Okay, to be fair I knee-jerked when they advertised this on a news blurb yesterday. Then I heard the whole story, and I have to say I see where Cox is coming from. From the CNN article:
She stated during the press conference that evolution is a word that has a lot of misinterpretation attached to it, and by removing the word it makes it easier for teachers to cover the subject without parents stepping in and getting all holy roller on their asses.
It’s stupid as hell to have to take these sorts of measures to protect the teachers and enable them to actually do what they’re paid to, but if it 1) doesn’t affect the curriculum (they’re still teaching evolution, NOT replacing it with ID), and 2) takes some of the pressure off the teachers in these smaller, small-minded towns, then I say go ahead.
Well, the Scopes trial back about 80 years ago had a similar scenario to this except that the teacher in question was asked to violate what was then a newly-instituted state law.
Re: the OP, I dislike the idea of trying to hide evolution … “It’s not evolution, it’s biological changes over time! See, over time, biological changes, which the scientific community refer to as evol*****, occured, which is why creatures that exist today are similar to ones from the past.”
I also dislike the idea of teaching as objective truth religion in any school funded by any state or the federal government. Teach them with the forewarning “this is what some people believe”, certainly; and especially due to the heavy influence monotheistic religions have had on the world’s people. But teaching that the first two people were white, pristine beings who talked to a serpent … that smells of 'shrooms, and I ain’t talking about Portobello.
And I find it terribly amusing in a “how many people down there got addicted to the 'shrooms?” way that the word evolution is being considered a buzzword when it has been around lo these … 150 years? Hell, compared to the word evolution, plastic and television are buzzwords; bet you won’t see them being banned.
Living in Georgia right now, I can tell you there’s a pretty big debate going on about this right now. Several professors from my university that I know of have written to the AJC about it. There is an online petition against the changes that has 1000+ signatures. Most people seem like they are against the change.
I feel like this whole thing was started by a loud minority of people.
On the front page of the AJC this morning there’s a quote:
It is ironic that the choice is rationalized by “getting a quality science education.” That is also the main argument I have heard against it. How can students be ready for college-level courses without this basic theory that so much else is built on?
Here’s a link to the article on the AJC. Note the poll, 85%+ favor the word “evolution” right now…
So tired of living around idiot fundies.
I remember having ridiculous fights/debates/etc. over evolution in school.
It gets really old having to listen to the same stupid crap over and over while they drone on and on about their bullshit.
What is it about ignorance that is so fucking alluring to the jackasses down here?
Bytopian “A watch is not fucking like a fucking animal you fucktard” Dream
This suggestion sounds an awful lot like the dodge my high school biology teacher pulled when a parent asked her not to teach their daughter evolution. But it still doesn’t mean that it’s right. Not saying the name only increases fear of the name itself. I know that the curriculum itself isn’t being changed, but it adds a stigma to the knowledge that it surrounds. Ms. Cox would do better to tell the fundies to bugger off.
With you 100%. Born in Georgia, grew up in North Florida, spent 26 of my 32 years in the South. I love it here, and have no plans ever to permanently leave the South, but GODDAMN THESE MORONIC SHIT-SPEWERS FOR MAKING THE REST OF US LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF IGNORANT COUSIN-FUCKING TOOTHLESS CRUEL STUPID CORRUPT RACIST BACKWARD HICKS.
Whew. I repeat that I love it here, but every now and then you gotta fire that torpedo.
And Diogenes, thanks for that link; that’s fascinating stuff, and totally new to me.
Guys, I know where you’re coming from – I’m a Christian!
Here’s what I would like to say to one of these people just once:
To sing a variation on what others have said here, I spend so much time trying to convince people that “Christian” and “moron” are not synonymous, and then folks like this come along. I swear some days the Wiccans are looking pretty good – at least their idiots don’t have the clout to get their foolishness written into law. :rolleyes:
Here’s another frustrated southerner… born and raised in Arkansas, but escaped to “The People’s Republic of Arlington”, as rightys in VA call it.
Anyway, I find that in other parts of the country, some people, upon hearing my accent…well, you can kind of see the cogs rolling into place and that slight smile of superiority come across their face. Not everyone, of course, but it happens all the time.
It’s always the extremists that get the attention and affect the perception. Just like anywhere. They never show people that mind their own business on TV.
