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National Association of Biology Teachers Making False Claims over Oklahoma Academic Freedom Bill

The Darwin Lobby’s activities against the Oklahoma academic freedom bill are causing the Truth-O’-Meter to read “False”! The National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) has written a would-be scary letter to Oklahoma state senators that warns, “We feel that the wording of this legislation clearly allows non-scientific explanations for topics such as evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning to be introduced into the science classroom.” But look at what the language of the legislation itself clearly states:

The provisions of the Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act shall only protect the teaching of scientific information, and shall not be construed to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or nonbeliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion. The intent of the provisions of the act is to create an environment in which both the teacher and students can openly and objectively discuss the facts and observations of science, and the assumptions that underlie their interpretation.

The NABT must be banking that Oklahoma state senators will never read the legislation to fact-check the NABT’s claims.

Truth O’ Meter graphic adapted from Wikipedia.

 

Casey Luskin

Associate Director, Center for Science and Culture
Casey Luskin is a geologist and an attorney with graduate degrees in science and law, giving him expertise in both the scientific and legal dimensions of the debate over evolution. He earned his PhD in Geology from the University of Johannesburg, and BS and MS degrees in Earth Sciences from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied evolution extensively at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. His law degree is from the University of San Diego, where he focused his studies on First Amendment law, education law, and environmental law.

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academic freedomDarwinismevolutionlawLaw and CourtsNABTNational Association of Biology TeachersOklahomaTennessee