Perry’s Army of God attacks evolution again: Intelligent design to be taught in schools?

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Perry’s Army of God launches attack against science in public schools

rick perry army of god evolution

Rick Perry’s army is at it again, as his general of the State Board of Education is talking about reintroducing discussions of intelligent design in the classroom, and we’re not talking about the architecture of schools.

According to The Houston Chronicle:

The new leader of the State Board of Education is already coming under fire by critics who say she is pushing the same conservative ideology that led to her immediate predecessors’ downfall.

Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, may find her leadership skills tested during her first meeting as chair if anti-evolution members try to push “intelligent design” materials into public school biology classes when they meet next week.

Cargill also faces criticism for recently telling a friendly audience that the board needs more “conservative Christians.”

Critics said that’s the same sort of ideology that forced the state Senate to reject Gov. Rick Perry’s two previous choices to chair the 15-member board.

As I stated in an earlier column Rick Perry is dangerous not only to the state of Texas, but also to the nation as he attempts to galvanize the population into believing the nonsense that makes up religious fundamentalism.  While I like to think that America is not that gullible recent history suggests otherwise as more and more fundamentalists are being elected and appointed to conservative positions within both state and national governments.  They represent the seeds of hatred and prejudice, not to mention ignorance and narrow minded biases that constitute religious fanaticism.

Rather than retread the old news about the Great State of Texas and their wacky governor, I prefer to give an overview of intelligent design, a mythological religious theory, and evolution, a scientific theory based on sound research and documentation.  The following originally appeared in the Victoria Advocate on December 12, 2009:

Should evolution be taught in science class? Absolutely. Should creationism or intelligent design be taught in science class? Absolutely not. Simply put, one is science, and one is not.

Why evolution? Evolution is a solid, well-supported and widely-accepted science.

Worldwide, evolution is an extensively supported and accepted theory that provides the conceptual framework to understand and predict biological processes. Evolutionary theory, including speciation over a deep timeframe, has been critical for advancements in medical and agricultural research. The massive amounts of data we have accumulated from genetic research in the last decade firmly support evolutionary theory and evolutionary theory is the context that makes the data useful for understanding and treating disease.

Common genetic information that has been passed down from ancestral simple organisms is still part of us. Embryology shows our evolutionary heritage.

The fossil record supports evolution. Despite anti-evolutionist claims that there are not fossils of animals in various evolutionary states, they are discovered regularly. For example, whale ancestors that still had legs, deer-like land animals that evolved into swimming mammals.

Evolution provides possible cause-and-effect explanations for complexity of the human eye and other complex biological processes. There is still much we do not know, but, by using facts and observable processes, scientists are explaining more and more every day. The natural world is awe inspiring, beautiful and complex.

Anti-evolutionists say evolution is a weak concept, that it is a theory, not a fact, that evidence does not exist. They also say that scientists are undecided on the matter.

Evolution is a theory and a fact, just like the theory of gravity is a theory and a fact. The theory that the earth revolves around the sun (heliocentric theory) is a theory and a fact. All are supported by overwhelming evidence. The “controversy” over evolution in the scientific community is a manufactured argument. There being a lack of evidence supporting evolution simply is not true.

Scientific evidence shows that the world is billions of years old and that all animals, including man, evolved from simpler organisms. This scientific view is held by the majority of scientists the world over and accepted by many religions.

Why not intelligent design or creationism? Intelligent design is not science and is not widely supported by scientists.

Science is objective in its approach to cause and effect, relying on repeatable, observable experimental data. It is open to challenge when the challenge is empirical. A strict adherence to the scientific method is what allows the construction of theories that model the world and allows us to make testable predictions.

Intelligent design is not based on observable cause-and-effect evidence. The “cause” is not observable; the cause is a belief based on faith. It falls in the realm of religion, and should not be taught in a science class.

If science classes are forced to include beliefs based on faith alone, then it stops being science and cannot make reliable prediction about how things work. If science classes are required to teach intelligent design, then any creation story from any religion or culture could be included as the intelligent designer. Some Hindus believe the universe was created by the sound from all human souls being born. African Bushmen’s explanation of creation is that all animals and men came out of a hole in the hollow earth. Should we teach these as science? Please, no! These topics belong to the fields of literature, anthropology, theology or other religious studies.

