Boca Raton son and father sue over school’s alleged failure to teach evolution

Two stories have popped up about a possible lawsuit against a Florida school district for not teaching evolution properly.

Boca Raton Student Sues District For Failing To Teach Evolution

“Evolution is a very important topic and its greatest scientific breakthrough ever so I believe it should be taught,” stated fifth grade student Brandon Silver.

Silver, his brother Ari, and their father, attorney Barry Silver, faced the PBC school board to present an 18-page lawsuit that claims students are not being properly taught about evolution in the classroom and are being given false, misleading, and dangerous information about certain religions.

Boca Raton father, son sue school district for not teaching evolution

According to the lawsuit, “There are currently schools and textbooks which provide false, misleading, and dangerous information about certain religions and purposely omit factual information if it appears unfavorable to them and/or politically incorrect, which cause Palm Beach County public school students not to receive a high quality education required by the Florida law.”

About Brandon Haught

Communications Director for Florida Citizens for Science.
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18 Responses to Boca Raton son and father sue over school’s alleged failure to teach evolution

  1. Ivorygirl says:

    Is evolution covered in the Florida 5th grade science standards???

  2. Brandon Haught says:

    Yes. But I don’t think it requires any great detail of knowledge. I believe the standards just require a general survey of the basics.

  3. Jonathen Smith says:

    Looking at the bench marks, evolution is implied but not directly mentioned. In other states like California and Arizona, evolution is directly covered in 5th grade. Hopefully, the new Florida science standards should reflect the national common core standards and evolution will be included. We will have to see?

  4. Chris says:

    Hopefully we’ll get to see his lawsuit along with what level of evolution science he thinks should be given to fifth graders and what lies are being taught about Islam.

    The good rabbi may be a little delusional.

    http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-12-14/news/fl-barry-silver-fights-jews-for-jesus-20121210_1_jesus-edith-rapp-liberty-counsel

  5. Pierce R. Butler says:

    Chris – Got anything (a) relevant to the case at hand and (b) less than three years outdated?

  6. Chris says:

    Pierce – Silly me, I thought a frivolous law suit was relevant. He apparently is a faithful Darwinist. After a little looking I may have been wrong in saying he may be a little delusional. This guy is a nut job. Correct me if I’m wrong but where does it say it’s against the supreme courts definition of the separation of church and state to not teach evolution.

    He’s wrong, there are numerous other scientific theories besides evolution. Evolution’s theory may be the most widely publicized, and it does contain truth, but it cannot be called the truth. Wile adaptation and natural selection have merit, more people believe Obama is a Muslim than believe the common ape ancestor portion of the theory. “We can never really know for sure what is real and what is not, so how can we in fact be sure that science equals truth and that we as atheist are more right than believers?” Dawkins.

    He appears to be pro Muslim. His allegations of false teaching could go either way. The religion of peace or the worlds most vile ideology. Who knows? That’s why it will be fun to see his suit. Hope it happens!

    A few questions a writer ask Silver and his answers.

    Q -If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
    A-”Do you exist? And if so, why don’t you make yourself more clearly known?”

    Q-If you’re not sure God exists, doesn’t that hurt the basis for a monotheistic religion?
    A-There is certainly a power and force in the universe that is beyond our comprehension. But as far as the characteristics go, that is beyond Jews to understand.

    Q-Do you ever have doubts about your faith?
    A-Doubt is my faith. I have faith in the rational, skeptical mind to uncover truth through logic and reason….

    Q-Favorite books?
    A-”Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” by Carl Sagan. I also like “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins and “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy” by C. Dennis McKinsey. The Bible has thousands of inconsistencies and statements that are inconsistent with science and logic.

    This guy claims to be a Rabbi and he doesn’t accept the Torah.

    NUT JOB

  7. Pierce R. Butler says:

    Correct me if I’m wrong …

    Some of us have tried to do that for years now, with no visible success.

    … there are numerous other scientific theories besides evolution.

    Yes, but gravity, heliocentrism, tectonic drift, etc, do not tell us anything about the origin of species.

    … it cannot be called the truth.

    No theory can (in standard scientific usage). It can be called extremely well-confirmed, and unfalsified – because, well, guess what…

    … more people believe Obama is a Muslim than believe the common ape ancestor portion of the theory.

