Have you heard the news?! We know exactly where we came from, and have enough proof, we're going to put it in the textbooks! As long as the liberals keep their 'Evolution Theory' to themselves, one day Texas public schools will TEACH KIDS TO BELIEVE IN GOD! Yay! No more lost, wayward or undeclared teens! No more refugees persecuted for their silly beliefs! No more terrorists killing in the name of their make-believe Gods! No more War! (Did you catch the sarcasm yet?) Maybe I surmise or digress a bit, but what are we really doing by continuing to let self-proclaimed religious Zealots lead as Chairperson to the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE for short)?
A little article by "Off the Kuff" author Charles Kuffner released on July 20th 2011 brought to my attention that the SBOE is meeting tomorrow (10 am, Thursday the 21st) to decide whether schools should include "supplementary reading" material that, as Kuff puts it, aims "to force mainstream publishers to rewrite their supplements to de-emphasize or undermine evolution education." Other than that, the article is cut and dry (unopinionated), but it left me wanting more; so I continued a search through my links' links to find out what Texas bloggers have to say on the subject of teaching Creationism in our schools. It turns out, they are more opinionated than I, but not as well spoken.
Richard Connelly of the Houston Press's Editorial Blog "HairBalls" writes on the issue in his July 19th 2011 article titled "Texas Science Textbook Wars: Ed Board Slashes Time for Public Comment." Supposedly reporting on the cut backs in time allotted for public arguments during the hearing, he stays clear away from arguing for or against Creationism being taught in our schools. Rather, Connelly starts off by mocking Barbara Cargill's ideals, and goes on to say that Christian fundamentalists are "entertaining at best" in their arguments against Evolution. While I can see the entertainment value in his article, I think he misuses an excellent opportunity in a public forum to get across a very simple joke instead of bringing more credibility to himself or trying to inform the reader of things we don't already know (what I thought was the very point of reading political blogs). In my honest opinion (is there any other kind?), you lose the reader immediately if you focus on cheap attacks on one side, and fail to explain why you, the author, know any better.
Maybe a better way to approach this issue would have been imagining the future of our youth if the SBOE decides to pass the addition of Creationism supplements in our textbooks, as I so graciously did for you "in the beginning." Get it? While I claim no religious affiliation whatsoever (Hell, I even just recently learned I'm not an atheist, but technically an agnostic), I do understand the need for texts to be revised from time to time, and don't exactly think we should be "force-feeding" Evolutionary ideals down 8th graders throats when it clearly undermines some students religious beliefs.
Perhaps it's better that students begin to choose their classes (as in college) earlier in life if they have a specific "agenda of theory" in which they choose to follow. Or, if it's the parents who have the issue with what their kids learn in Biology, then maybe they should put them in a private academy that teaches according to their belief in God. All these "maybes" sound silly, I'm sure, when the ultimate goal of the SBOE should just be to teach fact over unproven theory. Simple as that. If it can't be proven, why are we teaching it as fact? If a theory is just that, and especially if it's faith based, it belongs in a Theology class, or in the dusty Book in the nightstand drawer.
I'm not saying that Evolution takes the cake, but I also don't remember my science teacher ever saying "You KNOW we came from monkeys, right?" I made that assumption all on my own soon after I started dating. Let's keep religion and education as separate as oil and water, and not be completely terrified when our kids decide to explore their own origins and form their own beliefs.
** The YouTube video above is from the National Center for Science Education's page which can be viewed by clicking This Link. It's quite addicting (and mildly informative) so make some popcorn, and be ready to be enthralled.
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