Intelligent design is a religious concept, not scientific. In order for science to continue to advance the health and welfare of humanity, it must remain objective and logical, based on cause and effect. Science benefits us all in many ways. It is flexible, open to new ideas and can change if observable evidence supports new paradigms. Science is essential to our health, safety, economic competitiveness and our future.

Misinformation about science, misunderstanding of the scientific method and unfounded attacks on evolution and biology weaken our education system.

I am not attacking any religion or faith.

I am defending the integrity of science and what it accomplishes for humanity.

Many scientists are religious people.

Many religions accept knowledge and theories derived through the scientific processes, including evolution and geological deep time.

Science and religion have coexisted and will continue to coexist, but science is not religion and religion should not be taught as science.

Please take a minute and let us know what you think about Rick Perry’s latest attack on science.

About Post Author

Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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Circus and Bread
12 years ago

Keeping the masses brainwashed with christian dogma is probably a politically smart idea.

12 years ago

Excellent post! It’s bizarre that the an entire political party seems to be rejecting science and adopting myth as a plank, and even a cornerstone of its platform. The anti-evolutionists don’t have even a rudimentary grasp of physics, geology, cosmology, or mathematics (e.g. modeling of emergent phenomena), never mind biology. Has half the country lost its mind?

Keep up the good work exposing this nonsense.

12 years ago

All of the atheist and secular/leftist bloggers and their followers do is slam creationists for not accepting the unproven notion that life is the purposeless product of chance, a completely fact-free assertion. In their mindless and hate-filled rants, all these intellectual lightweights know to do is to throw around ad-hominems like beeds at a Mardi Gras parade. When atheism’s premire crackpot, er…I mean spokesperson, Clinton R. (Richard) Dawkins is completely impotent in his answering a basic undergraduate biology question concerning the myth of macro-evolution … http://creation.com/was-dawkins-stumped-frog-to-a-prince-critics-refuted-again … how much more so would anyone of the less-notable and knowledgeable of Darwin’s modern-day disciples?

Bradley Scott
12 years ago

Will you two idiots pull your heads out of your pasts long enough to realize that life on this planet will be lucky to survive the next 60 years? You blah, blah, blah, about the Earth being 6,000 years old, or 6,000,000 years old or billions of years old. Who fucking cares? We are here, now, and the planet is dying around us, while you brainiacs winge on about whether the organic remains discovered in a fossilized dinosaur turd prove that humans and dinosaurs were on the planet at the same time. How about putting your big brains to work on the fact that while the human population of this plant continues to increase, all other forms of life are in decline? And 5 of 8 of those eight billion humans’ existance is dependant upon fossil fuel. It currenty takes 1.3 years to produce what we consume annually. Is that too tough for you? Let me break it down for you. 1-1.3=-.3 Do you get it? Or do you still want to argue about paint schemes in a burning house?

Speekinda Troof
Reply to  Professor Mike
12 years ago

WOW. A blanket statement with no proof. Yet again ! Fossil evidence of a dinosaur is not evidence of evolution, it is merely evidence that dinosaurs once roamed the planet. There has never been a single solitary bit of evidence where a purposeful, scientific line could be drawn from so-called fossil evidence through to a modern man or beast. It has all been pure conjecture designed to keep the research monies a-flowing’ to the academics who claim to be ever so close to a breakthrough. NOT !

And you again try the zero sum argument – lack of proof of evolution does not an argument make in favor of creationisn, nor does arguing that creationism is “real” preclude evolution from existing.

It’s you that has to have it one way or another only and without for grey area. I have news for you, with neither creationism or evolution proven it is nothing BUT grey area.

Creationism may be a myth and intelligent design a euphenism for same but that does not constitute either as proof of evolution.

Speekinda Troof
12 years ago

More LIES and MISINFORMATION from Michael John Scott. The entire body of so-called physical “evidence” of evolution could fit in the bed of a pick up truck and there’s no way to draw a line through them to prove evolution. And I’m not saying that lack of proof of evolution proves creationism, just that it proves nothing about evolution.

Information can not be both theory and fact at the same time, period – this is the same silly argument used in junior high logics classes as to whether or not “all ravens are black”, contending that technically until one has personally seen all ravens and confirmed them to be black as a fact that it remains a theory.

And you teach at a university? Please….

newageluddite
12 years ago

Krazy Kat was funny; Krazy Kristins, not so much.

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