Kansas: Because They Didn't Have Enough of a Stigma Already
(Ed. Note: Due to local elections, there just aren't a lot of letters to use from the Post Standard. This story was found at CNN.)
TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- At the risk of re-igniting the same heated nationwide debate it sparked six years ago, the Kansas Board of Education approved new public school science standards Tuesday that cast doubt on the theory of evolution.
You know what really works well for any political or social movement? A reputation for being intellectually backwards. Now, I realize that this country is going through a terribly anti-intellectual phase, but that's different from people being willing to embrace something considered backwater and ignorant. There's a reason that, no matter how popular the "sport" becomes, we'll never have an ex-NASCAR driver as a President. Basically, this is like Kansas standing up collectively as a state, with it5s greasy mullet hanging out from its Caterpillar mesh cap and bud stains down its sleeveless white tank-top, and shouting to the world, "Durn tootin' we ain't havin' none a' that book learnin' roun' these parts!" Clap clap, Kansas. Clap clap.
Look, don't get me wrong. If the majority of Kansas's backwater hillbilly residents want to learn that science is stupid and useless, that's just fine for them. I'm sure they're going to see a massive influx of technology companies and high-income employment when their high-school graduates are turning in job applications that contain excerpts like:
"What qualities make you qualified for this position?"
"my daddy done tol me God says i need this here job."
Just imagine some poor kid coming out of the Kansas school system, getting into an Ivy league college, and arguing with their professor that science doesn't have to be proven with observational data. Like the accent isn't putting the kid at enough of a disadvantage to begin with.
John Bacon feels that this move "gets rid of a lot of dogma that's being taught in the classroom today." Yeah, I think kids today have had enough of that "evidence" and "fact" nonsense. Surely what kids need is less dogma in the classroom. Pseudo-religious indoctrination is definitely the way to go. My only real concern here is that this guy is considered intelligent enough by his community to be elected to the school board.
And they rewrote the definition of science! My God! I hope they've informed all of the major universities worldwide, because this could have dramatic implications. No longer will our scientists be confined to that stodgy old definition of science. Kansas has redefined it for them! Research not going as you planned? That's okay, no need to consider why! God just wants it that way! A cure for cancer? Stop all that expensive research and development, and get on your knees, sinner! I'm sure Thomas Edison would feel vindicated. Nobody ever believed him when he said God gave him the idea for the light bulb during a drunken prayer session.
I realize Kansas isn't exactly a metropolitan hub, and maybe something like this isn't so important in the long run. But I chose to see this as a good thing. This isn't a victory for the anti-intellectual Christian fascists. It's how they're going to hang themselves. Instead of just considering themselves lucky to get more attention than their numbers actually warrant, they keep pushing and pushing. Was Terri Shiavo not enough of an embarassment to these people? Do they not realize that Pat Robertson is the butt of more jokes than Michael Jackson? Evidently not. But let's see what happens when Kansas's best and brightest end up being laughing stocks. They call it Intelligent Design now, but we'll all get a good laugh when the students of Kansas schools find out they've been ignornantly misinformed.
TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- At the risk of re-igniting the same heated nationwide debate it sparked six years ago, the Kansas Board of Education approved new public school science standards Tuesday that cast doubt on the theory of evolution.
The 6-4 vote was a victory for "intelligent design" advocates who helped draft the standards. Intelligent design holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power...
...Supporters of the standards said they will promote academic freedom. "It gets rid of a lot of dogma that's being taught in the classroom today," said board member John Bacon, an Olathe Republican.
The standards state that high school students must understand major evolutionary concepts. But they also declare that some concepts have been challenged in recent years by fossil evidence and molecular biology...
...In addition, the board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.
The standards will be used to develop student tests measuring how well schools teach science. Decisions about what is taught in classrooms will remain with 300 local school boards, but some educators fear pressure will increase in some communities to teach less about evolution or more about intelligent design....Okay, this isn't really a news blog, but I simply couldn't let this pass without comment. The comment goes something like this: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
You know what really works well for any political or social movement? A reputation for being intellectually backwards. Now, I realize that this country is going through a terribly anti-intellectual phase, but that's different from people being willing to embrace something considered backwater and ignorant. There's a reason that, no matter how popular the "sport" becomes, we'll never have an ex-NASCAR driver as a President. Basically, this is like Kansas standing up collectively as a state, with it5s greasy mullet hanging out from its Caterpillar mesh cap and bud stains down its sleeveless white tank-top, and shouting to the world, "Durn tootin' we ain't havin' none a' that book learnin' roun' these parts!" Clap clap, Kansas. Clap clap.
Look, don't get me wrong. If the majority of Kansas's backwater hillbilly residents want to learn that science is stupid and useless, that's just fine for them. I'm sure they're going to see a massive influx of technology companies and high-income employment when their high-school graduates are turning in job applications that contain excerpts like:
"What qualities make you qualified for this position?"
"my daddy done tol me God says i need this here job."
Just imagine some poor kid coming out of the Kansas school system, getting into an Ivy league college, and arguing with their professor that science doesn't have to be proven with observational data. Like the accent isn't putting the kid at enough of a disadvantage to begin with.
John Bacon feels that this move "gets rid of a lot of dogma that's being taught in the classroom today." Yeah, I think kids today have had enough of that "evidence" and "fact" nonsense. Surely what kids need is less dogma in the classroom. Pseudo-religious indoctrination is definitely the way to go. My only real concern here is that this guy is considered intelligent enough by his community to be elected to the school board.
And they rewrote the definition of science! My God! I hope they've informed all of the major universities worldwide, because this could have dramatic implications. No longer will our scientists be confined to that stodgy old definition of science. Kansas has redefined it for them! Research not going as you planned? That's okay, no need to consider why! God just wants it that way! A cure for cancer? Stop all that expensive research and development, and get on your knees, sinner! I'm sure Thomas Edison would feel vindicated. Nobody ever believed him when he said God gave him the idea for the light bulb during a drunken prayer session.
I realize Kansas isn't exactly a metropolitan hub, and maybe something like this isn't so important in the long run. But I chose to see this as a good thing. This isn't a victory for the anti-intellectual Christian fascists. It's how they're going to hang themselves. Instead of just considering themselves lucky to get more attention than their numbers actually warrant, they keep pushing and pushing. Was Terri Shiavo not enough of an embarassment to these people? Do they not realize that Pat Robertson is the butt of more jokes than Michael Jackson? Evidently not. But let's see what happens when Kansas's best and brightest end up being laughing stocks. They call it Intelligent Design now, but we'll all get a good laugh when the students of Kansas schools find out they've been ignornantly misinformed.
posted by Zafrod at 4:56 PM
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