Italy's education minister eliminates teaching of evolution in schools
Kevin W. Parker
zosdad
> http://www.e-laser.org/htm/news.asp?idNews=357
>
> http://www.girodivite.it/article.php3?id_article=499
I don't suppose anyone knows Italian and could give us a summary of the details...
(We could resort to google translator if necessary...)
zosdad
> http://www.e-laser.org/htm/news.asp?idNews=357
>
> http://www.girodivite.it/article.php3?id_article=499
I can't remember if I just asked this, but...
1) Anyone speak Italian?
2) Can you give a summary of what happened in Italy?
zosdad
> http://www.e-laser.org/htm/news.asp?idNews=357
>
> http://www.girodivite.it/article.php3?id_article=499
Random points of interest:
1) Looks like this all went down back in March, and the minister in
question was Moratti
2) I see repeated references to Sermonti, the editor of the
(infamous?) Rivista di Biologia
3) Evidently some Italian profs signed a protest:
http://chimera.roma1.infn.it/darwin.html
4) The Italian right is being blamed:
http://lgxserver.uniba.it/lei/rassegna/030118c.htm , and something
about Marxism is part of the debate
Kermit
Here's the babelfish translation:
"print version
Vade back Darwin
of LASER
The Moratti cancels Darwin from the schools. Not draft of an error,
but of one political deliberated. OGM and creazionismo make part of
the DNA of the world-wide Right.
National Alliance had begun, the slid year, with the organization of
one "antievoluzionistica week": the theory of Darwin, second the On.
Peter Cerullo e' the "antechamber of the marxismo". Then to Rome the
chancellor Of Ascenzo had celebrated its jump of the quail (elect in
quota DS has preferred the political side of AN) just with the
presentation "To forget Darwin" about Vittorio Sermonti, gaining
itself the protests of many university teacher (than they forced it to
renounce) and the plauso of Alemanno & Co. Like if he were not enough
(but not e' to guilt of the Fascists) the dead women of Stephen J.
Gould he has extinguished one of the best narrators of the evolution.
But hour us e' put also the Moratti. From the new programs you drained
puttinges to us to point the minister to scompare the theory of the
evolution of Darwin, one of the unavoidable foundations of the western
culture odierna. Not draft of one svista, therefore, but of a
political initiative that leaves from far away.
Once of piu', genetics and evoluzionismo are to the center of cultural
interests, political and economic: it is hoped to throw again with the
licences biotech the search and the development, but at the same time
if of it they darken the historical and epistemologiche roots, than
cannot make less than Darwin. The combination of liberalism and
fondamentalismo, that it seems to inspire the reforms of the formation
and of the search of the right puts into effect them, not e' pero' an
Italian anomaly. Also in the USA, paradise of the new economy
biotechnological, diffusesthe ostilita' in the comparisons of the
evoluzionismo. Who hoped thatthe irrazionalismo liberticida of the
religion could be swept via from reasonable the free market must
therefore ricredersi (like demonstrated also the law on the PMA):
tables of Mose' and neo-liberalism cohabit better than how much it is
believed. Also perche', to watch well, refusing the theory of the
evolution the concept that the man e' a advanced being, and that the
others living, cos?istanti is reinforced and little correlates to you,
can be instrumentally uses you and to be subject of free market."
Kermit
Beware the dangers of mutated text. Can this add information?
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr
Kermit
David Wilson
in talk.origins niiic...@yahoo.com (zosdad) wrote:
> kevin....@tcs.wap.org (Kevin W. Parker) wrote in message news:<8be5c9b6.04041...@posting.google.com>...
> > http://www.e-laser.org/htm/news.asp?idNews=357
> >
> > http://www.girodivite.it/article.php3?id_article=499
>
> I can't remember if I just asked this, but...
>
> 1) Anyone speak Italian?
Not sure that I'd call what I do "speaking" it, but it's a sufficiently
close approximation for me to get by.
> 2) Can you give a summary of what happened in Italy?
Translation of the first link:
Vade Retro Darwin [1]
by LASER
Mrs Moratti removes Darwin from schools. It's not a question of a mistake,
but of a deliberate policy. OGM [2] and creationism are part of the
DNA of the world-wide Right.
