Entry 806, on 2008-07-01 at 19:04:42 (Rating 5, Politics)
I recently read that the state of Louisiana has allowed a so-called "academic freedom" law to be enacted. No one would disagree that academic freedom is a good idea would they, so why do so many academics have problems with this law? Basically its because this law has nothing to do with anything academic and will in no way result in freedom.
Really what its all about is the Discovery Institute's latest attempt to push their idiotic religious ideas down the throats of naive school students. Their ideas have been examined and rejected by the scientific community so now they hope to inflict them on the world by brainwashing innocent kids. Really classy move guys!
So its really just a farce. Schools are now allowed to present material against the prevailing scientific view, and - guess what - our friends at the Discovery Institute have kindly produced this material already. Unfortunately its just more creationist propaganda with the usual mix of cherry picking, quote mining, straw men, and just about every other form of logical fallacy and intellectual dishonesty you can imagine. Not only does it create imaginary debate where none really exists, but it actually ignores the real debates which do exist within the evolution scientific community.
Many states in the US have introduced a "three strikes and you're out" law. If someone is involved with a crime they get two chances with relatively lenient treatment then the third time they are dealt with the full force of the law. I think the Discovery Institute should be treated this way now too. This must be at least their third offence related to attempting to enforce their religious ideas on the public. This time they should be "out". We should look at this new law, see that Discovery is involved, and immediately reject it.
This might sound harsh. After all Discovery do change their approach every few years, maybe they have it right this time. Well maybe, but the evidence indicates they haven't, and its really not worth the risk. People need to be protected both from themselves and from dishonest organisations who prey on their ignorance.
OK, so the people of Louisiana voted some clown in as their governor who has now succumbed to the nonsense being perpetrated by a bunch of religious freaks. Isn't that democracy in action? Yes, but democracy often doesn't work very well, and the scientific truth isn't arrived at through a democratic vote. If they are going to teach science in schools they need to teach science, not superstition.
I guess evolution isn't being taught properly in many southern states even before this law, and this will just make them more a joke with the rest of the world, so maybe this won't make a lot of difference in the real world. But there is a difference between pathetically poor education through incompetence and terrible education because of a law. Somewhere the line has to be drawn to stop this religious abuse of school students. I guess that's not going to happen in Louisiana though.
Comment 1 by FL on 2008-07-15 at 22:09:07:
Why do you care what happens in one state in the USA? Is that really going to make any difference to the big picture? is it really going to stop science?
Comment 2 by OJB on 2008-07-16 at 19:55:40:
I know that if this nonsense is encouraged in one place it won't necessarily spread to others, but that is often the way the law works. Legal precedents seem to lead weight to future cases of the same type. We really shouldn't let something as bad as this get a start anywhere.
Comment 3 by SBFL on 2008-07-16 at 23:13:24:
Law is the law, and democracy represents society's intentions - right or wrong. Get over it OJB. As Wintson Churcill apparently said "democracy is the worst form of government except all the others". You can't pick or choose mate, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't.
Comment 4 by OJB on 2008-07-17 at 10:30:36:
Law is law? Does that mean we shouldn't work to change laws which we see as unjust? Of course we should, or nothing would ever get better. Yes, you mention my favourite quote. I agree. But even if we have a good government and see it not working properly then protest and other peaceful action is fully compatible with democracy, surely.
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