The county where I practice law is the one of the counties involved in a federal lawsuit because they insist on having a copy of the ten commandments posted in the courthouse. They’ve had 2 or 3 rallies at the courthouse that have resulted in us having to move our court proceedings to another county during the rallies. We have zero, and I mean ZERO, security in our courthouse (unless you count the sign on the courthouse door that says it’s illegal to bring weapons into the courthouse) because the county says it’s too expensive, but they’re spending big bucks on legal fees to keep a copy of the ten commandments in the courthouse. And now this. ::Sigh::
Yesterday, I actually heard a courthouse employee say, with a smug air of superiority, "Well, if evolution is true, then why are there still monkeys?"
The mind boggles.
Folks, let’s try not to get on Supervisor Cox’s case too much here. She’s not changing the wording because SHE believes that evolution is false. She’s changing the wording in an attempt to sneak some science education into the more conservative areas of her state. She hasn’t banned the teaching of evolution. She hasn’t changed the use of the word “evolution” because she believes it’s wrong and Goddidit. She’s trying to sneak some actual science under the radar of the Elmer Gantrys. Cut her a break.
I’m not sure Superintendent Cox IS trying to insure ‘real scince’ is taught in the classroom. This quote from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution casts doubt on her motives to me:
"She said students need to understand that science is constantly changing and they need to be exposed to all legitimate theories.
Cox said that could include the teaching of “intelligent design,” though it is not specifically mentioned in the proposed curriculum. Most scientists deride “intelligent design” – the idea that life arose through a purposeful design by a higher being – as junk science. But Cox described it as a scientific theory that could be discussed in science classes.
“That is a scientific theory,” she said. “Now people say, ‘Oh, those folks, they’re kook scientists.’ But it does have scientists, rather than theologians, talking about other ways we may have come into being.”"
You can contact Kathy Cox, the Georgia State School Superintendent, if you would like to share your opinion about this issue at this address: KathyCox@doe.k12.ga.us
She should not be confused with Cathy Cox, the Georgia Secretary of State.
I’m a Southerner, and have lived in Atlanta since 1988. I’m not cutting Kathy Cox any slack. She campaigned to be elected state School Superintendent, and it’s her job to do for the state what we do for fun here – combat ignorance. Instead, she’s collaborating with the enemy.
(Incidentally, the state Secretary of State is Cathy Cox. In 2002, they were both on the ballot, and some people were confused, thinking that they were the same person… thinking that somehow Cathy Cox, the incumbent Secretary of State, running for reelection as a Democrat, was also Kathy Cox, running for Superintendent of Schools, as a Republican.)
Here’s an exact quote from Superintendant Cox about avoiding use of the word evolution: “By putting the word in there, we thought people would jump to conclusions and think, ‘OK, we’re going to be teaching the monkeys-to-man sort of thing.’ Which is not what happens in a modern biology classroom.” When I heard her on the radio saying that, it was a true WTF moment for me. In fact, I probably said out loud, “What the fuck is she talking about?” Still wondering. I’m getting the impression that she has a very limited understanding of modern science.
She had already pissed off history teachers and social studies teachers with the changes she wanted to make in their curricula. (For instance, in Georgia high schools, “World History” will now start with the year 1500.)
Jimmy Carter has weighed in, saying “Nationwide ridicule of Georgia’s public education system will be inevitable if this proposal is adopted.” Our current governor, big ol’ Sonny Purdue, simply said “I trust the Superintendent and the Board of Education.”
Baldwin, she’s right, in a sense. Modern science doesn’t teach a “monkey-to-man” view of evolution.
Yes, not using the word “evolution” is a compromise. But it’s a compromise that benefits real science education much more than it benefits Goddiditism.
“Creation science” makes my teeth hurt. Literally. But I’d rather have evolution taught as “changes over time” than not have it taught at all because everybody’s having a giant clusterfuck over a word.
Look, you and I know that “monkeys-to-man” is an overly simplistic description of the evolution of humans and other primates. But I’m not sure that’s what Kathy Cox meant.
I really can’t see how not using one of the **central/b] terms of modern biology can be an acceptable compromise. If you teach everything about current thinking on evolution without using the word evolution, some bright kid is going to raise his hand and ask, “Why aren’t we calling evolution evolution?” So what’s the point?
According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the proposed curriculum doesn’t just omit the word “evolution”, it omits some pretty key points. Specifically: the fact that modern species developed from earlier forms that were distinct species; and the essential mechanism of evolution: mutation and natural selection.
Not exactly a compromise; more like a decision to make sure that Georgia high school students are going to need remedial biology courses when they go to college.
And why the hell should there be a “compromise”, anyway? How about just teaching science?