God and Darwin clash again in Kansas
Pastor Dale Morgan
Tuesday February 13, 2:13 PM Reuters
*God and Darwin clash again in Kansas*
By Carey Gillam
OVERLAND PARK, Kansas (Reuters) - For the fourth time in eight years,
the Kansas Board of Education is preparing to take up the issue of
evolution and what to teach -- or not teach -- public school students
about the origins of life.
After victory at the polls in November, a moderate majority on the
10-member board in the central U.S. state plans to overturn science
standards seen as critical of evolution at a board meeting on Tuesday in
Topeka.
New standards would replace those put in place in 2005 by a conservative
board majority that challenged the validity of evolution and cited it as
incompatible with religious doctrine.
The 2005 action outraged scientists across the United States, with the
National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers
Association refusing a request by Kansas to use copyrighted material in
textbooks.
Voters in last year's elections then swayed the balance of power on the
board to moderates.
The move on Tuesday to rewrite the science standards would come a day
after the birthday of evolution scholar Charles Darwin, who gained fame
in 1859 for his book "The Origin of Species".
Some religious groups argue that evolution cannot be proven and is not
in accordance with Biblical teachings regarding the origins of life.
Teaching evolution misleads and confuses students, opponents say.
But supporters say religion has no valid role in a science class and
evolution is the foundation for understanding key concepts in biology
and other scientific fields.
Adding fuel to the debate, the Seattle-based Discovery Institute issued
a press release on Monday protesting the board's planned move.
"You have a board in Kansas that is so extreme," said John West, senior
fellow at the Discovery Institute, a think tank focussing on science
education and intelligent design.
That theory holds that an intelligent force -- which some proponents
would say is God -- is probably responsible for some aspects of nature.
Still, some were cheering the board's move to restore standards that
anti-evolution forces rewrote in 1999, only to be followed with a
rewrite by evolution supporters in 2001 and then the anti-evolution
board in 2005.
"I'm very much hoping that history repeats itself ... and the 2007
school board makes the right decision for Kansas students to restore the
valid standards," said National Centre for Science Education executive
director Eugenie Scott.
"These are standards that reflect science, rather than a politicized
curriculum that miseducates students."
The repeated changes have left schools and teachers scrambling to keep
up. Educators say some aspects of a curriculum change can usually be
implemented by the next school year but some, such as buying new
textbooks, can take years.