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Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at the National Center for Science Education. He is also a graduate student at the University of Kansas, completing a doctorate in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. When not modeling species distributions or battling creationists, he writes about developments in progressive politics and the sciences.
The opinions expressed here are his own, do not reflect the official position of the NCSE. Indeed, older posts may no longer reflect his own official position.
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Creationism:
Category: Creationism
Via PZ Myers, I learn of a new entrant into the science/religion accomodation fracas. Mano Singham's generally well-grounded historical look at how these arguments have played out historically begins: The accommodationists argue that it is a mistake to insist that science is antithetical to religion because if science is determined to be an intrinsically atheistic enterprise, then even so-called moderate religionists will turn away from science and not support efforts to oppose the teaching of religious ideas such as intelligent design in science classes. This kind of mistaken solicitousness for the sensitivities of religious people, the fear that they will...
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 9:15 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
Why Aren't Scientists Allowed to Believe In God? It's a shame that some people try to stop scientists from believing in God.Is Darwinian Evolution Compatible with Religion? Scientists who accept evolution are wrong to believe in God.Sounds like they need to work on message discipline....
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 9:27 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
Afarensis and PZ note that the Discovery Institute is trying to hide Youtube videos criticizing their pet dachshund, Casey Luskin. Luskin Someone at Disco. has apparently been hitting his their own product, a danger in the Disco. scene. He or she thinks that they have a copyright claim on video made by Fox News. He Disco. doesn't. Fox News does, so if anyone is going to take down this video, it will be Fox, not Disco. CaseyWhichever Disco spinner did this also needs to understand that copyright law is not a tool for censorship. Copyright exists, according to the...
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 9:51 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
There are those who say "Not only does the NCSE not criticize religion, but it cuddles up to it, kisses it, and tells it that everything will be all right." There are others who say: The continuum [between creationism and evolution] as described on the NCSE site strongly implies that “atheist science is better science”. Even though the objective of the continuum is to counter the belief that “evolutionists must be atheists”, it indirectly implies that evolutionists should be atheists. For this fact alone, I think the model needs to be replaced.A simpler person than I would take this to...
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 8:51 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
My article for Seed about what the new Texas standards mean for science education nationwide is now online! Check it out. Here's a taste: Given these stakes, my colleagues and I worked hard to influence the Texas School Board over the months of hearings, providing them with a statement signed by 54 scientific and educational societies opposing “any effort to undermine the teaching of biological evolution and related topics.” We worked with local activists to organize constituents and political honchos who educated board members about the importance of evolution to science education. But the other side knew the board’s seven...
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 5:11 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Policy and Politics
In his inaugural address, President Obama promised to "restore science to its rightful place." What exactly that place was became a subject of much discussion in the blogs, and we learned more on March 9, 2009, when the President issued a memorandum ordering agency heads to develop policies, under supervision of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), headed by John Holdren, the President's science advisor. The order noted that "Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues," and emphasized that "[t]he public must be able to trust...
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 8:26 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
Praise Jebus, I'm not in Texas watching the hearings as Don McLeroy is considered for reappointment as chairman of the Texas Board of Education. Yeah, Don "Someone's got to stand up to the experts" McLeroy. Praise Jebus also that Texas Freedom Network was there watching. And wouldn't you know it, McLeroy brought the crazy. Asked about his desire to challenge evolution in science classes, McLeroy says: I think what we’re doing is destroying America’s soul in science.Set aside that he previously stated that his goal is not religious indoctrination, but I'm pretty sure that saving students' souls is not a...
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 8:43 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
For those in Canadia, you might stop by the Redpath Museum auditorium tomorrow for any of the events in McGill University's symposium on Islam and Evolution. I'll be presenting at 11, and it promises to be a fascinating day of talks and discussion among panelists....
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 3:00 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
John West is gloating about the new Texas science standards, and in doing so, he's lost track of the truth: Evolutionists typically cast themselves as the champions of secular reason against superstition, but in Texas they tried to inject religion into the debate at every turn. Indeed, this past week it seemed that they couldn't stop talking about religion. They boasted about their credentials as Sunday School teachers and church elders. They quoted the Bible and appealed to theology. And, of course, they attacked the religious beliefs of their opponents, branding them religious fundamentalists. By contrast, supporters of teaching the...
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 2:59 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creationism
Berlanga and Nuñez voted against the final TEKS, the other 13 voted to approve them. Texas has new science standards. Those standards are better than the old ones, but those old standards really did suck. As the Fordham Institute put it, giving the standards an F in 2005, "Thematic unities, so persuasively urged in the national guides, have an effect here opposite to that advertised. They produce breadth of assertion instead of depth of understanding. … In the science discipline content here reviewed, Texas provides, by way of scant substance or careless writing or plain errors, something not really adequate....
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Posted by Josh Rosenau at 9:16 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
