Yet again Religion has proved itself over Science.
In related news:
Posted on Tue, Apr. 12, 2005
Boycott
Evolution hearings rejected by scientists
The nation's scientific community has weighed in on the Kansas Board of Education's efforts to put Darwin on trial.
They're boycotting en masse.
This resounding rejection of the hearings speaks volumes about how the mainstream scientific community sees the Kansas evolution "controversy."
It has no credibility.
In recent weeks, the Kansas Department of Education staff has failed to find any scientists in Kansas or the nation who want to legitimize the upcoming May hearings with their presence.
Not one of Kansas' six major universities has agreed to send scientists.
Not one of the nation's top science organizations has responded to the request.
For the vast majority of scientists, the "controversy" about the legitimacy of evolutionary theory simply doesn't exist.
For them, evolution is a cornerstone of modern science in several fields, and its validity and usefulness is beyond dispute.
And the small number of intelligent design backers who want a forum have not begun to do the real work needed to challenge that consensus.
Predictably, BOE chairman Steve Abrams, one of three creationists who would preside over the hearings, suggested that the refusal meant the scientific community was incapable of defending evolution.
"It's almost like they're saying, 'We can't defend what's put out there, so we're not going to participate,'" Mr. Abrams said.
Well, no. It's almost like they're saying, "This rigged forum, with a predetermined outcome, has no credibility whatsoever in the scientific community. So what's the point?"
Baiting scientists won't get them to appear. Because as they rightly perceive, the hearings are a political effort to legitimize ID by parading a small number of "experts" before the public.
The board majority has announced a list of those ID witnesses, and while many have academic Ph.D.s, what they lack is telling: significant publications on ID in major science journals and mainstream conferences.
Some of them, such as lawyer John Calvert, aren't even scientists.
What scientists see is a monkey trial. What Kansans should see is a waste of time and money and, once again, a train wreck for the state's image.
For the editorial board, Randy Scholfield
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/editorial/11368773.htm
The latest on the Kansas kangaroo court
The American Association for the Advancement of Science -- the world's largest general science organization and the publisher of the journal Science -- announced on April 12, 2005, that it declined to participate in the scheduled six days of hearings in Kansas on the place of evolution in the state science standards, hearings that have been widely described as a "kangaroo court" on evolution. AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner wrote, "The fundamental structure of the hearing suggests that the theory of evolution may be debated. ... The consensus view of the scientific community on evolution is well-established and presented clearly in the AAAS's Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy and in the National Academy's National Science Education Standards. Although scientists may debate details of the mechanisms of evolution, there is no argument among scientists as to whether evolution is taking place. We do not believe that any useful purpose would be served by our participation in this event."
In a column published on April 12, the Wichita Eagle's editorial board reflected on the success of the boycott: "This resounding rejection of the hearings speaks volumes about how the mainstream scientific community sees the Kansas evolution 'controversy.' It has no credibility." Quoting Steve Abrams -- the chairman of the Kansas State Board of Education, a member of the subcommittee responsible for the hearings, and a creationist himself -- as saying, "It's almost like they're saying, 'We can't defend what's put out there, so we're not going to participate,'" the Eagle replied, "Well, no. It's almost like they're saying, 'This rigged forum, with a predetermined outcome, has no credibility whatsoever in the scientific community. So what's the point?' Baiting scientists won't get them to appear. Because as they rightly perceive, the hearings are a political effort to legitimize ID by parading a small number of 'experts' before the public."
The six days of hearings were foreshadowed at a meeting of the Kansas State Board of Education on April 13, when a discussion of the latest draft of the revised science standards, scheduled to run for one hour, stretched to over three hours. The discussion reportedly centered, unsurprisingly, on the place of evolution in the standards, with proponents and opponents of the hearings taking the opportunity to voice their views. While the six conservatives "used their turns in the discussion to reiterate their support for the hearings as a way to help resolve the dispute," wrote the Wichita Eagle's Josh Funk, the four moderates on the board -- Carol Rupe, Bill Wagnon, Janet Waugh and Sue Gamble -- "reiterated their opposition to the hearings as unnecessary and a waste of time." Interviewed by the Johnson County Sun, Harry McDonald, the president of Kansas Citizens for Science, cited a further reason for concern about the hearings: "We will not be a party to spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars," McDonald said, "on a political stunt."
April 14, 2005
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2005/KS/80_the_latest_on_the_kansas_kanga_4_14_2005.asp
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