Anti-evolution

The peanut gallery over at Uncommon Descent seems to be uncommonly interested in beating the Darwinism/Racism meme to death (see here, for example, for my comment on one such post and here and here for Barry Arrington's latest ejaculations on the matter; the latter features this historically inaccurate gem: "Darwin was a firmly committed Racist."). Dave Springer saw fit to post a piece on "Racism Sans Darwin" which quickly disappeared down the memory hole and got him banned by Arrington for not toeing the party line regarding Darwin being the Uber Racist. Hilariously, Arrington writes: The…

Texas House Bill 4224 (introduced yesterday) attempts to introduce "strengths and weaknesses" language, despite opposition from scientists and educators. More over at NCSE.

Over at PT, Hector Avalos is reporting that the deadline has passed for the DI-inspired "Evolution Academic Freedom Act” (HF 183) to move out of committee in Iowa. This one is now officially dead. Thus the scorecard so far looks like: Mississippi - dead in committee Oklahoma - dead in committee Iowa - dead in committee New Mexico - in committee Alabama - in committee Missouri - in committee Florida - in committee Texas - at state board This brings the tally for 2009 to three dead out of eight. Frankly I can't imagine the DI is terribly happy about this.

Next week there is a big conference here at ASU - hosted in conjunction with University of Cambridge - examining the concept of "Unchallengeable Orthodoxy in Academia and Science." The general purpose of the conference is: To critically examine the precept that American and British universities and the scientific communities in these countries are, and should be places, in which people are free to "think the unthinkable, discuss the unmentionable, and challenge the unchallengeable." (Quoting 1975 Statement of Yale Committee on Freedom of Expression). Specifically, the conference will…

Over at Uncommon Descent (no link provided due to censorship of comments), Denyse O'Leary is urging "Darwinists" to "divorce" The Descent of Man because not to do so is to support "Darwin's racism" and to thus support racism today. I'm wondering if O'Leary actually ever read Descent and followed Darwin's logic. I know, I know, it's a big book, and Denyse may not have the attention span to handle all that fuddy-duddy Victorian prose but she needs to do so before yammering on. Then she may want to read some of the historical literature on the subject. She claims to be a journalist, so I'm…

The Koolade over at ARN is particularly strong today. Robert Deyes speaks of "biologist Casey Luskin". Seriously. At best, Luskin was a geologist MS in earth sciences before becoming a lawyer. He has one (second-author) paper: Lisa Tauxe, Casey Luskin, Peter Selkin, Phillip Gans, and Andy Calvert, “Paleomagnetic results from the Snake River Plain: Contribution to the time-averaged field global database,” Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems (G3), 5(8) (August, 2004). Creationist credentialing once again, I fear. Equally as problematic is Deyes' claim: We learn many a lesson from Conan Doyle's…

It is nice to know that things are working so smoothly over in Oklahoma that Representative Todd Thomsen has the free time to propose a resolution (HR 1015) opposing the invitation to Richard Dawkins to speak on campus; encouraging the University of Oklahoma to engage in a certain discussion of certain scientific theories; and directing distribution. Abbie, Josh and PZ all chime in on this piece of irony; Remember HB 320? The bill about academic freedom? Apparently Thomsen does not and feels that OU should represent the views of the majority in OK. As it turns out, the original version (HR…

Iâm a little put out that Turkish anti-evolutionist Harun Yahya has never seen fit to send me a copy of his Atlas of Creation while other folks here at ASU have received one. I thought I was a bigger fish than that! How does Yahya think Iâm going to fairly represent his magnum opus when I lecture on Turkish opposition to evolution? Yeah, I know itâs online in e-copy but thumping a copy down on the desk would surely impress my students as to the weight of evidence supporting Yahyaâs assertions. In any case, check-out this post on the Harunian omission.

NCSE is reporting that SB 2396 has been proposed in Florida. It will require "thorough presentation and critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution." The bill is sponsored by Stephen R. Wise (R-District 5). Amazing how many of these bills are being sponsored by Republicans. Youâd think theyâd have more important things to worry about. Itâs a bit of a strange bill. The preamble calls for the "thorough presentation and critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution and certain governmental, legal and civic-related principles" while the body calls for teachers to âteach…

There’s a petition and statement going around regarding HF 183 for Iowa academics to sign. The text reads: We, the undersigned members of institutions of higher learning in Iowa, urge our legislators to reject passage of "The Evolution Academic Freedom Act" (HF 183) introduced by Rod Roberts (R-Carroll). The language of this bill comes primarily from the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, which has conducted lobbying efforts and political activism against the teaching of evolution since 1994. Evolution is as established a scientific theory as any other theory in science. It is misleading to…

