Science Reporting

P.Z. Myers recently posted at Pharyngula a plea for more funding for cancer research. His sister-in-law (mother of three kids) died tragically from melanoma several years ago, and Myers asked Pharyngula readers to support cancer research more vigorously. It’s a sentiment with which we all agree.

Yet Myers used this tragedy to denigrate religious faith. Noting his subsequent conversation with a pediatric oncologist in which he learned about the progress that has been made in the treatment of childhood cancer, Myers claimed:

How does she [the oncologist] do that [successfully treat some children’s cancers]? With science. She sent me a whole stack of references on the amazing progress that has been made over the last several decades, thanks to clinical trials and evidence based medicine… If we want to cure … cancers…, don’t look to magic, or wishful thinking, or ancient shamanistic wisdom, or prayer — we’ve had those for millennia [sic], and they do nothing…What we need is more research, more doctors, more clinical trials, and more money.[Emphasis in original]

As everyone waits for Governor Jindal to sign the first law to protect the academic freedom rights of teachers who present evidence both for and against Darwinian evolution, it is worth noting that the sponsoring senator has again clearly spoken about the intent of the Louisisiana Science Education Act. Darwinists keep falsely claiming this bill would open the science classroom door to creationism or religion. Louisiana Senator Ben Nevers (D) says that is not the case. “This is strictly about teaching science in the classroom,” he said. “It has nothing to do with religion. Most textbooks are seven years old or older. Science can be very changeable in some areas. It is important to bring current science into the classroom.” Read More ›

Get ready for the year of evolution. The New York Times has an article today (“Philadelphia Set to Honor Darwin and Evolution“) describing an entire “Year of Evolution,” featuring “a series of exhibitions, seminars and lectures to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin next February, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, ‘The Origin of Species.'”

And what local celebrity would better grace a celebration of Darwin than the man who forbade schoolteachers and children from “disparaging” Darwin and his theory?

Events will include a talk by John E. Jones III, a federal judge who ruled in 2005 that teaching intelligent design — the belief that some aspects of nature are so complex that they must be the work of a higher power rather than of evolution — in public school science classes was unconstitutional.

Q: Who wrote this?

The new bill doesn’t mention either creationism or its close cousin, intelligent design. It explicitly disavows any intent to promote a religious doctrine. It doesn’t try to ban Darwin from the classroom or order schools to do anything. It simply requires the state board of education, if asked by local school districts, to help create an environment that promotes “critical thinking” and “objective discussion” about not only evolution and the origins of life but also about global warming and human cloning, two other bêtes noires of the right. Teachers would be required to teach the standard textbook but could use supplementary materials to critique it.

NRO‘s John Derbyshire has another bombastic blog post (“Governor Jindal, Veto This Bill!“), this time decrying the Louisiana Science Education Act. According to Derb, “The act opens the door to the teaching of creationism in Louisiana public schools.” Of course, this is patently absurd. The bill says that students should be able to critically analyze scientific evidence regarding evolution, global warming, and human cloning; and secondly the bill says it should not be construed to promote religion (bear in mind that SCOTUS deemed creationism “religious” in 1987). This bill is about scientific evidence, whatever there may be, pro and con. No more no less. Attempting to scare the promoters of this bill (which, BTW, just passed the LA House 94-3, Read More ›

Science magazine urgently contacted us several days ago allegedly to get our take on the Louisiana Science Education Act passed by the state’s legislature and awaiting the governor’s signature. (A bill opposed by the AAAS, publishers of Science.) The reporter interviewed CSC’s John West for upwards of an hour seemingly trying to get the facts straight. Then she called back with an urgent request for a picture of the cover of Explore Evolution: The Case For and Against Neo-Darwinism. One wonders why she bothered.

Science has a story in their latest issue that is in lock step with their typical Darwin only approach to science education policy. It leads with a from Darwin defender Barbara Forrest, puts the words academic freedom in scare quotes, and then inserts a quote from LA. Governor Jindal that was not about, nor had anything to do with, the LSEA. Finally they round it out with attacks from critics, nicely referred to as science educators.

Darwinists often lament that Intelligent Design is distinctly American movement; they imply, of course, that everyone else is on their side. It is thus with great joy that thanks to new technologies like YouTube we can now see that this is false. István Tasi, a member of the Hungarian ID movement, is featured in a new video by director Viktor Gardos. Opposing István is Dr. Zoltan Galantai, a Hungarian historian of science. This is not István’s first appearance on television. Back in 2005 he and physicist Dr. Ferenc Jeszenszky appeared on the most popular science program in Hungary (“Omniscient University”) in a debate with two Darwinists titled, “Are we existing accidentally?” This new video has English subtitles, so don’t be Read More ›

Text of Louisiana Science Education ActLouisiana State Legislature Passes Landmark Act That Encourages Critical Analysis of EvolutionQuestions and Answers about the Proposed Louisiana Science Education ActTestifying for Academic Freedom in LouisianaLouisiana, Circadian Rhythms, and Darwin in Biology: An Interview with Biology Professor Wade Warren

An attorney friend e-mailed me to say:

It’s so much easier to write scary stories when the legislation itself is NOT ever quoted. Isn’t there some sort of journalistic standard that should at least urge a reporter to quote the primary source?

You would think that with passage of a law like the Louisiana Science Education Act, now headed to the governor’s office for signing, that the law itself would be quoted in response to bogus charges by malcontents. As we’ve learned, that just doesn’t happen much. A slew of articles have been running in which activists like Barbara Forrest make the false claim that the LSEA opens the door to religion in the classroom. Not so.
Section 1D of the bill clearly states that it

Baton Rouge — With a 36-0 vote, Louisiana’s state senate today passed a landmark academic freedom bill protecting teachers that encourage critical thinking and objective discussion about evolution and other scientific topics.Known as the Louisiana Science Education Act, the bill was previously passed by the state’s House of Representatives with a 94-3 vote, and now will be sent to the governor for his signature. “The bill is a bold statement protecting the freedom of teachers to discuss both the scientific evidence for and against Darwinian evolution and other controversial scientific theories,” said Casey Luskin, an attorney and program officer for public policy and legal affairs at Discovery Institute. “The bill does exactly what it says, which is to allow teachers Read More ›