Pages

Jump to bottom

1 comment

1
freetoken  Jan 27, 2011 • 12:58:34pm

He’s done this before.

Here is a note from 2006:

Creationist science teacher lures debate foe

Tom Ritter, a Pennsylvania physics and chemistry teacher who believes that life was/is controlled by a supernatural entity, has finally found a person to debate the merits of evolution in front of a jury of high school students. Although evolution is a prominent part of PA science standards, the Annville-Cleona school board has a history of fighting evolution instruction in the district. It is unclear whether students from neighboring districts will be brought in to judge the debate. The debate will take place may on 18th, 2006.

Details are available in the April 26th Lebanon Daily News.

Oh, look… who’s backed him that year (talk.origins had a thread on the original Ritter challenge from that local paper):

Teacher posts evolution challenge
By RORY SCHULER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News

ANNVILLE ? If you believe in evolution as fact, Tom Ritter has a thousand bucks that says he can prove you wrong.

?I want to put one of these evolutionists on the spot,? Ritter said
yesterday while standing in his chemistry-lab classroom at Annville-Cleona High School. ?I want them to put their money where their mouth is. Let?s belly up to the bar and see what you?re made of.?

Ritter, a chemistry and physics teacher, has laid down a public challenge to those who believe that evolution is the only rational explanation behind life and the existence of modern organisms.

On the state?s Constitution Party Web site
[www. constitutionpartypa. com], Ritter has posted the ground rules for a debate to be held in mid-May between himself and a yet-to-be- determined opponent whom he characterizes as an ?evolutionist.? Ritter wants to argue the topic and have the debate judged by a panel of high- school students, with a cash prize at stake.

The debate is tentatively scheduled for the evening of May 15, 16 or 17. He hopes to find a worthy opponent by Friday.

[…]
?My faith doesn?t have much to do with evolution,? he said. ?I believe in God, and I believe there may be a creator. When people teach evolution as (if) it has to be true, they?re teaching something that hasn?t been and cannot be proven. These people ? these dedicated evolutionists ? are really just dedicated atheists.?

[Why does the name Alex Brannin come to mind?]

From www. constitutionpartypa. com/evolution/rules.htm :
The resolution will be: “Unless the teacher acknowledges a possible alternative, teaching materialistic evolution as an explanation for the origin of life, the variety of sexual species or the existence of the human mind is an article of faith.”

Tom Ritter will defend the affirmative position.


This page has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal
Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh