Anti-Evolution ‘Monkey Bill’ Poised To Become Law In Tennessee

[Tx4obama]

Anti-Evolution ‘Monkey Bill’ Poised To Become Law In Tennessee

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) announced yesterday that he will “probably” sign a bill that attacks the teaching of “biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning” by giving broad new legal immunities to teachers who question evolution and other widely accepted scientific theories. Under the bill, which passed the state legislature last month:

Neither the state board of education, nor any public elementary or secondary school governing authority, director of schools, school system administrator, or any public elementary or secondary school principal or administrator shall prohibit any teacher in a public school system of this state from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.

Although the bill is written to seem benign, as it neither specifically authorizes the teaching of creationism nor permits teachers to do more than criticize scientific theories “in an objective matter,” the practical impact of this bill will be to intimidate all but the heartiest of school administrators against disciplining teachers who preach the most outlandish junk science in their classrooms. Because the bill provides little guidance as to what constitutes an “objective” criticism of a scientific theory, any principal who reigns in teachers who force creationism or Pastafarianism upon their students risks finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.

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Rest of article here: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/04/04/457312/anti-evolution-monkey-bill-poised-to-become-law-in-tennessee/

[muntrv]

1. They're still fighting the Scopes Monkey Trial.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. what the HELL is happening to us?

How did we get on this path towards enforced idiocy and stupidity? Willful ignorance was cute on Hogan's Heros, but damn, this is real life.

[stopbush]

5. Religion. Specifically, Christianity. More specifically, the fundamentalist brand of Xianity.

That's what lies at the heart of the attacks on science. For that matter, that's what lies at the heart of the War on Women.

[Yavin4]

9. The Power Economic Elite Is Pandering to the Regressive Elements of Our Society

in order to enable them to devalue our labor and steal public monies for their own interests. With all due apologies, most religious dogma is highly regressive thinking.

If you want an analogy, see the royal family of Saudi Arabia which panders to religious fundies in order to steal their nation's natural wealth for themselves.

[hifiguy]

17. Religion, specifically fundamentalist religion, of any kind

is the single greatest threat to the long-term survival of the human species.

[AlinPA]

18. Religion. And stupidity.

[immoderate]

3. So -- the flying spaghetti monster is good to go?

Apparently you're immune if you stick with the FSM!


--imm

[AtomicKitten]

4. For crissakes Tennessee, please secede from the union. You're an embarrassment.

Look what happened to Kentucky:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. Maybe they can take south carolina with?

[AtomicKitten]

11. Florida and Texas too.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. Naw. Climate change is about to drown Florida, and dry out Texas worse than the Sahara.

Let nature take its natural couse.

[AtomicKitten]

13. You're right. Mother Nature doesn't need us micromanaging her affairs.

[JFN1]

6. Seems to me this could actually go the other way, too...

Teachers who want to strongly argue against creationism/ID/religious indoctrination would be protected, too...

[JoePhilly]

16. My kids would go to school ready to bury ID / creationism.

Some questions ...

Teacher ... Why is there only one Intelligent Designer? Given the variety of life forms on earth, isn't it more likely that there are many intelligent designers?

Teacher ... Why did the Intelligent Designer create cancer? I'd think that an Intelligent Designer would not include a mechanism that allows cells to mutate and grow in a manner which kills the host organism.

Teacher ... Why did the Intelligent designer give us an appendix, and organ that performs no meaningful purpose?

Teacher ... Did the Intelligent designer create live on other planets? Are we the first live he created? Did he create prototypes of life on other planets? Are we a prototype? Might he have created better, improved forms of life somewhere else?

After a few weeks of this ... creationism dies a natural death. Especially when creationist kids go home and start asking their own parents these kinds of questions. Creationist parents will want to return to indoctrinating their kids in a closed environment.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. ...

[Bandit]

10. When did Creationism or Intelligent Design become a recognized Scientific Theory?

Theory in scientific terms is quite different from the common usage of the word theory..A Recognized Scientific Theory would have had to undergo study of hypothesis from many reputable Scientist for quite some time before it could be elevated to "Scientific Theory".. I think the way the Law is worded Creationism could not be taught or even mentioned in the classroom..

[KamaAina]

14. Is it 1920 yet?

[frogmarch]

15. Ignorant twits.

[Rex]

19. What a bunch of fucking garbage.

It is simply AMAZING we are alive and have a very complex culture. Seems like some cannot WAIT to fuck it up and make sure the rest of us stay 'stupid and in the dark.'

Repukes = stupid scumbags.