| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"John Hachmann" |
| Date: |
08 Mar 2007 11:57:34 PM |
| Object: |
Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
"Inherit the Wind" the sequel.
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Senate resolution is evolution of Scopes trial
By Ken Whitehouse
Somewhere in heaven, John T. Scopes is watching the Tennessee Senate.
Either that or he was reincarnated as a monkey and is too busy peeling
bananas.
A Tennessee State Senate member has filed a resolution asking the
Tennessee Department of Education to address a few basic questions about
life, the universe and all that:
* "Is the universe and all that is within it, including human
beings, created through purposeful, intelligent design by a Supreme
Being, that is a Creator?"
* "Since the universe, including human beings, is created by a
supreme being (a creator), why is creationism not taught in Tennessee
public schools?
* "Since it cannot be determined whether the universe, including
human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is
creationism not taught as an alternative concept, explanation, or
theory, along with the theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools?"
State Sen. Raymond Finney (R-Maryville), a retired physician, is asking
the Senate to endorse his questions to the Department of Education, and
for the department to come back with a response by January 15, 2008.
The evolution of this argument has deep Tennessee roots, going back to
the famous "Monkey Trial" in 1925.
In 1925, business leaders in the Rhea County town of Dayton decided to
test the Butler Act which stated, "... that it shall be unlawful for any
teacher in any of the universities, normals and all other public schools
of the state which are supported in whole or in part by the public
school funds of the state, to teach any theory that denies the story of
the divine creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead
that man has descended from a lower order of animals."
Dayton's city leaders felt that by challenging the act they would put
the town on the map and it would be good for commerce, no matter what
the verdict was. They convinced Rhea County football coach and
substitute teacher John T. Scopes to teach a class on evolution in order
to bring about a jury trial.
In short order, legendary barristers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence
Darrow descended on the town to argue the law and the case.
The trial brought international attention to the town and was the first
criminal trial covered live by the media, in reports by Chicago radio
station WGN.
That trial was the basis for the 1955 play and subsequent movie Inherit
the Wind as well the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Summer for the Gods by
Edward J. Larson.
This move by Finney, while not likely to receive the same level of
interest as the Scopes case, may well have its roots in the same
reasoning that encouraged the Rhea County leaders to spark the debate: a
desire for attention.
The resolution needs only to be passed by the Republican-controlled
Senate in order to force Tennessee's Department of Education to answer
on the record. A joint resolution would have to pass the
Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, where it would likely find
itself relegated to a black hole committee and not see the light of day.
By circumventing the the House, Senate Republicans would then be forcing
a Bredesen cabinet member to weigh in on the creationism argument, right
before next year's legislative session when both parties would be
seeking to add to their numbers in the 2008 elections.
While the sincerity of the proposed resolution by Finney is not in
question, politics are also in play and shouldn't be ignored. It will
also be interesting to see how the Republican caucus reacts to the
resolution.
In 1999 the Board of Education for the State of Kansas, which was
controlled by Republicans, changed the course curriculum for Kansas
public schools and removed biological evolution from statewide
standards. While the move was hailed by creationists, those school board
members lost in the next Republican primary and the previous education
standards were reinstated by the new board members in 2001.
---
http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2007/2/26/senate_resolution
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
09 Mar 2007 11:16:09 PM |
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On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:57:34 -0800, John Hachmann
<jhachmann@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
* "Is the universe and all that is within it, including human
beings, created through purposeful, intelligent design by a Supreme
Being, that is a Creator?"
No objective evidence that it was.
* "Since the universe, including human beings, is created by a
supreme being
An assumption with no objective evidence to back it up.
* "Since it cannot be determined whether the universe, including
human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is
creationism not taught as an alternative concept, explanation, or
theory, along with the theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools?"
Because creationism a) isn't a theory and b) since it's a religion,
having any governmental agency promote it would be illegal.
State Sen. Raymond Finney (R-Maryville), a retired physician, is asking
the Senate to endorse his questions to the Department of Education, and
for the department to come back with a response by January 15, 2008.
Why wait?
.
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| User: "johac" |
|
| Title: Re: Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
10 Mar 2007 12:11:30 AM |
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In article <7kf4v25eor4b1haatjjarvo99u02c42b7k@4ax.com>,
Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid> wrote:
On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:57:34 -0800, John Hachmann
<jhachmann@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
* "Is the universe and all that is within it, including human
beings, created through purposeful, intelligent design by a Supreme
Being, that is a Creator?"
No objective evidence that it was.
* "Since the universe, including human beings, is created by a
supreme being
An assumption with no objective evidence to back it up.
* "Since it cannot be determined whether the universe, including
human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is
creationism not taught as an alternative concept, explanation, or
theory, along with the theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools?"