Creationists have long used credentials to make their case for them. Demsbki has posted a link to a SSRN (i.e. grey literature) paper by Edward Sisson (who is an architect and lawyer) in which he “relates lessons learned not only about evolution, molecular biology, and ‘intelligent design,’ but also about the accumulated ‘bad habits’ that have developed and encrusted the conduct of science in the 130 years since the foundation of the research-oriented universities in the 1870s.” It’s actually an address to architecture students, but I guess by the standards of ID literature it counts as a…

Looks like I had a  better day than Abbie. I only had to give two talks whereas she had to listen to John West and Casey Luskin. Hopefully sheâll post more details but for the moment we know that West pontificated that âDarwin was Wrongâ and Luskin tried to justify the cdesign proponentists snafu. Pure comedy gold, Iâm sure.  Poor Abbie is going to have to suffer a little more â Dembskiâs blowing into town in a few weeks. Update: Abbie has presented more details (see links above). Here are Westâs âSeven myths about Darwinismâ: There is no scientific debate over evolution (featuring use of…

No sooner than Oklahoma’s SB 320 gets axed than we find out about another “academic freedom”/”strengths and weaknesses” bill. This time it’s Missouri HB 656 introduced on Feb 10th. As NCSE reports, Robert Wayne Cooper (R-District 155), the chief sponsor, has a history of wasting time introducing pro-creationism bills. So the current state of play for 2009 is: Mississippi - dead in committee Oklahoma - dead in committee New Mexico - in committee Iowa - in committee Alabama - in committee. Missouri - in committee Texas - at state board Florida - looks like there's to be a "teach…

I had received the news that Oklahoma SB 320 died in committee whilst at the Will Rogers airport heading home. I tried to post some details using my phone but that clearly didn't work. In the comments section Vic provides the details. This means the state of the nation currently is: Mississippi - disclaimer - dead in committee Oklahoma - “strengths and weaknesses” - dead in committee New Mexico - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee Iowa - “academic freedom” - in committee Alabama - “academic freedom” - in committee. Texas - "strengths and weaknesses" - at state board Florida - looks…

More here. My gut feeling is that an improvement in general science education in this country could swing many of the âno opinionâ folks towards evolution.

No sooner that I posted the current status of anti-evolution legislation that Glenn Branch posted on a new “academic freedom” bill in Alabama. HB 300 is sponsored by Republican (seeing a trend here?) David Grimes and has been sent to committee. Unsurprisingly, it’s the same old DI boilerplate that is popping up everywhere. So the field of play for 2009 now looks like: Mississippi - disclaimer - dead in committee New Mexico - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee Iowa - “academic freedom” - in committee Oklahoma - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee Alabama - “academic freedom…

The NCSE is reporting that the Mississippi Disclaimer Bill has died in committee, leaving Alabama as the only state with a disclaimer on biology textbooks. Apparently the bill’s sponsor, Gary Chism (R-Distinct 37) is considering “drafting another bill next year supporting the teaching of the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory in public school classrooms.” I’m sure the Discovery Institute would be happy to help him. So the current status of anti-evolution legislation in 2009 is: Mississippi - disclaimer - dead in committee New Mexico - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee…

Another “academic freedom” bill, this time in Iowa. Those little beavers over at the DI have been busy over the past few months apparently. The "Evolution Academic Freedom Act" (HF 183; “A bill for an act relating to the teaching of chemical and biological evolution in school districts and public postsecondary institutions and providing an effective date”) has been sent to the House Education Committee and is startlingly familiar: Students at all levels “shall be evaluated based upon their understanding of course materials through standard testing procedures. However, students shall not be…

February is going to be a busy month for me. Sunday I leave for Oklahoma where I will be giving the lead-off public lecture for their Darwin 2009 Celebration. I will be speaking on the 12th at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History on the topic of “Was There A Darwinian Revolution?” Any Sooner readers should feel free to come along and introduce themselves. While in Norman, I’ll also be teaching a four-day intensive course on Darwin for the Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program, the syllabus for which is here. While there will be some lectures, the meat and potatoes of the…

NCSE is reporting that a “strengths and weaknesses” bill is on the table in New Mexico. It’s your typical “academic freedom” bill that the DI has been shilling for a while now: The department, school district governing authorities and school administrators shall not prohibit any teacher, when biological evolution or chemical evolution is being taught in accordance with adopted standards and curricula, from informing students about relevant scientific information regarding either the scientific strengths or scientific weaknesses pertaining to biological evolution or chemical evolution. The…