|
be heard at all.
.......Kansas biologists are set to boycott upcom-ing
board of education hearings on the
future of science teaching in the state.
The researchers contend that the hear-ings
are being set up to serve as a thinly veiled
showcase for ‘intelligent design’ — the theory
that a god shaped the course of evolution.
Over six days in early May, the board
hopes to hear arguments from proponents of
intelligent design and scientists about
whether there is evidence for the interven-tion
of a deity in the process of evolution.
“We view this hearing as an opportunity to
educate the committee and the public,” says
Steve Abrams, a veterinarian in Arkansas
City and chairman of the board of educa-tion.
The hearings are part of a review of the
state’s science curriculum.
But so far, no evolutionary biologists have
agreed to participate in the hearings. They
say that the board has already decided to
include language that is friendly to intelli-gent
design in the new science standards.
“We will not participate in their kangaroo
court,” says Harry McDonald, president of
Kansas Citizens for Science.“We will lose and
the creationists will win if we lend our credi-bility
to these hearings,”he adds.
.....
The plan will introduce a definition of
science that includes the possibility of the
supernatural, and will point out several
“weaknesses” of macroevolutionary theory,
such as gaps in the fossil record, says John
Calvert, managing director of the Intelligent
Design Network based in Shawnee, Kansas.
“The idea is simply to open up the discussion
of evolution,”he says.......
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(128 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
