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Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia

Posted by Soulskill on from the descent-of-man dept.

ndogg writes "There is a Texas bill, HB 2454, proposed by Republican State Rep. Bill Zedler, that will outlaw discrimination against creationists in colleges and universities. More specifically, it says, 'An institution of higher education may not discriminate against or penalize in any manner, especially with regard to employment or academic support, a faculty member or student based on the faculty member's or student's conduct of research relating to the theory of intelligent design or other alternate theories of the origination and development of organisms.'"

3 of 1,251 comments (clear)

  1. Sure by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They can submit their papers for peer review, just like everyone else. Or does "Scientific Scrutiny" count as "Discrimination" these days?

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  2. Re:yes but... by poetmatt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    actually, this bill is discrimination against every other religion that's out there. So I'm amazed they will try to do this. A law against "discrimination of all religions" is different than a law against discrimination of a single religion. This would be laughed out of courts and overturned pretty fast if it ever passed and was challenged.

  3. In defense of creationists by nbauman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Forrest Mims is a creationist.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Mims

    I read his engineering notebooks and built circuits out of them. I will be forever grateful to him for that. It was the most fun I ever had in science, and I learned a lot of useful stuff.

    It blew me away when I found out that a guy that smart and cool was a creationist. But there are a lot of engineers who believe in Bible-belt creationism.

    If Mims were proposed to teach an engineering course, there's no doubt that he's qualified. If he were to teach a biology course, maybe not. If he were to teach a general science course, I don't know.

    But that's a decision for the department to make, not the Texas legislature.

    This doesn't prevent us from laughing at creationists.