As you may have read, Kansas finally joined the 20th century by once again agreeing to teach evolution in schools. It seems they have no intention of ever joining the 21st century, however:
“In addressing Mr. Abrams’s concerns today, another board member, Janet Waugh, said: ‘We are not atheists on this board. I believe the board members are all Christians, and we
have no problem with Christianity or any other religion being taught, but it cannot be taught in a science class.’”
Oh, bite me, Janet—and she’s supposed to be on OUR side! It seems like it’s still open season on atheists, and with Reverend Chuckles in the White House, THAT’S not likely to change anytime soon.
I dunno-- I’m too busy feeling the warm glow of victory in the Kansas matter to work up outrage over the implied insult. We atheists have to have thick skins. (It helps compensate for certain Christians’ thick skulls.)
I disagree with the OP. The conflict in Kansas was not that of religion versus atheism - it was between ignorance and reason. Waugh was merely reaffirming that fact.
(And BTW, I prefer “Ibn Bush” for Junior and “Abu Dubeeya” for Senior).
It’s not like you to miss the chance to make a pithy and satirical comment. You should have titled this thread “Well, Thank God There Are No ATHEISTS in Kansas!”
See?
Upon further review, it ain’t that funny. Never mind.
It’s my understanding that Kansas never stopped teaching evolution in schools.
“In August 1999, the board, with conservative Republicans in the majority, voted 6 to 4 to eliminate evolution. **The decision did not prohibit the teaching of evolution, but left the option to local school districts.**It did, however, remove evolution as the sole explanation for the origin of man, including some references to evolution, the Big Bang theory and the earth’s age.”
They removed Evolution & Big Bang (not just the Theories, but the scientific facts too) from the state’s standardized tests and no longer required it to be taught.
It’s also interesting that they lumped Big Bang Theory along with the Theory of Evolution, even though they are unrelated topics. Silly Creationists.
“In August 1999, the board, with conservative Republicans in the majority, voted 6 to 4 to eliminate germs. The decision did not prohibit the teaching of germs, but left the option to local school districts. It did, however, remove germs as the sole explanation for the origin of the common cold, including some references to germs, the atomic theory of matter, and the actual size of things which students see through their microscopes.”
I’m currently working for a publishing company. We’re doing a middle-school science textbook. We have to be VERY careful to do it chapter-by-chapter, meaning there are often multiple chapters on the same subject that vary only slightly in content. Why is this, you ask?
Well, one reason is that there are certain states (Texas is one of the ones I know for certain that does this) that do not want any mention of evolution in their science textbooks. When compiling their textbooks, we either omit that chapter completely, or put in a VERY watered-down version.
And people wonder why American kids are consistently beaten by children from other countries in standardized testing…
Well, I’m still ticked off about that woman “on our side,” who is in favor of teaching evolution and defends herself by saying, “Well, at least we’re not atheists—we’re still good Christians!”
It is very irritating the way politicians (and most Americans, for that matter) react to any possible “accusation” of atheism as if someone had implied they were baby-eaters or puppy-stompers or goat-felchers or something.
