Flesh and Stone: Louisiana legislature passes 'creation bill' -- Opponents: "The Bible was never intended to be a science textbook"

Louisiana legislature passes 'creation bill' -- Opponents: "The Bible was never
intended to be a science textbook"
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Kathlyn Stone on 17 June, 2008 05:05:00
 
The Louisiana Coalition for Science is hoping Gov. Jindal will remember his
biology degree from Brown University when he decides whether or not to veto SB
733, the “Louisiana Science Education Act.”
(That seems unlikely, according to the national watchdog group Americans United
for Separation of Chruch and State which highlighted Jindal\'s association with
the Louisiana Family Forum, a religious organization with strong conservative
politics shortly after the governor took office.)
In its letter to Jindal, the Louisiana Coalition for Science called SB 733 “a
thinly disguised attempt to advance the “Wedge Strategy” of the Discovery
Institute, a creationist think tank that is collaborating with the LA Family
Forum to get intelligent design (ID) creationism into LA public school science
classes....Creationism, which includes both young-earth creationism and ID, is
not science but a sectarian view based on the Bible. Young-earth creationism is
based on Genesis, and ID is based on the Gospel of John, as was established in
federal court in the case of Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District
(2005). The Bible was never intended to be a science textbook.”
The coalition also points out that passage of the bill would be a clear
violation of the Establishment Clause contained in the Constitution which
prohibits sectarian doctrine. The proposed law attempts to sidestep that
violation with a disclaimer that the law “shall not be construed to promote
any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set
of religious beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or
nonreligion.”
The bill, if signed into law, is certain to be challenged.
Prior to its passage in the Louisiana House, the world’s largest scientific
society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS),
expressed its opposition to the bill in a letter to Louisiana Speaker of the
House Jim Tucker.
Alan Lesher, AAAS CEO and executive publisher of Science journal, wrote that
the bill disingenuously implies there is a controversy about evolution among
scientists. “But there is virtually no controversy about evolution among the
overwhelming majority of researchers,” Lesher wrote. “The science of
evolution underpins all of modern biology and is supported by tens of thousands
of scientific studies in fields that include cosmology, geology, paleontology,
genetics and other biological specialties.”
Lesher, who leads an organization representing 10 million scientists worldwide,
reminded Tucker that the U.S. Supreme Court already declared a Louisiana
“creation science” law unconstitutional in 1987.
In its June 13 letter to Jindal, the American Institute of Biological Sciences
and seven other societies and scientific organizations appealed to the governor
to consider Louisiana’s economic future: “The future educational,
employment, and economic growth of Louisiana and the United States depends upon
a scientifically literate workforce and a population capable of making informed
decisions. A strong foundation in science that includes an understanding of
evolution is required to fuel the advances in research, development, and
innovation that will help Louisiana increase economic growth from new jobs and
opportunities arising from science and technology.”
The Louisiana Coalition for Science asks: “With our state still recovering
from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, does Louisiana need the expense and
embarrassment of defending – and losing – another lawsuit in federal
court?”