    (a) Citation needed. (b) Factuality does not depend on votes.

    He appears to be pro Muslim.

    To some people morons, anything other than “Kill ’em all! NOW!!1!” appears to be “pro-Muslim”.

    A few questions a writer ask [sic] …

    See (a) above.

    This guy claims to be a Rabbi and he doesn’t accept the Torah.

    And who the hell is Chris to say all rabbis must accept ancient tribal lore as infallible fact?

    Do you think Native American leaders don’t qualify as such if they don’t insist this continent is a giant turtle?

  8. Chris says:

    Pierce-Goodness, give yourself a little credit. Failing to prove me wrong for years must really be depressing.

    You’re right, gravity, heliocentrism, etc, doesn’t tell us anything about origins. And evolution doesn’t say where life started, it simply assumes it was here to evolve. But there are more practical explanations for diversity. Dawkins considers the possibility of Intelligent Alien Design seeding the planet with who knows what. Don’t laugh, Carl Sagan proposed seeding Venus with microorganisms. There is none to little evidence abiogenesis took place on earth to start with, only a few wild ideas about it. The Cambrian explosion could be a good example of seeding. Darwin knew there was a problem with his theory because major animal phyla appear fully formed at the beginning of the Cambrian with no evidence they descended from a common ancestor or anything else. Punctuated Equilibrium is a good one. It helps explain all those dotted lines from nothing to something on those phylogenic trees. No gradual descent with modification, just bam bam bam and there here. Scientology has everything evolving from birds I think. Need to ask John Travolta. Theistic evolution has both God and Darwin’s ideas working together. Evolution’s theory and creationism are in harmony. This works good for Christians and evolutionist who don’t fully believe in one or the other. Intelligent Design claims living things are best explained by an intelligent cause. It would appear this one is called pseudoscience by those opposed to intelligence. Creationism is my favorite. It implicates a creator smarter than Darwin or any other human. With science standing in as a limited god, creationism is unacceptable. There are alternatives.

    Native Americans had or have Shamans, Christians have preachers, Catholics have popes, cardinals and bishops, Muslims have Imams, Hindus have monks, Judaism has Rabbis. I’m not familiar with any religion having rabbis other than in Judaism. In Judaism a rabbi is normally a teacher of the Torah.

    You’re correct, factuality does not depend on votes, it’s evidence. And it would appear that Obama has provided more convincing evidence he’s a Muslim than science has produced convincing evidence for evolution.

    As to the dude being pro Muslim, Judaism and Islam normally clash, something you might not be aware of from your mental bubble.

  9. Pierce R. Butler says:

    Chris – Failing to prove to Chris that Chris is wrong, scientifically or otherwise, is too predictable to be depressing.

    Dawkins considers the possibility of Intelligent Alien Design seeding the planet with who knows what.

    Dawkins “considered” that only in response to a question in Ben Stein’s notoriously dishonest “documentary” Expelled, which was edited to show his answer after a completely different query. Don’t feel too bad – hundreds of thousands of other fools fell for that one too.

    There is none to little evidence abiogenesis took place on earth to start with…

    Just the presence of life on this one planet, with no evidence of it anywhere else in, literally, lightyears.

    … major animal phyla appear fully formed at the beginning of the Cambrian with no evidence they descended from a common ancestor or anything else.

    No evidence perceived by Chris, that is, or by anyone else too lazy or blinkered to try to search for “pre-cambrian life” online or at a library.

    Punctuated Equilibrium is a good one.

    Creationists who cite the idea of punctuated equilibrium as somehow supporting their half-baked notions thereby prove only that they truly do not understand that concept.

    It would appear this one is called pseudoscience by those opposed to intelligence.

    So it appears to, ahem, certain persons. Those with a basic grasp of science realize that ID doesn’t even reach the pseudoscience level, as it makes no predictions beyond bragging it will someday somehow offer something of substance (which it still hasn’t).

    Creationism is my favorite.

    Yeah, we know. 😛

    It implicates a creator smarter than Darwin or any other human.

    But not a creator smart enough to teach its chosen creatures what “implicate” means.

    In Judaism a rabbi is normally a teacher of the Torah.