Because creationism a) isn't a theory and b) since it's a religion,
having any governmental agency promote it would be illegal.
State Sen. Raymond Finney (R-Maryville), a retired physician, is asking
the Senate to endorse his questions to the Department of Education, and
for the department to come back with a response by January 15, 2008.
Why wait?
Good question. Teaching creationism in public schools has been ruled
unconstitutional by the USSC a number of times. I think that under the
law, the only answer is a loud, unequivocal "NO!!!"
--
John #1782
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
10 Mar 2007 06:53:37 PM |
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On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 22:11:30 -0800, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
In article <7kf4v25eor4b1haatjjarvo99u02c42b7k@4ax.com>,
Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid> wrote:
On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:57:34 -0800, John Hachmann
<jhachmann@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
* "Is the universe and all that is within it, including human
beings, created through purposeful, intelligent design by a Supreme
Being, that is a Creator?"
No objective evidence that it was.
* "Since the universe, including human beings, is created by a
supreme being
An assumption with no objective evidence to back it up.
* "Since it cannot be determined whether the universe, including
human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is
creationism not taught as an alternative concept, explanation, or
theory, along with the theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools?"
Because creationism a) isn't a theory and b) since it's a religion,
having any governmental agency promote it would be illegal.
State Sen. Raymond Finney (R-Maryville), a retired physician, is asking
the Senate to endorse his questions to the Department of Education, and
for the department to come back with a response by January 15, 2008.
Why wait?
Good question. Teaching creationism in public schools has been ruled
unconstitutional by the USSC a number of times. I think that under the
law, the only answer is a loud, unequivocal "NO!!!"
And I already posted the answers to all three of his "points".
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
11 Mar 2007 12:06:40 AM |
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In article <tnk6v2lr9p4qog4g6dditcfpvvfois7ctk@4ax.com>,
Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid> wrote:
On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 22:11:30 -0800, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
In article <7kf4v25eor4b1haatjjarvo99u02c42b7k@4ax.com>,
Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid> wrote:
On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:57:34 -0800, John Hachmann
<jhachmann@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
* "Is the universe and all that is within it, including human
beings, created through purposeful, intelligent design by a Supreme
Being, that is a Creator?"
No objective evidence that it was.
* "Since the universe, including human beings, is created by a
supreme being
An assumption with no objective evidence to back it up.
* "Since it cannot be determined whether the universe, including
human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is
creationism not taught as an alternative concept, explanation, or
theory, along with the theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools?"
Because creationism a) isn't a theory and b) since it's a religion,
having any governmental agency promote it would be illegal.
State Sen. Raymond Finney (R-Maryville), a retired physician, is asking
the Senate to endorse his questions to the Department of Education, and
for the department to come back with a response by January 15, 2008.
Why wait?
Good question. Teaching creationism in public schools has been ruled
unconstitutional by the USSC a number of times. I think that under the
law, the only answer is a loud, unequivocal "NO!!!"
And I already posted the answers to all three of his "points".
Exactly. Not only is teaching creationism illegal under the US
Constitution, it is totally unsupported by science.
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
11 Mar 2007 04:07:33 PM |
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On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 22:06:40 -0800, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Exactly. Not only is teaching creationism illegal under the US
Constitution, it is totally unsupported by science.
Of course, teaching it in a Comparative Religion course is allowable -
but that's definitely not what they want.
.
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| User: "° Shanghai Lil °" |
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| Title: Re: Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
11 Mar 2007 07:09:57 PM |
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Al Klein wrote:
On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 22:06:40 -0800, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Exactly. Not only is teaching creationism illegal under the US
Constitution, it is totally unsupported by science.
Of course, teaching it in a Comparative Religion course is allowable -
but that's definitely not what they want.
Wouldn't it be funny if everywhere the anti-evolution cretins tried
to insert their dogma into school curricula that an equally enthusiastic
group demanded that a truly objective comparative religion course
of study be taught ...?
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Is Tennessee going to have another "Monkey Trial"? |
11 Mar 2007 06:35:27 PM |
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In article <crr8v2t7pa2ml0fd3s3a70ddk9vvnqpc1g@4ax.com>,
Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid> wrote:
On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 22:06:40 -0800, johac
<jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Exactly. Not only is teaching creationism illegal under the US
Constitution, it is totally unsupported by science.
Of course, teaching it in a Comparative Religion course is allowable -
but that's definitely not what they want.
Of course not. I'm not sure how one would introduce evolution into a
comparative religion class anyway. A place where they might introduce
the creation evolution controversies is in a history class where the
scientific advances during the 19th century are discussed. They might
present the arguments between Darwin along with his supporters and his
detractors. In an American history course the important court decisions
could be mentioned from Scopes to Dover.
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
.
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