Tennessee Passes Bill That Allows "Teaching the Controversy" of Evolution
Layzej writes "The Tennessee Senate has passed a bill that allows teachers to 'teach the controversy' on evolution, global warming and other scientific subjects. Critics have called it a 'monkey bill' that promotes creationism in classrooms. In a statement sent to legislators, eight members of the National Academy of Science said that, in practice, the bill will likely lead to 'scientifically unwarranted criticisms of evolution.' and that 'By undermining the teaching of evolution in Tennessee's public schools, HB368 and SB893 would miseducate students, harm the state's national reputation, and weaken its efforts to compete in a science-driven global economy.'"
I see where it says Congress shall make no law respecting an _establishment_ of religion. I agree with the statement whole heartedly. I see nothing saying faith shall play no role in government. This country would not be as free as it is without men that relied heavily on their faith in God to determine that freedom. The field of science would not be as advanced as it is without men that relied heavily on their faith in God for wisdom and direction.
But which non-scientific views deserve equal air time in a science class?
If I was teaching a biology class, I might give a mention to "Intelligent" Design. Something like "but some people think their god just put all this evidence here to mess with us."
Notice that I said faith and not religion. I am not a fan of organized religion by any means. Neither is my Savior.
If you want to talk about children being killed, you should consider what "religious fanatics" fight against every day. Over 54 million children killed legally under US law since the 60s, in the name of choice.
The constitution itself would not exist as is is without the dedicated and concerted prayers of the men writing it. They could do nothing but bicker and argue daily until they turn to God in prayer for wisdom.
Ummm, the latter is exactly what evolution is. Mutations occur, the resulting changes are either propogated because they provide some objective benefit, removed from the system because they are detrimental, or become part of the background noise of genetic variation if they are neither harmful nor beneficial.
So where are the mutations in the fossil record? 120 years ago Darwin said we could discard his theory if we didn't find the fossils. Millions of fossils later we don't have the evidence. There should be thousands of mutations per species and yet only nodes exist on evolutionary diagrams.
How many mutations does it take to go from land to sea dwelling? One mathematician roughly calculated a minimum of 50,000. You ask Evolutionists what the average time for a mutation is and they will avoid the question like the plague. When you factor in the time it would take for all the creatures on the Earth to evolve you run out of time. The Earth is only so old. Then Evolutions move the problem off Earth to gain more time, but they don't say how long the alien's planet existed. lol This is science?
Carl Sagan told us that Molecular Biology would show us the truth. And it has. They can now look into the cell itself. Inside the cell are multiple factories such as a DNA sequencer and molecular folding machines, along with transport facilities. The cell's factories are controlled by programming instructions, intelligent data. Have you ever tried to program anything via random mutation? Good luck with that. The cell itself is irreducibly complex. Molecular biologist must tell themselves, "this is not designed, this is not designed," because they can now see the design.
Evolution requires belief in things unseen which is a definition of religion. And I'm thinking that you don't want religion taught in public schools. Science should follow the scientific method, not a belief system.
I think both creationism and evolution are theories and neither can be proved with material evidence. Both should be taught. I personally believe in creation... and consider this point: How long would it take for a heart to evolve with blood, veins, marrow... If it evolved first... how long until the nervous system came to support it. or Digestion, or Respiration. What would be the purpose a heart without lungs... So many systems are dependent on other systems. It will be ridiculous for a heart alone to come into function without a need! So... a heart, lungs, blood vessels, neural autonomic control, digestion .. etc.. had to come into being together, because none could function alone. If you believe that's by chance... Sorry! What proof? Both are blind beliefs. It's easier to believe in a Divine being than what we have today happening by chance.