KS Repubs now want to have a hearing on "anti-religious bias" at KU!

[atommom]

Rep. Karin Brownlee, R-Olathe, agrees with Landwehr:
". . . when a professor comes forward to teach a course of this nature, to ask, Are they committed to presenting both sides? I think that our students should have the opportunity to hear both sides of an issue."

Ah, yes, the famous "Both Sides" invocation. Except this is a university course, not Crossfire. This man is a "Professor," which means he is an expert on the subject he is teaching. This is not a required course that every liberal arts, or even every religion student must take to graduate. Of course, it comes down to funds. Since the school is partly funded by tax dollars, the legislators think this gives them a say in the content of the courses. They attempted in 2003 to target Professor Dennis Dailey, who teaches a very popular Human Sexuality course, by including an amendment in a bill that would deny funding for any class that uses "obscene" materials. The amendment was line-item vetoed by D governor Sebelius.

And Kay O'Connor, R-Olathe, (long a favorite of mine after she stated that it was probably a mistake to have granted women suffrage) says that the Kansas Legislature could seek an investigation.

"If they felt like things were really a drastic problem, provisos could be put into legislation that prohibit the flow of money until the situation is corrected. If they felt like it was something illegal, they could turn it over to the attorney general," she said.

And I'm sure Phil Kline would love to get his hands on this. He had so much fun persecuting a developmentally disabled gay teen, and trying to nose around in the private medical records of women who have had abortions.

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/10/114256/05

[ComerPerro]

1. Ok, see, that's bullshit. Because, as soon as you compare creationism

and Intelligent design to evolution, then it no longer becomes a matter of "we should hear both sides".

One, they aren't equal arguments. Evolution is based on scientific observation, creatism is mythology, and Intelligent design is exactly the same as evolution, with the only difference the fact that students are repeatedly reminded that "God must have done it".

And, the most important thing here:

What about other creation myths? Why aren't they given equal weight?

Thats how you can tell that these people are full of shit when they say they want to hear "all views".

Its not true.

They aren't open minded.

They just use that as a buzzword to try to appeal to moderates.

Its scary that they've made that much headway, where even people who know creationsim and ID is bullshit say things like, "Yeah, but people should hear all views".


Now I'm just ranting and raving, so I'll wrap this up here.


I am just so pissed about all this...

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I wonder if double L PhiLL will run with this one?

He does seem to want to keep his distance from O'Connor. She is such an obvious nutjob.

[atommom]

3. Too nutty for double L Phill? Now that's scary.

:scared:

[atommom]

4. The fundies have had higher education in their crosshairs for a long

time, and now they're getting a lot bolder about it. How is it a legitimate use of our tax dollars to have the legislature investigate whether KU is deferential enough to this particular subset of Christians? I just don't see why a secular university should have to conform to the worldview of these RW nuts. If they are allowed to meddle with the content of university courses, the consequences could be dire.