The National Alliance [1] started it last year with the organisation of
an "antievolution week": according to the Honorable Pietro Culli, Darwin's
theory is "the waiting room of Marxism". Then in Rome, Vice-Chancellor [4]
D'Ascenzo celebrated his quail's jump [5] (elected on the DS [6] ticket,
he has preferred the political stance of the AN [7]) precisely with the
presentation of Vittorio Sermonti's "Forget Darwin" [8], bringing
protests down upon himself by many University teachers (which forced him to
back down) and the approbation of Alemanno [9] & co. As if this weren't
enough, the death of Stephen J. Gould (not the fault of the fascists,
however) has extinguished one of the best expositors of evolution.
But now Mrs Moratti has become involved. Darwin's theory of evolution,
one of the indispensable foundations of modern western culture, has
disappeared from the new scholastic programs prepared by the minister.
It's not a question of an oversight, therefore, but a political initiative
with a long history.
Once again, genetics and evolutionism are central to cultural, political
and economic interests: with biotech patents it is hoped to stimulate
research and development, but at the same time their historical and
epistemological roots, which cannot dispense with Darwin, are being
hidden. The combination of laissez-faire and fundamentalism which seems
to inspire the reforms in the formation and research of today's Right,
is not, however, an Italian anomaly. Also in the USA, paradise of
the new biotechnological economy, hostility towards evolutionism is
spreading widely. Whoever was hoping that the freedom-destroying
irrationality of religion could be swept away by a reasonable free
market will have to think again (as is also shown by the PMA law [10]):
Moses's tablets and the new laissez-faire live together better than one
might have thought. Also because, to tell the truth, rejecting the
theory of evolution reinforces the concept that man is a superior being,
and that other living things, so distant and unrelated, can be exploited
as commodities, and subjected to the free market.
Notes
1. This is Latin, so I excuse myself from translating it.
2. Genetically modified organisms, I think.
3. A right-wing political party. It seems to be part of the current ruling
coalition
4. Of the University of Rome, "La Sapienza".
5. An idiomatic expression which I don't know the precise meaning of.
It obviously refers to the parenthetical remark which follows it.
6. Democratici di Sinistra---a left-wing political party.
7. National Alliance.
8. This refers to a launch of Sermonti's book in the department of Surgery
at the University of Rome's "La Sapienza" campus on March 19th, 2003
<http://www.identitaeuropea.org/archivio/editoriali/sermonti_presentazione.html>. "Vittorio" is a mistake. His name is Giuseppe, not Vittorio.
9. Probably Gianni Alemanno, Minister of Agriculture, and a member of the
National Alliance.
10. Something to do with artificial reproduction. I haven't looked hard enough
to find out any of the details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple of links with more information:
http://www.orizzontescuola.it/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1478
http://www.creazionismo.org/eco_creazionista/notizie_eventi_interviste/notizie07.htm
What appears to have happened is that about a year ago the Italian Government
instituted wide-ranging reforms of the school system, which are to be
introduced gradually over the next couple of years. When the scholastic
programs for primary and middle schools were issued earlier this year,
all mention of evolution had been eliminated from them. This was noticed
and publicised by the Unione Italiana del Lavoro (UIL) early in March.
Left-wing commentators like the one above are claiming that creationists
of the ratbag right are behind the changes. It's not entirely clear to me
that this is the case, however. The Ministry doesn't appear to have issued
any comments about the controversy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Wilson
SPAMMERS_fingers@WILL_BE_fwi_PROSECUTED_.net.au
(Remove underlines and upper case letters to obtain my email address.)
zosdad
Thanks very much, this makes things much clearer!
Once again the folk of Talk.Origins have proved their great worth.
[/LOTR]
zosdad
News in brief
Nature 428, 594 - 595 (08 April 2004); doi:10.1038/428594a
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v428/n6983/full/428594a_fs.html
======================================
(p. 594)
Creationist curriculum provokes Italian wrath
Rome School curriculum guidelines announced in Italy last month
propose that children aged 11 to 14 do not need to be taught
evolutionary theory in biology classes — but they should learn about
creationism in religious studies, which are voluntary.
Leading Italian scientists have vowed to campaign against the
guidelines, which were released by Italian education and research
minister Letizia Moratti and are due to come into effect in October.
