Missouri Republicans Introduce Bill That Forces Educators To Teach Creationism In Schools And Universities

[one...two...tree 2,762]

House Bill 1227, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives on January 10, 2012, would, if enacted, require "the equal treatment of science instruction regarding evolution and intelligent design," according to the legislature's summary of the bill. The equal treatment provision would apply to both public elementary and secondary schools and to "any introductory science course taught at any public institution of higher education" in Missouri.

HB 1227'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 public elementary and secondary schools and to introductory science courses in public institutions of higher education: "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 1227 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.

HB 1227 is apparently a descendent of HB 911 in 2004, which was also dubbed the Missouri Standard Science Act, began with a glossary of the same eleven terms (and also "extrapolated radiometric data"), would have required equal treatment of "intelligent design" in the public elementary and secondary schools (although not in public higher education), and would have required textbooks to conform to the equal treatment requirement.

HB 911 was widely criticized, including by the Science Teachers of Missouri. A sequel bill, HB 1722, also introduced in 2004, contained the same language as HB 911, but omitted provisions that would have required the text of the bill to be posted in high school science classrooms and that would have enabled the firing of teachers and administrators who failed to comply with the law. Both bills died when the legislative session ended.

Rick Brattin (R-District 124) is the main sponsor of HB 1227; its cosponsors are John McCaherty (R-District 90), Charlie Davis (R-District 128), Andrew Koenig (R-District 88), Sue Allen (R-District 92), and Darrell Pollock (R-District 146); Davis, Koenig, and Pollock also cosponsored the antievolution HB 195 in 2011. HB 1227 is the fourth antievolution bill of 2012, joining Indiana's Senate Bill 89 and New Hampshire's House Bills 1148 and 1157.

http://ncse.com/news/2012/01/intelligent-design-bill-missouri-007092

[The_Dude 1,142]

I guess if the bill passes, the children of Missouri will be worse off. It is sad that there are people in this country who still try to pass off creationism as a science.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I guess if the bill passes, the children of Missouri will be worse off. It is sad that there are people in this country who still try to pass off creationism as a science.

It will be challenged in the courts if it does pass.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Obviously we need to separate government from education.

Allowing people to choose which school their children attend (pro-choice) AND which school their property tax money gets sent to, will stop this nonsense in its tracks

[Pooky 3,804]

Another good reason to keep politicians out of education.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Obviously we need to separate government from education.

Allowing people to choose which school their children attend (pro-choice) AND which school their property tax money gets sent to, will stop this nonsense in its tracks

[웃 910]

Obviously we need to separate government from education.

Allowing people to choose which school their children attend (pro-choice) AND which school their property tax money gets sent to, will stop this nonsense in its tracks

What if you live in a bad area but border another area that is a lot less bad?

I can give you many real life examples where the closest school is a hell hole, and 5 miles further up the road you have a really nice school.

All the money would stop flowing to the hell hole and would go to the good school. So what do you do, bull doze the bad school?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Have you ever been to Missouri? Education is not a big priority there.

What if you live in a bad area but border another area that is a lot less bad?

I can give you many real life examples where the closest school is a hell hole, and 5 miles further up the road you have a really nice school.

All the money would stop flowing to the hell hole and would go to the good school. So what do you do, bull doze the bad school?

Yes.

[mr and mrs 187]

im getting the feeling that ya'll are missing the silver lining here. if the recognition of creationism is coming to missouri schools, certainly FSM theories will also be getting some positive press in the classroom.

does the almighty FSM have a creation story? i feel like it might have all started with a couple we all know and love...

enough of religious intolerance! down with science!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The American Taliban strikes again.

[웃 910]

Who created the intelligent designer that created the universe 13.7 billion years ago?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Who created the intelligent designer that created the universe 13.7 billion years ago?

These freaks in Missouri and elsewhere are proof positive that there ain't no intelligent designer. Why would anyone with any intelligence have created these poor excuses?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Who created the intelligent designer that created the universe 13.7 billion years ago?

Is Time an Illusion? [Preview]

The concepts of time and change may emerge from a universe that, at root, is utterly static

As you read this sentence, you probably think that this moment—right now—is what is happening. The present moment feels special. It is real. However much you may remember the past or anticipate the future, you live in the present. Of course, the moment during which you read that sentence is no longer happening. This one is. In other words, it feels as though time flows, in the sense that the present is constantly updating itself. We have a deep intuition that the future is open until it becomes present and that the past is fixed. As time flows, this structure of fixed past, immediate present and open future gets carried forward in time. This structure is built into our language, thought and behavior. How we live our lives hangs on it.

Yet as natural as this way of thinking is, you will not find it reflected in science. The equations of physics do not tell us which events are occurring right now—they are like a map without the “you are here” symbol. The present moment does not exist in them, and therefore neither does the flow of time. Additionally, Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity suggest not only that there is no single special present but also that all moments are equally real [see “That Mysterious Flow,” by Paul Davies; Scientific American, September 2002]. Fundamentally, the future is no more open than the past.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-time-an-illusion

[mr and mrs 187]

Who created the intelligent designer that created the universe 13.7 billion years ago?

shaft?

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

shaft?

He is (of course) the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about, so yeah, I can dig it.