The Ouachita Citizen Provides Objective News in Louisiana

It looks like the local media in Louisiana have the best idea of what’s happening with the Ouachita Parish School Board. We’ve been bringing you the latest news on the Monroe, Louisiana Board’s decision to protect the academic freedom of its teachers. Impressively, it was local newspaper The Ouachita Citizen which gave a thorough and objective treatment of the event itself in an article last Wednesday.

Local Louisiana School Board Praised for Adopting Policy to Protect Teachers

Monroe, LA — The Ouachita Parish School Board in Louisiana drew praise this week for adopting a Resolution on Teacher Academic Freedom to Teach Scientific Evidence Regarding Controversial Scientific Subjects. The policy states in part that “teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories pertinent to the course being taught.” “We’re very happy to see them take a stand protecting the academic freedom of teachers to answer student questions and discuss scientific issues in the classroom,” said Casey Luskin, an attorney and education policy specialist with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. “Teachers are the real winners in this case because they Read More ›

Evangelical Atheists

A small group of evangelicals is making waves in America, writing inflammatory best-sellers and going on a media crusade to spread their message of fear and intolerance. As CSC’s Logan Gage explains in this article from The Examiner, while it may seem counter-intuitive, these rabble-rousers defy the usual caricature of pitchfork-waving fundamentalists by virtue of their atheism.

Reality Check: The Debate Over Evolution

CSC Senior Fellow John West is featured in Human Events this week, offering a reality check and a history lesson on the debate over Darwinian evolution. The debate over Darwinian evolution is typically framed by the news media as a clash between “right” and “left.” Conservatives are presumed to be critical of Darwin’s theory, while liberals are presumed to be supportive of it. As in most cases, reality is more complicated. There always have been liberal critics of Darwin. In the early 20th Century, progressive reformer William Jennings Bryan fought for women’s suffrage, world peace–and against Darwinism. More recently, left-wing novelist Kurt Vonnegut, a self-described “secular humanist,” has called our human bodies “miracles of design” and faulted scientists for “pretending Read More ›

New Book Examines Misguided Quest of Darwin’s Conservatives

SEATTLE — While conservatives are presumed to be critical of Darwin’s theory, many on the right, such as George Will, James Q. Wilson, and Larry Arnhart, have mounted a vigorous defense of Darwinism. As Discovery Institute’s John West explains in his new book, Darwin’s Conservatives: The Misguided Quest (Discovery Institute Press, 2006), their attempts to reconcile conservatism and Darwinian biology misunderstand both. In this small but incisive book, Dr. John G. West addresses how Darwin’s theory, contrary to its conservative champions, manifestly does not reinforce the teachings of conservatism. “John West rolls through the arguments for a pro-Darwin conservatism like an Abrams tank leveling a street barricade: methodically and irresistibly,” declares noted conservative thinker and writer George Gilder. “If there Read More ›