Not So Intelligently Designed Textbooks

So yesterday began the important court case that anyone who cares about education should be following. Although Her President wants to make sure that no child is left behind, apparently he is unconcern that those that keep up are receiving actual factual information. 11 parents are suing the Dover Area School District in south-central Pennsylvania for including the 'theory' of intelligent design in science class. In summary, Intelligent Design goes against all scientific thinking, much of which has been in place for 140 years, to say that Darwin's Theory of Evolution cannot possibly explain the the complexities of creation and THEREFORE THERE MUST BE A HIGHER POWER WHO DESIGNED IT ALL. This ridiculous assertation is based on no facts, nor scientific reasoning, and has been discounted by the entire scientific community. The number of criticismss of this so-called 'theory' are too numerous to mention, but seeing how no article on the 'theory' has ever been accepted into a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and those that have been published in journals set up specifically for forwarding the pseudo-science have been routinely denounced for their poor scholarship, and failure to cite and specifically rebut the actual data supporting evolution, and constructing "a rhetorical edifice out of omission of relevant facts, selective quoting, bad analogies, knocking down strawmen, and tendentious interpretations," ( wow...) I think it's fairly obvious that it is not something that should be included in schools.
Opponents of Intelligent Design including the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Biology Teachers say intelligent design is an attempt by the Christian right to teach creationism -- the belief that God created the world -- in public schools under the guise of a theory that does not explicitly mention God. The Supreme Court banned the teaching of creationism in public schools in a 1987 ruling. Herr President recently said in an interview that he believed that "both sides ought to be properly taught . . . so people can understand what the debate is about." Of course, I don't know how you properly teach a 'theory' that cannot be tested and has no basis in actual science.

Anyway, this theory is what Pennsylvania wants to teach it's children as an alternate to real science, i.e. Darwin (some might say hey, didn't we win this battle already in like 1906?). ANd they are no alone, according to CNN, "at least 31 states are taking steps to teach alternatives to evolution." A CBS poll last November found 65 percent of Americans favor teaching creationism as well as evolution while 37 percent want creationism taught instead of evolution. WHAT?!?!?!?! Are these people crazy or are they stupid? Or do they just not care about their children's education?

I've got an idea, let's teach kids that America actually didn't win the Revolutionary War, that we are infact, still a vassal of the British Empire and teach everyone the words to God Save the Queen (no, not the Sex Pistols version). Or here's an idea, in English, let's cover the proper use of punctuation, but then teach that there is an alternate system, on in which instead of using a period at the end of our sentences, we just use an ampersand@ You know, I think they will be able to find great jobs in the future with that skill set@ How about in health class we let everyone know that the best way to stay healthy is a diet composed of twinkies@ Or how bout in Math we just teach that 2+2 equals 5????????!!!!!????

That's what they want to do to our children@ As if we are not already far enough behind the rest of the modern world, we want to saddle our future with teaching that is just wrong@ Amy I angry? Damn Right! This is getting minimal amount of coverage on the news networks, but it is an issue that everyone needs to get angry about@ Do you want the stupid people who think the world was created in 6 days and that Methusalah really was 800 years old to decide the curriculum?

There is actually a simple solution for these people@ Let them send their children to their bizarro little cultish indoctrinating religious schools so they can learn all the facets of Augustine and how many angels fit on the head of a pin@ Let's keep public schools free of unprovable philosophical pseudo-science and concentrate on getting our children ready for the actual world they will be living in@