For the last couple weeks I've been dying to get my hands on a transcript of the NCBCPS press conference where they responded to the Texas Freedom Network's criticism of their bible curriculum, mostly because I wanted to see what sort of stupid things Chuck Norris might have said. Last night I got an email from Ed Darrell that may explain why I can't find one. He has it on the authority of Heather Alden, the TFN's tireless media director, that no press showed up at their press conference (which was held at the National Press Club, as many Washington events are). That's absolutely hysterical. And I certainly would never doubt the word of a fellow Asylum Street Spankers fan.
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The NCBCPS has photos and a video of the September 2005 news conference up on their website (www.bibleinschools.net). The photos do appear to indicate that at least a couple of individuals are in the audience. I'm watching/listening to the video now, and so far there's no video indication of any audience size although the amount of applause as speakers are introduced would seem to indicate a rather small group.
I've watched the entire 47+ minutes of the video now, but unfortunately the cameras never turned to the audience so I'm unsure of what size it might have been.
The initial presenters from NCBCPS were articulate and professional. Nothing was said during the initial presentation regarding any revisions to the curriculum, merely that a new one was being introduced.
In addition to NCBCPS personnel Steve Crampton & Mike Johnson, there were three other speakers:
Alveda King: not entirely sure why she was there other than she's a relative of MLK, Jr. Her brief remarks centered on that relationship and a plea for biblical literacy as key to understanding Western civilization.
Chuck & Gina Norris: their presentation was rather rambling, but I gather that they support the curriculum largely because one of their sons (?) got an "F" on a paper he was supposed to write on evolution and couldn't because "he didn't believe in evolution". They seemed to believe that a Bible curriculum would give him some kind of alternative (whatever that might be). Generally, they came off as rather confused and rambling. During the Q&A, they even seemed to make a rather bizarre connection between Biblical values and martial arts teachings...
There were about 20 minutes of Q&A following the presentations. Several individuals spoke, two of whom (I believe) gave no professional affiliation (that I could make out, anyway). One of whom did nothing more than ramble incoherently for about 5 minutes.
Of those who gave professional affiliations, the following media orgs were represented:
The rep. from Associated Baptist Press asked a question about TFN's criticisms. Specifically, why, if the NCBCPS believed TFN's critique to be baseless as its sharp objections seemed to indicate, did the new curriculum contain many of the exact revisions Dr. Chancey had recommended? NCBCPS's Mike Johnson actually said that valid criticisms were always appreciated and that "we concede that point" in reference to TFN's criticisms specifically, but of course went on to note that TFN was a "leftist organization".
The rep from Church & State asked if the NCBCPS would support similar curriculum for the Qu'ran or other "holy books". Surprisingly, Johnson answered in the affirmative. Crampton was quick to point out that such curricula weren't as needed as a Bible curricula due to the Bible's foundational position in Western Civilization, but that he also had no objection as long as the information was presented objectively.
The rep. for Internet Market News Int'l asked about the relation between the NCBCPS curriculum and Intelligent Design. Johnson answered that although the section on Genesis clearly spelled out the Bible's position, the curriculum itself had no position.
None of the questions/comments asked by the other reps seemed to me to be very interesting/on point. Hope this helps; I try to keep track of these guys as they're headquartered in my hometown. Keep up the good work, Ed!