Time to reconsider the Greek Gods...because the oldest theories are the best theories.
Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is responsible for Senate Bill 89, recently passed by the Indiana Senate, which would allow schools to teach “creation science” — the oxymoron that really means “The Bible” —as an alternative to the scientific Theory of Evolution. Of course, the U.S. Supreme Court specifically outlawed this fundamentalist aganda in the 1987 court decision Edwards v. Aguillard. Kruse however, thinks that the bill could lead to a court challenge, and a Supreme Court reversal. “This is a different Supreme Court,” he has said. “This Supreme Court could rule differently.”
It isn’t that different, Senator. They all have law degrees, they’ve all read the Constitution,they’ve all seen “Jurassic Park.” They all have IQs above freezing, unlike…well, never mind. By the way, Kruse is a Republican, as if you hadn’t guessed.
There is room for all kinds in the legislature, but the spectacularly confused and proud of it probably belong elsewhere, like ina toll booth. Rejection of evolution is a pretty clear marker of cognitive deficiencies. Kruse, for example, calls evolution a “Johnny come lately” theory that only became popular over the last century, while he points out, religious ideas about the origins of life have been around for eons. Now there’s a profound argument. I wonder what other points of view he considers suspect because they are relatively recent compared to, say, Ptolemy, Aristotle, and the Sumerians? And does he consider it time we reconsidered worshipping Zeus and his merry band of Olympians? They make Christianity look like a “Johnny come lately.”
If I had to choose—this would be with an Uzi at my head, obviously—between electing a representative who thought Joe Biden’s real name was “Bin Laden” or one who believed that the universe was literally created in seven days and that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old, I’d vote for the former without a moment’s hesitation. Ignorance can be cured. Stupidity is forever.
And not all Republicans are afflicted. The Speaker of the Indiana House has told reporters that bucking the U.S. Supreme Court on the teaching of creationism seems like a bad idea, politically and pragmatically, at least for now.
Maybe in 10,000 years or so, after the Court has had time to evolve.
Ethics Alarms 
Politicians can always rely on stupidity.
79% of Americans think that “creationism” should be taught alongside
evolution in public schools; only 20% thought evolution should be taught
without mentioning creationism.
–“Survey Finds Support Is Strong for Teaching 2 Origin Theories,” James
Glanz, The New York Times, Mar. 11, 2000. , cited by A. Zarkov .
Fortunately, the Supreme Court does not base its decisions on public opinion polls. I think teaching creationism would be find in a religion or philosophy class, as long as it is separated from science class, where evolution should be taught.
I’d be up for a good comparative religion class, though I’m not sure where creationism belongs in philosophy.
We’ve been here before. The Glanz article is not only over a decade old, it’s also incompetently written, with an even worse headline. Here is the survey he’s talking about. Key section of the Executive Summary: “While many Americans also support the in-school
discussion of religious explanations of human origins, the majority do
not want these religious explanations presented as ‘science.’ They
would like these Creationist ideas to be taught about in separate
classes other than science (such as Philosophy) or taught as a
‘belief.’ Only a minority of the public (fewer than 3 in 10) wants
Creationism taught as science in public schools.”
Increasingly I find myself distrusting all polls and surveys and the subsequent use of them. I may stop citing them altogether.
As well you should.
I recall hearing about a poll taken in December, 1491, in which well over 75% of respondents said the world was flat. The balance were either undecided or didn’t care.
Not to mention that some 2000 years prior some dudes in what is now Eqypt had quite accurately calculated the circumference of that flat world.
Polls only tell us how many people are able remember what they are told, be it in Sunday school or on the evening news.
Yes, but isn’t that called “learning”?
Another question is whether Governor Daniels will support the bill or not. He seems reasonable on some matters but this is where we see true leadership: does he support what is is based on science or does he support the anti-evolution agenda.
I think any and all senators responsible for sponsoring and/or voting in favor of this kind of INANE legislation should be impeached for wasting time and public funds that come out of the pockets of tax-payers who work hard and expect and should DEMAND more accountability from those they elect to office. There are a lot of real problems in the country and a lot of worthy ways to spend money solving these problems. This, and other BS waste-of-time bills/proclamations/debates like this one, are an outrage during a time when the vast majority of tax payers forced by the tax code to fund this nonsense are having trouble feeding their families. Can I get an “Amen”?!