Texas is a such great state that everyone wants to be from here. People who say otherwise are just jealous and angry that they are not Texans. Even Bush claims to be a Texan. He’s probably got one of those awful “I wasn’t born in Texas but got here as fast as I could” bumper stickers on his truck.
We usually ignore the “Texas sux” contingent as we don’t want y’all here anyway.
But, we have been aware for some time now of the potential threat to our science curriculum from the ID crowd. We knew we would be a likely target because of the sheer number of textbooks purchased and how we influence the purchases of those around us.
I thought the ID proponents would realize after the beating they took in Dover, Pennsylvaina, that the pursuit of the ID goal here would be fruitless.
Here are a couple of area Texas newspaper opinion pieces opposed to the potential peddling of ID here and the Dover decision (which is a thing of beaty) for those interested.
Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5352284.html
On Monday night, I attended the inaugural meeting of the Indiana chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. www.au.org The national coordinator of legal affairs was there for the launch. I asked her about the new Intelligent Design rumbling in Florida. She said they’re all over the place, and we’re fighting them one by one. “After Dover, you’d think they’d learn, they can’t win.”
So, my point here is this: Poking Texas in the ribs is a popular pastime, even among Texans. Hovever, in this case, Texas is not really so egregious. Intelligent Design hassles are popping up everywhere, maybe even in your town. When there’s a school board election, you need to ask the candidates where they stand on ID, and on abstinence-only sex ed. The anti-science religious right is actively engaged at the local level, and we must protect the First Amendment with continuous vigilence. It’s not just Texas, it’s not just Dover. It can happen to your hometown.
Hey, I like Texas. I’ve had nothing but good times in Texas. But it was the Science Director of the *Texas *Education Agency that was fired, not the Florida Education Agency.
If just reporting the news is picking on Texas, well …
She was just on NPR about half an hour ago. It was weird because she was giggling and laughing as she talked about being out of a job. Anyway, I couldn’t follow the story because she insisted on giving so much detail that I never really understood what the actual issue was.
I have to wonder if the publicity will get her re-instated. Surely the lawyers are circling on this one!!
