14 DAY TRIAL // Three newly- proposed bills seek to make the teaching of evolution obsolete in public classrooms. The documents call, in various forms, for the well-established theory to be thought as philosophy, rather than science, or for it to be interpreted as just another theory or idea.
The state of New Hampshire is leading the way in this endeavor, with two bills, HB 1148 and HB 1457. Both are them are formulated in a manner that leaves no room to doubt their authors' intentions.
According to LiveScience, HB 1148 will “require evolution to be taught in the public schools of this state as a theory, including the theorists' political and ideological viewpoints and their position on the concept of atheism.”
The other one would “require science teachers to instruct pupils that proper scientific inquire [sic] results from not committing to any one theory or hypothesis, no matter how firmly it appears to be established, and that scientific and technological innovations based on new evidence can challenge accepted scientific theories or modes.”
While the latter may sound as if it is actually well written and balanced, this couldn't be farther from the truth. In effect, science teachers would also be required to tell students that they may not come down if they jump off the ground, or that the field of genetics and the existence of DNA is an idea.
They would also be required to tell their pupils that hydrogen may be heavier than plutonium, or that Earth's core could be made out of water. All these theories are exactly the same as evolution, yet they are accepted as fact by school boards, whereas evolution will be required to be viewed with skepticism.
This type of skepticism is completely unfounded, considering the sheer amount of evidence supporting the theory. “Bill 1457 turns skepticism into bewilderment,” University of Texas, Pan-America biology professor Zen Faulkes says.
The third proposal, Indiana State Bill 89, would require that “the governing body of a school corporation may require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science, within the school corporation.”
The executive director of the US National Center for Science Education, Eugenie Scott, says that teaching students to believe that clearly-established theories are controversial – when in fact they are not – is poor education, and should have no place in the classroom.
The US Supreme Court decided back in 1987, in the case of Edwards v. Aguillard, that teaching anything other than established science in the classroom, when it comes to religion and the origin of life, is unconstitutional.
This means that no laws can be passed to promote the teaching of creationism, intelligent design, or other types of similar contraptions to students.
SB 89 “is a bill that directly promotes that teaching of creation science. What a dinosaur. Bills specifically saying 'Thou shalt teach creation science' haven't been around for a couple of decades,” Scott concludes.