Tennessee Forgets Scopes, Passes ID Bill

Last updated on: April 10, 2011 at 10:17 pm by Jeffrey L. Falick

Tennessee Forgets Scopes, Passes ID Bill 2011-04-10T22:17:00-05:00 Jeffrey L. Falick

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

At least one state legislature has managed to push through a law designed by proponents of intelligent design and creationism.

Tennessee, where the debate should have been settled almost a century ago, has passed a bill (so far only in their House of Representatives) to promote “critical thinking” about scientific theories that can “cause controversy.” I’ve written about this before.

You hear this business about “critical thinking” more and more these days from the fundies. They do not understand what it means in normative academic discourse. They think it means that when something contradicts their biblically based belief system, we should encourage kids to criticize it. Now it’s part of their strategy to sneak ID/creationism in through the backdoor.

You can find the full text of the bill here. Its language has been designed to sound innocent and constitutional. Its critics have pointed out that it is anything but. The main lobbyist is David Fowler, president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, who has stated that presenting intelligent design “theory” is, in fact, the main goal of the law:

…[It is] appropriate that students understand that intelligent design is a theory that many scientists are beginning to consider and hold because of the weaknesses in the scientific evidence supporting evolution. In fact, over 850 PhD.-level scientists from some of the finest universities around the world have subscribed to this statement:

We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.

I’m sure that Tennessee is flush with jobs and enjoying a budget surplus. Now they can use all that spare cash to set about defending this needless and ridiculous legislation.

Blog Entries

Evolution and Creationism

Fundamentalist Christianity

Science and Reason

Previous Post

April 10, 2011

Rabbinic Dialogue Round 2 - Rabbi Klein's Letter

Next Post

April 15, 2011 The Rabbinical Dialogue, Exchange #3

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Entries

Select a Month January 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 December 2014 February 2014 December 2013 October 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 September 2012 August 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which New Testament book quotes Psalm 110 to describe Jesus as the eternal High Priest?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Revelation Acts Hebrews Romans