Month: November 2005
NPR Exposes Attacks On Scientists Skeptical of Darwinism
Finally a mainstream media organization–and would you believe it is NPR?–is covering the glaring cases of viewpoint discrimination on America’s campuses, and even at the Smithsonian Institution. The report on contemporary abuses of academic freedom aired today on All Things Considered and in it NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty describes the way Eugenie Scott and the National Center for Science Education have organized attacks on scientists known to harbor sympathies for intelligent design and to doubt Darwinism.
Chicken Little: Why The Sky is NOT Falling in Kansas, Even Though “Pro-Darwin”-Only Proponents Say Otherwise
Critics have been loudly proclaiming that the sky is falling because Kansas is daring to teach lines of scientific evidence which challenge Neo-Darwinism (evidence which is based in mainstream peer-reviewed literature). These critics have provided a parade of horribles that these standards will lead to everything from “teaching creationism,” to “teaching religion,” to “teaching intelligent design,” to ridicule, and worst of all, God. Yet the latest draft posted on the Kansas State Board of Education website (from August 9, 2005) says the following about teaching intelligent design: We also emphasize that the Science Curriculum Standards do not include Intelligent Design, the scientific disagreement with the claim of many evolutionary biologists that the apparent design of living systems is an illusion. Read More ›
Nature on the Kansas Decision: Adding Some Context
Geoff Brumfiel with Nature has a news article on the recent decision in Kansas to teach scientific criticisms of evolution. I like Mr. Brumfiel and I think he is a good reporter. His April 28, 2005 piece in Nature on students and ID was fair and consciously non-inflammatory, albeit at times emphasizing religion over science. In his most recent article, I am quoted saying the following: “This is a huge victory for students in Kansas,” says Casey Luskin, a programme officer in policy and legal affairs at the Discovery Institute, an intelligent-design think-tank in Seattle. Luskin says that the standards will help students to recognize legitimate scientific criticisms of evolution. He notes that they make no direct reference to intelligent Read More ›
The Major Media’s Embarrassing Blooper on Kansas Science Standards
On Tuesday the Kansas State Board of Education adopted new science standards. According to the Board, these new standards “call for students to learn about the best evidence for modern evolutionary theory, but also to learn about areas where scientists are raising scientific criticisms of the theory.” These standards do not require the teaching of intelligent design. That fact didn’t stop some major media outlets, including Bloomberg News and the Washington Post, from erroneously claiming otherwise. The Bloomberg story began: Kansas State Board Votes to Teach Intelligent Design in Schools Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) — The Kansas State Board of Education approved a proposal to teach intelligent design along with evolution as a scientific explanation of how life began. The Washington Read More ›
Inherit The Footage: ABC Rehashes Old Stories
In order to cash in on the nation’s current interest in the debate over evolution — thanks to Kansas’ adoption of new science standards and the Dover school board trial — this evening ABC’s World News Tonight strung together disparate clips and previous footage to once again spin out the old yarn that this is just a religious issue. Yawn. (If you’re still interested see our report on the original airing of this story back in September.) But, if you’re interested in seeing a report that truly delves into the issue — from both sides — check out CBS’s News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. Here’s an objective report from a crew that took the issue seriously and rather than Read More ›