Indiana at it again. :fp:

[Gawdzilla Sama]

New creationist shenanigans in Indiana

It never ends, does it? Even in the face of palpable unconstitutionality, state legislatures keep trying to sneak creationism into American public schools. Of course it's illegal, as was, but so long as religion holds sway in the U.S. we're going to have initiatives like this.

As the National Center for Science Education reports, such a bill has just passed an Indiana state senate committee:

Indiana's Senate Bill 89, which if enacted would allow local school districts to "require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science," was passed by the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development on January 25, 2012. . .

. . . Testimony against the bill stressed the unconstitutionality of teaching creation science, established by the Supreme Court in 1987. Among those testifying against the bill were John Staver, professor of chemistry and science education at Purdue University; Chuck Little, executive director of the Indiana Urban Schools Association; David Sklar, the Director of Government Relations for the Jewish Community Relations Council; the Reverend Charles Allen, a chaplain for Grace Unlimited, a campus ministry in the Indianapolis area; and Reba Boyd Wooden, executive director of the Indiana Center for Inquiry.

Continues...

[Clinton Huxley]

Rick Santorum will put a stop to all this when he is President!

[Seth]

It's political grandstanding by the sponsors so they can get "street cred" with their religious constituents. They know full well it'll never pass, will be vetoed or will be overturned by the courts, but they can say in their campaign literature "I fought for God in the schools" to get votes.

Nothing to see here, move along...

[klr]

For one horrible moment, I read the title as "Indonesia", which has rather more people to worry about being mis-educated.

But it's only Indiana. No great loss.

[Ronja]

Oh FFS

[Gawdzilla Sama]

For one horrible moment, I read the title as "Indonesia", which has rather more people to worry about being mis-educated.

But it's only Indiana. No great loss.

Kristie & Co. excepted. And Mish, too, if the bastard ever visited here, that is.

[klr]

One of the committee members who voted for the bill was a Democrat. I guess in places like Indiana, even the Democrats can be cretinous creationists.

For one horrible moment, I read the title as "Indonesia", which has rather more people to worry about being mis-educated.

But it's only Indiana. No great loss.

Kristie & Co. excepted. And Mish, too, if the bastard ever visited here, that is.

Bugger, I had this nagging feeling I'd forgotten some people.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Victory! Indiana House Kills Creationist Bill

The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is happy to report that leader of the Indiana House of Representatives is shelving a Senate-approved bill that would have allowed public schools across the state to teach children the creation stories of various mainstream religions.

House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-District 88) announced last week that he would use a procedural move to kill SB 89.

"It seemed to me not to be a productive discussion, particularly in light that there is a United States Supreme Court case that appears to be on point that very similar language is counter to the constitution," Bosma said. "It looked to me to be buying a lawsuit when the state can ill afford it."

Bosma's announcement marks a victory for secularists everywhere, and especially CFI, which has been working on this bill from the very beginning.