Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Great news for science textbooks coming out of Texas. Wait, is that right?
In a victory for science education and the children of Texas, publishers are refusing to include creationism in science textbooks despite fierce pressure from conservative Christians.
The Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan watchdog, released a statement Thursday, Oct. 17, declaring “All 14 publishers are refusing to water down or compromise instruction on evolution and climate change in their proposed new high school biology textbooks.”
The following is from a press release issued by the Texas Freedom Network announcing the news:
"Materials submitted to the Texas Education Agency and examined by the Texas Freedom Network and university scientists show that publishers are resisting pressure to undermine instruction on evolution in their proposed new high school biology textbooks for public schools.
“This is a very welcome development for everyone who opposes teaching phony science about evolution in our kid’s public schools,” Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller said. “Texas parents can applaud these publishers for standing up to pressure from politicians and activists who want to put their personal beliefs ahead of giving Texas students a 21st-century science education.”
Conservative Christians on the Texas State Board of Education have been attempting to insert religious superstition into science textbooks for years by attempting to smuggle into the Texas science curriculum materials supportive of Biblical Creationism, also known as Intelligent Design.
Science advocates argue Creationism, or Intelligent Design, is not a legitimate scientific alternative to the theory of evolution. Indeed, critics would claim Biblical creationism is a religious superstition that does real harm to America - a symptom of a willful ignorance and an anti-intellectualism that thwarts scientific progress at home and humiliates America abroad.
There is so much win in that last paragraph.
Texas, as has been reported before, has a HUGE impact on what kind of textbooks that are printed for public school students around the country, which is why they receive a great deal of scrutiny concerning what is, and what is not, included within their pages.
There has been a great deal of controversy concerning the very aggressive attempts by certain Creationists to undermine science and insert their own superstitious view of the beginnings of life on this planet.
Learning that they have, thus far, been unsuccessful is good news for science, good news for our kids, and ultimately very good news for the future of our country.
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