Carlo Redi, a cell biologist at the University of Pavia, complains
that the guidelines adopt an overtly moralistic tone. For example,
they stress health issues, such as the damage caused by illegal drugs
and the benefits of a good diet, but neglect the basics of scientific
theory and methods.
Redi and his allies are sending a letter of complaint to Moratti's
ministry. The Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy's national
scientific academy, will debate the issue on 22 April.
======================================
Tarver Engineering
"zosdad" <niiic...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:74227462.04042...@posting.google.com...
> This is a helpful summary from the April 8 issue of Nature:
>
> News in brief
> Nature 428, 594 - 595 (08 April 2004); doi:10.1038/428594a
>
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v428/n6983/full/428594a_fs.html
> ======================================
> (p. 594)
> Creationist curriculum provokes Italian wrath
>
> Rome School curriculum guidelines announced in Italy last month
> propose that children aged 11 to 14 do not need to be taught
> creationism in religious studies, which are voluntary.
>
> Leading Italian scientists have vowed to campaign against the
> guidelines, which were released by Italian education and research
> minister Letizia Moratti and are due to come into effect in October.
>
> Carlo Redi, a cell biologist at the University of Pavia, complains
> that the guidelines adopt an overtly moralistic tone. For example,
> they stress health issues, such as the damage caused by illegal drugs
> and the benefits of a good diet, but neglect the basics of scientific
> theory and methods.
Now there is a pot kettle arguement. Nowhere outside Darwinism is the
scientific method abused so that a notional hypothesis is presented as a
theory. Evolution is in trouble as science and the religous can see it.
Richard Forrest
As a working palaeontologist, I am amazed that anyone should think
that 'Darwinism' has much to do with the evolutionary aspects of
current research. It may be of historic interest, but has little
direct relevance.
If you think that evolution is in trouble as science, please give some
examples.
RF
Alessandro Riolo
> This is a helpful summary from the April 8 issue of Nature:
Hi, I just saw you are interested about the matter, here is the appel,
elaborated from some famous scientist as Renato Dulbecco, Luigi Luca
Cavalli Sforza, Margherita Hack and others and signed so far from
around 30.000 people to ask to admit again Evolutionism in the
teaching programs:
http://www.repubblica.it/speciale/2004/appelli/scuola2/index_eng.html
APPEAL
New school programme detrimental to scientific culture
The new teaching programs developed for secondary schools do not
include Darwin's "Theory of Evolution".
This means that subjects such as "The Evolution of the Earth", "The
Evidence of Life on Earth" "Structure, Function and Evolution of
Living Organisms" and "The Biological and Cultural Evolution of
Mankind" aren't taught any more to boys and girls aged 13-14.
In the new programme, established by legislative decree on February
19th 2004, there is no trace of the history of man's evolution nor of
the relationship between mankind and other species. Ignoring the
theory of evolution is a cultural limitation sacrificing the
scientific curiosity of youth. It's unquestionably fair to point out
that Darwinism and the theories that derived from it show gaps and
unsolved problems, but the link between the past and the present of
mankind shoudn't be completely ignored. We urge therefore the Italian
Ministry of Education to review the secondary school's programmes and
to rectify an oversight which is detrimental to the scientific culture
of the new generations.
Carlo Bernardini - Dip. di Fisica La Sapienza e Infn
Edoardo Boncinelli - Scuola Int. Sup.StudiAvanzati,Trieste
Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza - Univ. di Stanford
Bruno Dallapiccola - Ist. Mendel, Roma
Ernesto Di Mauro - Genetica molecolare, La Sapienza. Dir. Fond. Cenci
Bolognetti
Renato Dulbecco - Nobel per la medicina
Margherita Hack - prof.ssa emerita di Astrofisica, Trieste
Giuseppe Novelli - docente di Genetica Umana, Tor Vergata
Franco Pacini - dir. Osservatorio di Arcetri
Massimo Pettoello-Mantovani - prof. di Pediatria, Foggia e New York
Alberto Piazza - docente di Genetica Umana, Torino
Pier Franco Pignatti - presid. Soc. italiana di Genetica Umana
HTH,
--
ale
http://www.sen.it