EonBlue

Thanks to Pharyngula for this wonderful bit of info

The Florida Citizens for Science has posted the Nov 20 meeting of the Taylor County Florida School Board:

Upon motion by Danny Lundy, seconded by Darrell Whiddon the Board adopted/approved the: 1.) Resolution regarding the new Sunshine State Standards for Science.

The adoped resolution is as follows:
Whereas, the Florida Department of Education has drafted and is now proposing new Sunshine State Standards for Science, the Taylor County School Board opposes the implementation of the new standards as currently presented.
Whereas, the new Sunshine State Standards for Science no longer present evolution as theory but as “the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported in multiple forms of scientific evidence,” we are requesting that the State Board of Education direct the Florida Department of Education to revise/edit the new Sunshine State Standards for Science so that evolution is presented as one of several theories as to how the universe was formed.

Once again, the willfully ignorant and the pious frauds show their ugly heads. What other “theories” about the universe are they talking about? Do they know what a scientific theory actually is? And these people were elected to educate the children to help take this world into the 21st century, not the 15th century! Makes one wonder if humans are mature enough to have this so-called democracy. Perhaps the law can be changed so that to be able to decide scientific matters in education, one must demonstrate a high school level understanding of science.

From Tampa Bay Online:

Yet a few weeks later, the controversy is dying with a whimper. There’s no board support for a challenge to the proposed standards. Some of the five school board members blame the local newspaper for trying to start a fight.

“It’s not our agenda,” said Tim Harris, one of the board members. “My personal opinion and how I vote don’t always jibe.”

What happened? You can start with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Apparently, a huge email campaign, led by the Pastafarians, has upset the apple cart. They demanded equal time for their “theory” of how life got here. After this and national attention, the Polk County School Board appears to have relaxed on their religious indoctrination campaign.

The pro-intelligent design board members say they now recognize that the new standards are a state issue and there’s nothing they can do about them, even if they’d like to.

Lofton, a former geometry teacher with a master’s degree in mathematics and one of the pro-intelligent design board members, said she has no interest in engaging with the Pastafarians or anyone else seeking to discredit intelligent design.

She describes herself as secure in her beliefs. “I’m a Christian. I personally believe that the Bible is inerrant truth and the word of God.”

How do people like Lofton manage to get elected to these boards? It’s scary.

I am hopeful that in Florida, the effort is building to make sure the new standards, which state that evolution will be taught and not pseudo-science, will survive.

There are still areas where one version of psuedo-science is being pushed. Pinellas County School Board has members which want to include Christian Creationism, but exclude other theories like Pastafarianism. Some choice quotes:

“The entire theory of evolution is not scientific fact. Intelligent design balances it out.” - Nancy Bostock, Chairperson

What a moron. This is the Chairperson? You can find more information, including contact information, here.

Posted at The Panda’s Thumb:

In South Carolina, things were mostly quiet after last year’s election and defeat of creationist candidate for state superintendent of education Karen Floyd, and the defeat of the pro-creationism language that the Discovery Institute tried to worm into the curriculum standards.

But you knew they wouldn’t give up. Now a young-earth creationist named Kristin Maguire has been elected as the chairperson of the State Board of Education. Her qualifications? She home-schooled her four children. And that’s it.

Again, we see the results of the full force effort given by the opponents of science. They use their vast array of churches, talk radio, and the internet to communicate to the gullible about how to defeat the evilutionists. They target certain states that have a majority of ignorant, under-educated, easily led electorate to elect a representative into a position of power. Once this person has infected the education system, they will inject their virulent religious dogma into the system and attempt to boot out legitimate science as dictated by the Wedge Strategy.

They ignore the Dover Trial to do this. They must know that lawsuits will be brought, resulting in millions of dollars of taxpayer money wasted in failed attempts to subvert good education. They must know that they do not have judicial precedence to back them up. They must know that when the cards fall, their supports from the Discovery Institute will shrink away like they did in the Dover Trial.

So what drives them?

Faith. The belief that they are on the good side, and that anything that happens bad is either God testing them or the Devil throwing up obstacles. Knowing that morals are thrown out the window as long as what they do is for God (you know, lying, cheating, and stealing).

If you live in South Carolina, contact your government representatives and let them know how you feel. Contact the South Carolinians for Science Education and give them your support.