Tuesday, May 26, 2009

This Week's Inquisition in Texas

Earlier this year Don McLeroy and the Texas Board of Education had the courage to stand up to the religious hegemony known as evolution. But the evolutionists have only begun to fight. They are bringing their lies and vitriol from all directions. Josh Rosenau of the National Center for Science Education writes that the new Texas science standards "authorize teachers to omit evolution or include creationism at their whim." That is, of course, false and Rosenau, or whoever is feeding him, knows better. Rosenau also writes of creationist pseudoscience and creationist attacks, and warns that "Watchdogs worry that some publishers may satisfy the board by outright larding books with creationism." He alerts his readers that the new Texas standards contain "creationist amendments," "promote creationism’s mantra," and "echo creationist beliefs."

Lies such as this are fueling a furious response to the standards. The standards actually state that evolution should be taught from a theory-neutral perspective. That is, students should actually understand the scientific evidence. But that is a death knell for evolution and so the fury has been unleashed. They want McLeroy out, textbook publishers not to go along with the spirit of the standards or else face a boycott at the university level, religious leaders to voice their support for evolution, and entrepreneurs to explain why evolution is necessary.

If ever there was an example of the importance of religious influence, this is it. Religion drives science, and it matters.