I’m not optimistic, but we’ll see what shakes out.
As the August 1, 2006, Kansas primary election approaches, evolution is a burning issue. The state board of education is at the center of the furor, of course; in November 2005, the board voted 6-4 to adopt a set of state science standards that were rewritten, under the tutelage of local “intelligent design” activists, to impugn the scientific status of evolution. The standards were denounced by a host of critics, including a group of 38 Nobel laureates (PDF), the National Science Teachers Association, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Biological Sciences, the committee that wrote the original standards, the authors of the Fordham Foundation’s report (PDF) on state science standards, and the Kansas Association of Teachers of Science. In addition, the standards have been rejected by at least one local school district. Because the terms of five of the seats on the board expire in 2006, the primary election (as well as the general election in November) afford a chance for supporters of evolution education to change the balance of power on the board, just as they did in 2000.
I have never heard of any of these anti-science morons being a member of the Democratic Party. How does the GOP explain the fact that creationist morons are always Republicans? Why doesn’t the GOP ever try to distance itself from creationist morons, instead of sucking up to them?
American creationists have given the United States the distinction of being the only industrialized state that has a significiant proportion of this brand of scientifically uneducated moron.
I hope parents/voters in Kansas realize what this sort of education does for their children’s educational future elsewhere.
Repack:
There are a lot of creationist morons. Creationist morons vote. Let’s just say it’s another case of the GOP taking an expedient view of matters, irrespective of the outcome. (QV: Iraq.)
Nope…no Democratic voter would ever support creationism. Not at all.
Look, this is not a “GOP” problem. You shouldn’t find any solace in the fact that the Republicans contain a few more creationists. There’s enough in the Democratic party to cause problems for science education across the nation.
“There s enough in the Democratic party to cause problems for science education across the nation.”
Um, but are they? There’s a big difference between those who believe in creationism and those who go the extra step to argue that creationism should be taught schools. Which is not to say that no Democratic candidate or politicians would espouse teaching creationism, especially since one of the Democratic Kansas board members is facing a primary challenge from an ID supporting Dem.
The challenger, however, does not have the support of the local party, the leadership of which, assumes that he is a “stealth candidate” recruited to run in the Dem primary by the right:
Hmmm. So here you have a situation where a Dem is running in the primary on a pro-creationism platform and the Dem leadership is opposed to his candidacy, indeed, they are attacking him as a whipping boy for the far right.
Still, we’ll have to see how the primary turns out to know whether or not rank and file dems, who may belive in creationism, also support it being taught in public schools.
At the same time, you’d have to be deliberately obtuse to argue that Democrats are leading the charge in Kansas or anywhere else to put creationism back in the schools.
Did you read the part that Kerry voters “favor schools teaching creationism and evolution” together by 56%? That’s scary.
I never did. But it’s ignorant to claim that “creationist morons are always Republicans” when the vast majority of the population believes in it.
“I never did.”
Naturally, you just figured you’d throw out a little distraction from the fact that the religious right is waging open war on science by suggesting that the left is also part of the “problem.” So 56 percent of Kerry voters support teaching creationism and evolution in schools? So what. Believing something in one’s personal life doesn’t always translate into political activism. The activism on this issue is coming squarely from the right. Religious liberals aren’t the ones pushing the issue in local school boards. So when you say it isn’t only a “GOP problem” why is it that the only “problems” we ever hear about are lead by the religious right?
Show me the school board run by Kerry-voting liberal christians who have added Intelligent Design or creationism to science classes? Can you find me one example of a liberal dominated school board pushing such a policy?
Let’s also not forget that only 24 percent of Kerry supporters favor teaching creationism instead of evolution. It’s 45 with Bush voters. That’s what’s really scray. Both candidates during the campaign took a moderate, pass the buck approach to the issue during the campaign:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1104420v1.pdf
At least Kerry added the word “sound” because intelligent design is not only not sound science, it ain’t science period. Nevertheless, after the campaign, in August of 2005, Bush felt comfortable coming right out and explicitly advocating that Intelligent Design ought to be taught in the schools:
And how did the Religious Right respond? I give you Gary Bauer:
A majority of people in this country are religious, believe in God and accept the Bible as true or close enough. But face it JWG, only one side of the political spectrum has embraced intelligenct design and creationism as a political wedge issue and it is the right.