornered on “the truth.”
*****
Yet, there are those who would close children’s minds to science.
Ms. Magliaro thank you very much for bring this topic up for discussion. What we have here is a healthy, spirited, constructive discussion and that is always a good thing. As evidenced here, Americans have very strong opinions when it comes to religion.
Giovanna De La Paz,
I’m not a “Mr.”
I was raised Roman Catholic and attended parochial schools from first through twelfth grade. I was told by the Sisters of Notre Dame that the Bible was not a nonfiction book. I was taught about evolution in biology class. One can be religious and still believe in evolution. Creationism is not science; it is religion. It should not be taught as a scientific theory in public schools.
BTW, let us not forget what the Catholic Church did to Galileo, one of the world’s great scientists.
Giovanna De La Paz,
Of course some of what Darwin thought has been questioned. So have the theories of every great scientific pioneer. Even Newton, once Einstein came along. Stephen Hawking has revised some of his own theories and observations regarding cosmology and dense matter during his own lifetime. You really don’t want to get me started on the effect studies of quantum physics are causing in scientific thought. Scientists rethink a lot of things as new discoveries are made.
Many of Freud’s observations have been questioned by more recent developments and discoveries in mental health…discoveries that were done by empirical testing. You know, where there are control groups, experimental groups, and statistical analysis of the findings.
The thing about science that separates it from religious beliefs is that science is continually growing. Evolving, if you will. On the other hand, dogmatic religious believers refuse to adjust their thinking as new discoveries are made. Everything is based on a book written three millennia ago by bronze-age people living in the desert, and that cannot be questioned if one is a fundamentalist True Believer. There are religious groups which don’t even permit discussion or debate about what words or phrases in their religious texts mean. Some go so far as making such discussion a death penalty offense.
Mr. Stanley, I parted company with religion decades ago. But to get to that point I had to go through the ‘religion phase” in my life. I respect another individual’s right to freely make their own choices.
Justin, Great civil response. Keep it up.
Giovanna, Such a moderate remark would have gotten you attacked here not long ago.
DavidM…. He will tell you….all you need to know,…. You’ll never have to buy a book or look anything up…. Justin…. He’s all knowing….
Even strong supporters of Bill Nye are saying he got his ass kicked by Ken Ham in the evolution intelligent design debate. I didn’t see it.
In my 64 years, I’ve yet to meet that human being who has the market cornered on “the truth.”
Mr. Magliaro,
I don’t know if you’re familiar with how many Roman Catholic scientist contributed to the various sciences. For instance, just to name a few: Gregor Mendal, Nicolas Copernicus, Roger Bacon, and Francisco Grimaldi, were both religious creationist and scientist. Many Jesuit priest’s also contributed to the various sciences in such areas as pendulum clocks, seismology, barometers, telescopes and microscopes. They worked and formed new discoveries in fields of magnetism, optics, and electricity. These men believed in science and in creationism. In conclusion, evolutionary science and religion can work together and should be taught in schools.
Thank you for your reply, Mr. Stanley. Taking all that you stated, I stand by my comments. America’s strength is in its diversity of thought.
I’m neither a disciple of creationism nor evolution. But my own intelligence pokes holes in both sides. For one, why haven’t bacteria been able to evolve to survive in a jar of honey? At the same time, bacteria have defeated every known antibiotic thrown at them.