# Cobb County Georgia and evolution **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467 "2002-08-25T06:51:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/1 "2002-08-25T06:51:01Z")
It’s 2002, what does the biblical inerrancy crowd hope to gain at this point? The depressing part is that the vote to entertain this nonsense was unanimous. [Evolution debate builds in Georgia - School board to review call for discussing ‘disputed views’](http://www.msnbc.com/news/798269.asp?0dm=C1AOT) > [@](#): > > THE COBB COUNTY school board voted unanimously Thursday to review for 30 days a proposal that says the district “believes that discussion of disputed views of academic subjects is a necessary element of providing a balanced education, including the study of the origin of the species.” > Board Chairman Curt Johnston said he did not know how the policy would change current classroom practices and was unsure whether the new language would allow creationism to be discussed. > “We’ve been told by our attorney we’re not allowed to teach creationism. But the point is we want free and open discussion in the classroom,” Johnston said. “And our teachers are nervous about what they can talk about. This will clarify things.” > The board is expected to vote on the policy Sept. 26. > Cobb County schools are already in court over the science curriculum. The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday sued to remove disclaimers on biological evolution in thousands of middle and high school textbooks. > The district put stickers in science books that said evolution is theory, not fact, and should be critically considered. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/2 "2002-08-25T10:33:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _from the article linked to by **astro** _: > The district put stickers in science books that said evolution is theory, not fact, and should be critically considered. That’s a willful display of ignorance of what the word “theory” really means in the scientific sense, to me it paints a pretty clear picture of the sort of people that run the district. To answer your question, **astro** , it seems to me that the biblical innerrancy crowd wants a discussion of the Genesis stories of creation in the classroom. Baffling to me, really. You’d think the parents were worried that Sunday school at church would be an inadequate place to discuss that. It also makes me wonder if they will “discuss” creation stories from other cultures as well…such as the various creation myths of the Native Americans or various African cultures. But I’ve got a sneaking feeling that only the Genesis stories will be brought up as counterpoints. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/3 "2002-08-25T15:56:26Z")
Same story, different day, y’know? ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/4 "2002-08-25T18:13:58Z")
I am all for it if they put up an equal disclaimer saying, “Creationism is totally and utterly unscientific.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/5 "2002-08-25T19:56:21Z")
The School Board morons were actually going to try and pass a much stronger measure. There was debate in the newspapers for weeks. (Every single pro-creationist issue is of course dismissed in the talk.origins FAQ.) The above is apparently the result of realizing they started something that was going to End Badly and needed a face saving way out. Hence a resolution that dances around everything that they aren’t even going to vote on until later. I think we need a constitutional amendment requiring the reading of the talk.origins FAQ by anyone proposing such crap. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/6 "2002-08-25T19:59:08Z")
Hey, I’m all for it-as long as they provide equal opportunities to all. Teacher-"OK class, we’ve spent two weeks studying Genesis and two weeks studying evolution, now it’s time for the “seeded by aliens from space” theory. I do think the “educators” involved show that evolution cannot yet explain the existence of every creature on Earth ---
**Author:** ![Journeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@Journeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Journeyman)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/7 "2002-08-25T20:06:46Z")
And they mustn’t forget the Invisible Pink Unicorn Theory of Creation. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/8 "2002-08-25T22:02:08Z")
Sorry 'bout that, Journeyman. Will the I.P.U. forgive me? On a serious note, I’ve thumbed through my nephew’s textbooks and they do list a lot of “facts” about the history of mankind that are currently considered incorrect. so I do agree with the “should be critically examained” part of their sticker, but only about the specifics, not the basic idea. But I also feel that way about most history books, so take it for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/9 "2002-08-26T03:35:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by D.E.S.K.Top668 \* > \*\*Sorry 'bout that, Journeyman. Will the I.P.U. forgive me? On a serious note, I’ve thumbed through my nephew’s textbooks and they do list a lot of “facts” about the history of mankind that are currently considered incorrect. so I do agree with the “should be critically examained” part of their sticker, but only about the specifics, not the basic idea. But I also feel that way about most history books, so take it for what it’s worth. \*\* Textbooks are notorious for being poorly edited and inaccurate. That’s bad. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/10 "2002-08-26T10:56:22Z")
Yes, there are a lot of mistakes in textbooks. But deliberately trying to insert material into a science textbook that the science community absolutely rejects as non-science (biblical creation) is not a solution to the problem. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobb-county-georgia-and-evolution/125467/11 "2002-08-26T14:27:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by h.sapiens \* > \*\*Yes, there are a lot of mistakes in textbooks. But deliberately trying to insert material into a science textbook that the science community absolutely rejects as non-science (biblical creation) is not a solution to the problem. \*\* Definitely. The solution is to correct the errors in the textbooks.