EU Outlaws Creationism in Public Schools

OUTSTANDING... now it's time for the US!

http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?lin...7/ERES1580.htm

The aim is to warn against certain tendencies to pass off a belief as science. It is necessary to separate belief from science.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The aim of this report is not to question or to fight a belief – the right to freedom of belief does not permit that. The aim is to warn against certain tendencies to pass off a belief as science. It is necessary to separate belief from science. It is not a matter of antagonism. Science and belief must be able to coexist. It is not a matter of opposing belief and science, but it is necessary to prevent belief from opposing science.

It sounds like they are stuttering, but they have the right idea

[ZenGum]

Mighty good news.
I suppose we should teach ABOUT creationism, in the context of anthropology and comparative religion, but to TEACH creationism as an even remotely plausible account of what actually happened is just dumb.
Good on you, Europe.

[Aliantha]

well it's not dumb if you take the bible literally.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

well it's not dumb if you take the bible literally.

With hindsight I regret the use of the word "dumb". My apologies to all offended. There is often some remarkable cleverness deployed in clinging to creationism. I guess "wrong" was the word I wanted.

To respond: True, but taking the bible (well, Genesis) literally is the first wrong thing. Anything which follows from that, logically connected though it may be, inherits the wrongness of the first move.

To take a single book literally, and deny/ignore the overwhelming contrary evidence from all of the rest of reality... well I can understand how some people end up in that mental trap, but its just so lopsided as a way of assessing the evidence.

But no, I don't want to get into an evolution Vs. creation debate. Been there, done that, yawn. Two groups with their minds made up clubbing each other with their beliefs. Meh.

So if you want a lost word, it's yours:

[Aliantha]

Wow, that was a big response. I was actually alluding to the other thread in this forum about the teacher who was fired for saying that the bible is not meant to be taken literally.

Personally, I think the bible is largely a metaphorical text however, there are many who disagree obviously.

Aaannnnnndddd... the US moves in the opposite/wrong direction. Of course.
Why don't we just teach kids that their imaginary friends in kindergarten are real and stick with that, then go ahead and ship all of our tech/science jobs overseas now, get it over with ? Same thing.

Urgent!
Tell Your Senator Now to Promote Real Science in Schools
Stop an Unconstitutional Creationism Earmark
Our representatives in Congress hold the power to determine how our tax dollars are spent. But what happens when a Senator attempts to fund a project that is unconstitutional?

An earmark was recently added to the Senate Fiscal Year 2008 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill's Committee Report that would put $100,000 of federal funding directly in the hands of the Louisiana Family Forum, an organization that has a history of aggressively sponsoring the teaching of creationism and other theories that debate evolution in schools. The funding is for a project that would allow this group to "to develop a plan to promote better science education," but this group would surely use these funds to undermine the teaching of real science.

In truth, there is no controversy in the scientific community over the theory of evolution. Thus, attempting to debunk it or single it out for criticism using taxpayer money can serve no valid secular teaching purpose. Every major scientific organization and the overwhelming majority of scientists agree that evolution is the best and only scientific explanation for the diversity of species.

The courts have been consistent in finding that governmental efforts to hinder the teaching of evolution or to promote the teaching of alternate "theories" violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The religious tone of creationism and its proponents, including Louisiana Family Forum, makes such groups completely inappropriate recipients of federal funding for science education.

Now, we need to stop the funding on this dangerous provision. With your help, we can ask that this earmark be extracted from the Senate Appropriations bill. Please call the Senate Appropriations Committee to ask for the removal of this earmark by using the numbers below:

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Majority staff: 202-224-9145
Minority staff: 202-224-7230

If you'd rather send an e-mail, click below to contact key members of the Senate Appropriations Committee who are managing this bill. Your e-mail will ask these Senators to take the lead in striking this earmark from the final version of the report.

http://www.firstfreedomfirst.org/

What I sent to both the national and state level.

Creationism is not science... it is a violation of the barrier between church and state, it is not teaching them what the class intends and it is child abuse, as it retards the possibilities for their future in the science fields and in critical thinking. We need to follow the EU and ban the teaching of creationism in science classes, show the world we are not idiotic, backward and superstitious morons who know the difference between real science and our imaginary friends. Or we can just go ahead and ship all of our tech and science jobs overseas... if that is what you want?

[toranokaze]

There is nothing wrong with the belief that God created man.

Also there are some problems with evolution and it seams that if one can not question the theory without being labeled as a fool.

[DanaC]

No...it seems that one cannot use state schools to indoctrinate children with a creation myth, without people objecting.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by toranokaze

Also there are some problems with evolution and it seams that if one can not question the theory without being labeled as a fool.

Would you look like a fool if you questioned gravity? Evolution is a very sound theory will no flaws and a few small gaps, like gravity.

Originally Posted by toranokaze

There is nothing wrong with the belief that God created man.

Also there are some problems with evolution and it seams that if one can not question the theory without being labeled as a fool.

There has never been a theory that was taken to court or politicians before being accepted to classrooms.
It is an entirely organic process.
It is a trickle-down method.
A hypothesis is presented, or field-work is shown, lab work is done, peer-review is done to verify the work, the work is replicated and verified again, papers are published and reviewed, others repeat the work and review the original work. It begins to be taught at the PhD and graduate level, as it becomes accepted and the work is shown to be more and more accurate and lends itself to other work/fields it works its way all the way down to the elementary levels of schooling and texts... that is all.
All creationists/ID theorists have to do is present ANYTHING that does this and no one will question them.
Why are they going outside the science community to circumvent the entire process unless they have no valid claims, no valid theory?

[BigV]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

There has never been a theory that was taken to court or politicians before being accepted to classrooms.

Guess you've never heard of the Scope's trial.

That teacher did exactly what I stated, the state intervened on behalf of their imaginary friend, not the other way around.