Unprecedented Attack on Evolution 'Indoctrination' Mounted in Missouri

Unprecedented Attack on Evolution ‘Indoctrination’ Mounted in Missouri

Science • February 2014 • Views: 1,250

A Missouri lawmaker has proposed what ranks among the most anti-evolution legislation in recent years, which would require schools to notify parents if “the theory of evolution by natural selection” was being taught at their child’s school and give them the opportunity to opt out of the class.

The bill had its first public hearing Thursday after being introduced in late January.

State Rep. Rick Brattin (R), who sponsored the bill, told a local TV station last week that teaching only evolution in school was “indoctrination.”

“Our schools basically mandate that we teach one side,” he told KCTV. “It is an indoctrination because it is not objective approach.”

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7 comments

kerFuFFler Sat, Feb 15, 2014 11:53:34am

Teaching about evolution does not need to come across as indoctrination; I suspect that the overzealous characterization of evolution as “fact” does a great disservice to science education because that does come across as indoctrination. It is more accurate to describe evolution and natural selection as a theory and then explain what the scientific community thinks happened and why they think it. If students are invited to think for themselves and evaluate the mountain of evidence from many disciplines that supports this theory they will perhaps not feel like they are being told what to think.

It is important to stress to students that they are not required to believe that scientists are right about evolution. Students are ultimately free to believe anything they want. But they do need to understand what evolutionary theory actually says, and they need to understand it well enough that they recognize that the existence of modern day apes and monkeys does not disprove the theory.

No particular religious origin narratives need to be discussed, though I think it would be fair to acknowledge that many religions do have varying alternative accounts of the beginning of the world and that students are free to consider any of them———on their own time! But science class is for discussing scientific narratives only. I would hope that they notice that only the scientific theory is based entirely on what the earth and the universe reveal to us.

Norbrook Sat, Feb 15, 2014 3:26:16pm

re: #1 kerFuFFler

Teaching about evolution does not need to come across as indoctrination; I suspect that the overzealous characterization of evolution as “fact” does a great disservice to science education because that does come across as indoctrination. It is more accurate to describe evolution and natural selection as a theory and then explain what the scientific community thinks happened and why they think it.

Umm… no. Evolution happens. It’s a fact. We can even see it, as we’ve seen new species appear. So that is a scientific reality.

Next, you seem to be conflating “theory” with “hypothesis,” and in science, they’re not the same thing. A Theory is the “best available explanation of a wide range of observed facts.” We know that the Earth is several billion years old. We know that we don’t see complex animals in the fossil record until around two billion years have passed, and then we see an increase in complexity, including land animals. Given that we can see evolution happening now, it’s the best available explanation for what happened in the past. Otherwise, you have to chuck out chemistry, nuclear physics, astronomy, geology, and biology, and just say that an old book has the actual “facts.”

Skip Intro Sat, Feb 15, 2014 5:01:16pm

Evolution is a well studied occurrence by thousands of investigators over hundreds of years generating a huge body of knowledge that elevates its study to the level of theory. The alternative, “intelligent design”, hasn’t even reached the level of being a hypothesis. There is no theory of “intelligent design”, period.

The two are in no way equivalent systems of study, and have no business being considered in that way.

kerFuFFler Sat, Feb 15, 2014 6:29:31pm

re: #2 Norbrook

I should have been more clear….

Since it is always logically possible (irrefutable that is……) that some “magical” series of events has landed us where we are, I don’t think it is accurate or advantageous to describe the evolutionary origin of life as a “fact”———-even though I and most of the scientific community believe it is a fact. I think it is fair to allow students to understand that they can believe whatever they want about magical beginnings as long as they also see that there is no observational evidence to bolster their narrative.

We know that the Earth is several billion years old.

Ummm, no. We know that large amounts of observations and data support the contention that the Earth is several billion years old. Nonetheless, we cannot refute the idea that the Earth was magically created 8,000 years ago and merely appears older than it actually is.

Given that we can see evolution happening now, it’s the best available explanation for what happened in the past.

It is the best and only scientific explanation for all the data. I would be happy if students could understand what observations scientists were basing their interpretations on and what text young earth creationists were basing theirs on. It is possible to believe either narrative, but it is important to acknowledge what each telling is based on.

wheat-dogghazi Sat, Feb 15, 2014 6:48:39pm

There is no reasoning with these people. They’ve made it their mission (from God, one assumes) to obliterate modern science from the face of the Earth.

If I were the head of a school, or a teacher, I’d tell these parents, “OK, your kid is excused from class during the evolution unit. But there will be unit test, and your kid is not excused from that. If your kid fails to show up for the test, he or she will get a zero. Additionally, about 20% of the final exam will be about evolution, and your child is still responsible for that material.”

This willful political interference with the day-to-day work of teachers and schools just pisses me off. Let the teachers do their damn jobs. If you want to tell your kids that the teacher is wrong, then you’re free to do so in your own home or church. Otherwise, get the hell out of the way!

wheat-dogghazi Sat, Feb 15, 2014 8:51:04pm

OK, I am going to pimp my blog. I expanded my tweets and FB status into a full blown letter from a Missouri teacher to parents pulling their kids out of “evilution class.” Link: computernewbie.info