Here’s Fox News again, pimping creationism and fundamentalist grievance-mongering in a story about a parent in Tennessee who’s trying to get a biology textbook banned.

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Gretchen Carlson, in a voice dripping with horror: “A high school biology book is at the center of a small-town controversy because it describes creationism as … a Biblical myth, Brian!”

The definition of “myth:”

myth |miθ|
noun

1 a traditional story, esp. one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

Describing creationism as a Biblical myth is 100% accurate, of course, as you can see from the definition. But in their blinkered fundamentalist daze, these blow-dried empty talking heads are promoting the view that it’s somehow deserving of respect on the same level with evolutionary science, and calling for banning books that don’t give them what they want.

And now, of course, hard core creationists have picked up on this opportunity, and are pushing for even more outrageous concessions: Ban a Science Book? School Board Delays Action.

Karen Carson, of the West Knox County 5th District, tried to find middle ground with an amendment that would have upheld the school committee’s recommendation but also offered to biology teachers a critical analysis of the textbook submitted by Zimmermann and written by Charles Voss. (Voss, a professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Louisiana State University, is a longtime activist for the cause of creationism and vice president of an outfit called the Origins Resource Association.) But Carson’s amendment satisfied no one, especially after she revised it to make it subject to review by school system science staff, and it failed on a 3-6 vote.

That opened the floor to the real debate, where the most voluble contenders were Anderson, of East Knoxville’s 1st District, and Dan Murphy, of the West Knoxville 4th. Anderson started out complaining about what he saw as weaknesses in the school committee’s decision to affirm the textbook, but he soon moved into meatier territory. “I personally believe that there has to be some intelligence in the design of life,” he declared, “and no science teacher would ever be able to convince me different than that. It didn’t just happen in Walden’s Pond.” He suggested sending the textbook back to the school committee or to Central Office for further review.

Anderson’s views were quickly seconded by Bratton, and Buttry went even further. “I think it is offensive,” she said of the book’s contrast of evolution and creationism. “I take exception to the fact that it’s not presented as theory, it doesn’t state that it’s theory, it presents it almost as, well, a fact. ‘This is the way it is.’”

Buttry then offered a substitute motion: “That we not uphold the recommendation of the review committee, and that the book be banned from Knox County schools.”

After reading about Prof. Charles Voss, I Googled “Origins Resource Association” and discovered their website — a motherlode of crazy.

Includes this wonderful link:

Web page of Dr. Don Patton, frequent speaker at ORA seminars

Contains fascinating photos of dinosaur images made ca. 500 B.C., long before dinosaurs were known to science and yet remarkably accurate in their details. The conclusion: humans lived alongside dinosaurs.

Meet the Flintstones. These are the people who want to control what’s taught in Tennessee science classes.