academic freedom

Why make an argument when a good ad hominem will do?

There is no field more perilous for open-minded scholars than evolutionary biology.

In recent days, we have seen college professors forced out of their positions over relatively minor infractions of politically correct dogma.

My purpose is not to criticize these two articulate young people. On the contrary, I admire their willingness to state and defend their positions.

We still await serious critics who will successfully tell us in detail how our arguments and evidence go wrong.

Like other examples of academic freedom legislation, LSEA was written to do one thing — authorize teaching genuine science.

If that’s not clear, try thinking about it from a public school science teacher’s perspective.

In Alabama and elsewhere, public school instructors who teach critical thinking skills in the context of biological evolution risk their reputations and careers.

Now you can see exactly how we think ID may legitimately and usefully be taught — in “home schools and private schools rather than public schools.”

It’s hard to make a defensible argument in favor of censorship.

If the backers of this bill want to promote the teaching of creationism, they are going about doing it in a strange way.

Importantly, none of the critics of the bill denied that there are legitimate scientific controversies around biological and chemical evolution.