    Guess what: Christians (you’ve proclaimed yourself as such here before, and if you renounced that I missed it) don’t get to say what Jews – or followers of any other creed, even other Christians – must use as their norms.

    You’re correct, factuality does not depend on votes, it’s evidence. And it would appear that Obama has provided more convincing evidence he’s a Muslim than science has produced convincing evidence for evolution.

    Not the most concise example of self-contradiction I’ve ever seen, but a decent entry in the competition.

    Judaism and Islam normally clash, something you might not be aware of from your mental bubble.

    Click the following link only if you accept personal liability for any consequences to your own bubble: ‘Antidote to the Republicans’ Hanukah at a Mosque Was the Most American Thing I’ve Ever Seen.

  10. Chris says:

    Pierce-I’m not sure what most of your rambling is about but it’s true Republicans are becoming as gullible as Democrats. Our good rabbi here, the pope and many others involved in the interfaith movement strive to bring friendship, understanding and peace between all religion. That sounds great but that’s not the goal of all religions. Go with Hanukkah in a mosque to Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Arabia or any Islamic dominate county and you will die quickly.

    Perhaps you should educate yourself about Islam a bit.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/175434/1-4-swedish-women-will-be-raped-sexual-assaults-daniel-greenfield

    https://factreal.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/muslim-crusades-started-four-centuries-before-the-western-crusades/

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/175434/1-4-swedish-women-will-be-raped-sexual-assaults-daniel-greenfield

    http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/beware-stealth-jihad-in-america/

  11. Chris says:

    Pierce-Opps, looks like I hit a button twice. This is the one I wanted to give you.

    http://www.clarionproject.org/content/omar-ahmad?page=3

    “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.”
    – Omar Ahmad
    Founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

    “I wouldn’t want to create the impression that I wouldn’t like the government of the US to be Islamic at some time in the future, but I’m not going to do anything violent to promote that. I’m going to use education.”
    – Ibrahim Hooper
    Spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

  12. Pierce R. Butler says:

    Chris – Still haven’t got that “staying on topic” trick down yet, have ya?

    Anyway, I did a search for that first quote you provided. Just about all the sites that come up were unreliable flake mines such as freerepublic.com; the most reputable was a snippet of a piece from Wikipedia which relied on an article in (sigh) WorldNetDaily.

    But, just for discussion, let’s assume that statement was quoted accurately. Just how long do you think it would take to find equivalent declarations of conquest from Christians proclaiming their Great Commission to force every knee to bend and every tongue to babble?

    Those of us who see Christianism and Islam from the outside know that both those branches of the “Abrahamic tradition” have strong totalitarian tendencies, amply proven by their respective histories. We try to uphold another and better ideal – found in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. You should look it up sometime.

  13. Chris says:

    Pierce- Interesting thought, just how long would it take to find an equivalent declaration for Christian conquest where terror through murder, child rape, cannibalism, beheading, selling the oppositions kidnaped children as sex slaves, female mutilation, stabbing, suicide bombings, and random mass executions of non-believers is utilized today to promote the Christian faith.

    Evolution and Islam are the topics and the supposed reason for this frivolous law suit.

    There is no First Amendment in Islam, only Sharia. You should look that up sometime.

  14. Pierce R. Butler says:

    Chris – Only according to you is Islam a topic of this thread, or an element in the Silvers’ lawsuit.

    Take your terrors and your prejudices somewhere people might have an interest in them.

  15. Chris says:

    PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (CBS12)–A Boca Raton father and son are suing the school board of Palm Beach County claiming it fails to teach evolution and so-called truths about religions, specifically Islam.

  16. Pierce R. Butler says:

    Apparently this is the link that Chris left out above.

    The only mention of Islam it contains, beyond Chris’s excerpt, is

    “They are still not teaching evolution. They are still teaching lies about Islam….”

    This leaves very little to hang a discussion on, and nothing whatsoever to justify dragging in the smears from highly unreliable sources (such as clarionproject.org) with which Chris attempts his derailment.

    It seems cbs12.com has no follow-up stories since this Dec 16 report – not surprising for a school-related news item this time of year.

  17. Chris says:

    I would say get your head out of the sand but I don’t think it’s stuck there.

  18. Pierce R. Butler says:

    Damnit Chris, do you have anything like a positive contribution to make?

    Would you know one if you saw it?

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