Florida Today has an article up about candidates running for Florida House Districts 29, 30 and 80 and Senate District 24. A question about science was asked:
Do you believe in evolution and do you support the right of teachers to incorporate teaching creationism?
McCarville: “I do believe we should teach science in the science classes and religion in the religion classes.â€
Poppell: “I believe in creation, intelligent design,†Poppell said. “I will not argue with someone who believes in evolution. They know more about their ancestors than I do.â€
Holton: He believes in the separation of church and state.
“I support intelligent design. It is theory-based, and it’s something that I support.â€
Tidd: She believes religion should be taught during religious classes.
“Evolution is not a belief. It’s a scientific process, and we should teach science in the classroom.â€
Workman: He believes both creationism and evolution should be taught in school.
“I believe in creationism. I believe that the mighty hand of the Lord created the earth and everything on it.â€
Abarbanell: He said there are portions of evolution “that don’t make sense to me as a biologist — again these are theories.â€
He said it’s acceptable to teach creationism.â€
There’s nothing wrong with teaching it.â€
[Edited to add.] I didn’t have the time to expound on this when I originally wrote this post: The question posed to the candidates is flawed to begin with. What’s this “right of teachers”? My wife is a teacher (and I am studying to become one) and I am not aware of any right of teachers to mention any old nonsense they feel like in the classroom. Their job is to teach the approved curriculum. They certainly don’t have the “right” to teach something that undermines that very curriculum. Correct me if I’m wrong. Free speech is not an issue in this matter.
Secondly, teaching creationism in the public school science classroom, as the question states, has been found to be unconstitutional in multiple court cases. So, we see that the question is flawed on yet another level. What makes the candidates’ responses so much worse then, is that they obviously have no idea that the question is nothing more that an emotional trapdoor. Here we have candidates going with the gut rather than the brain. Knee-jerk politics; gotta love it.
I blogged about this a couple of hours ago, before I knew about Brandon’s article. Great minds …
Where do they stand on gravity and intelligent falling?
Intelligent Design is NOT science.
Intelligent Design, for the unfamiliar, is taking the theory of evolution and adding God into the equation without rhyme or reason.
ID isn’t science? Who knew?
You could teach creationism to every high school in two seconds. All you have to do is say “God did it.”
If they’re talking about teaching GENESIS in high school, well, that’s a completely different matter. Genesis has been completely and utterly proven false by almost every field of science. I’ll never understand why people want to teach children that light and plant life existed before the sun, moon, and stars did, that rabbits chew cud, and that snakes, donkeys, and strange burning bushes can talk to you.
Well, it’s good to know who the fecking morons are who are trying to appeal to the dumbass vote. Now ABO, Johnny McD, and the rest of them can tell their flocks who to vote for. And then get their tax exempt status yanked. Yaaaaay! 🙂
“Let us meet thinly-veiled attempts to transform democracy into a form of theocracy in which a few people decide among themselves who will be Theo with smart, active civic participation that exemplifies the partnership between piety and civility that works for freedom and justice for everybody.”
-Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy
Now what’s harder to believe, a talking snake or a 3.2 million year old dead monkey?
Now what’s harder to believe, a talking snake or a 3.2 million year old dead monkey?
Are you kidding??? I’d actually believe that a T-Rex ate some foliage before I’d believe a snake, or any animal for that matter, talked.
I believe in talking trolls …
LOL! 🙂 Good one!
ABO, you’re freakin’ kidding, right? No, never mind. Obviously, no matter how incredibly stupid it is, if it’s in the Bible, you believe it. Pathetic.
Brian
“ Genesis has been completely and utterly proven false by almost every field of science.â€
That’s a pretty broad statement, I suppose you have evidence to show that there were no Pharaohs and that Egyptian civilization was mythological. And that all the geological and historical locations are just make believe.
And of course you should be able to show where the genealogy’s are inaccurate, and not falling in line with, Mitochondrial Eve.
I’m sure you have eye witness testimony to collaborate your claims, but the burning bush you’re referring too isn’t in Genesis
So going by both the questions and answers, they’ve finally stopped pretending that ID is not just repackaged creationism then?
How about you ABO? Still pretending?
Yeah, about that ABO. Now, we know that Pharaohs and Egypt are real. Here’s a simple test. If we take the Pharaohs and Egypt out of history, without affecting history. However, if you take out the things that happened in the bible, history moves along just fine.
Yeah, but, but, but Genesis mentions the sun and trees and people and animals and stuff and since those things actually exist, the Bible is obviously TRUE!
/fundie mode
ABO,
“Now what’s harder to believe, a talking snake or a 3.2 million year old dead monkey?”
We have discovered fossils that encourage the belief and support of Evolution “I.E. 3.2 million year old dead monky”. However, I have not heard of any recording of, or talking snake zoo to support your belief.
Please drop this argument before you look foolish.
Too late.
RAmen!!
Now what’s harder to believe, a talking snake or a 3.2 million year old dead monkey?
. . . maybe ABO thinks that Eve knew Parseltongue . . .
Ha ha ha! Except the fundies burn Harry Potter books, witchcraft/sorcery is bad!
Abarbanell is NOT a biologist. He is a “Traveling emergency room physician”.