12 Florida Schools Pass Anti-Evolution Resolutions

Several sources are reporting that twelve school districts in Florida have passed resolutions against the teaching of evolution. Out of all the arguments, however, one administrator seems to have gotten it right: "Then, the final speaker, Lisa Dizengoff, director of science curriculum at Pembroke Pines Charter School's east campus, angrily reminded the crowd that after all the carping over evolution, no one had gotten around to addressing the state's lackadaisical, last-century approach to science education. 'All I heard was this argument about evolution,' she said, disgusted that so many other problems had been preempted by a single controversy. 'The kids lost out again.''"

of course they did

[stoolpigeon]

there was a rumor going around florida might lose their fark tag.

So.......

[aztektum]

When do we start bombing the religious zealots in this country for oppressing their people?

They're within driving distance for me

[jollyreaper]

I think I'm going to have to head down to that next meeting with a clue-by-four and lay down some science on their asses.

Re:Opposed to teaching Evolution as a fact....

[Anonymous Coward]

pi = 3. It's in the bible, it's the law. I for one do not welcome our divine overlords.

Figures

[tgd]

The kids are getting screwed by America's wang.

Re:of course they did

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

I've been to Florida.

Believe me! Based on that sample, I'd disbelieve in evolution theory, too!

Listen, and understand!

[Anonymous Coward]

"I understand there are people who believe (evolution), but I would be happier to see them at least present both sides and teach it as theory, as opposed to a fact," Stilson said. "It is just as scientific to believe in intelligent design as it is to believe in evolution."

Listen, and understand! Those creationists are out there. They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!

Re:Opposed to teaching Evolution as a fact....

[stewbacca]

but I've never actually seen anything evolve.

Funny, neither has anyone living in Florida.

Re:Opposed to teaching Evolution as a fact....

[Cheesey]

If you actually want to learn something about evolution, then I recommend going to http://talkorigins.org/ [talkorigins.org] where there are dozens of articles dealing with all manner of evolutionary problems and explanations, with full citations so you can go to a library and check for yourself.

You might also like to see what they think in the mirror universe of "creation science". Put on your false beard and pretend to be your fundamentalist twin as you visit the creationist response to talkorigins [creationwiki.org]. Then read your Bible and check for yourself! :)

Re:Opposed to teaching Evolution as a fact....

[Bloke down the pub]

pi = 3. It's in the bible, it's the law.

Knock it off will you, I'm trying to draw a circle and it keeps coming out as a hexagon.

Re:So.......

[C0rinthian]

I don't believe in Gravity. The Earth just sucks.

Re:The Religious Mind

[Sloppy]

The problem is, how would you know it was god and not some advanced life form?

PGP Web of Trust, baby! If God signs it, then those people who certified his key would all have to be liars. What's the chance of that?

New Theory, New Theory!

[IonOtter]

Latitude correlates to IQ!

The lower you go, the lower it gets.

Literalism

[EnsilZah]

You when will you literalists ever learn?
God only used an integer because support for floating point operations was severely limited in the CPUs of the time.

The resolution is actually PRO evolution

[lelitsch]

If you actually read the http://www.taylor.k12.fl.us/shared.content/board.meetings/minutes/11-20-07.pdf [slashdot.org]>meeting minutesyou would see that they are actually EXPANDING on the theory of evolution into the real of cosmology and quantum physics.

"[we] are requesting that the State Board of Education direct the Florida Department of
Education to revise/edit the new Sunshine State Standards for Science so that evolution is
presented as one of several theories as to how the universe was formed."

I have a graduate degree in physics, but I wasn't aware that the universe was formed by evolution. Although I have to admit that the thought of mating galaxies has a certain appeal.

---------------------
People who don't understand sarcasm are bound to be an irresistible target for it.

Re:Read Some Voltaire

[Grishnakh]

Methinks in these days of growing fanaticism, both religious and ideological, we would do well to learn from what Voltaire wrote.

Instead of trying to get people to read and understand Voltaire, I think it'd be a lot easier to just move out of Florida to someplace where the people aren't so stupid.

Re:talk about sad and daft

[Basehart]

Amen to that.

Re:of course they did

[uncoveror]

Most of us are descended from great apes. Floridians are descended from red-ass baboons.

Re:The Religious Mind

[cp.tar]

A friend of mine has this interesting theory that God is a woman, and has also a nice proof. Observe:

1. To God, a thousand years is the same as one day.
2. The world is 6000 years old.
3. A benevolent god would never allow such atrocities as we see every day.
4. Women with PMS are not at all benevolent.
5. PMS can last up to a week.

Therefore, the apparent lack of God's benevolence is merely due to the fact that She has PMS.

The upside is that aye, there shall indeed come an end to all the atrocities present in our world.

The downside, of course, is the fact that there will be rains of blood for a few thousand years beforehand.

Re:The Religious Mind

[jdh3.1415]

The problem is, how would you know it was god and not some advanced life form? Ancient humans with smaller brains would consider us or our mysterious technology 'gods'.

My cat has a smaller brain than I. I'm pretty sure he considers me his intellectual equal.

Re:The Religious Mind

[OakDragon]

Not to mention, if God were a man, the Bible would be a magazine, with lots of pictures.

DNA

[Phocas]

I love the way those guys can watch CSI and have no problem agreeing that a 99.9% DNA match "proves" the suspect is the real father and then turn around and claim that a 95% DNA match between a human and a chimpanzee is just Satan's plot to deceive you into believing in evolution.

Re:So it continues..

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you mean by "no definitive proof". We share almost entirely the same genome. Hell, we even share many of the same endogenous retroviral insertions [wikipedia.org] as our closest relatives; the great apes, at the same bloody loci in the genome. If you have some alternate explanation besides common descent, then I'd love to hear it

God uses templates

Re:The resolution is actually PRO evolution

[mike2R]

Although I have to admit that the thought of mating galaxies has a certain appeal.

You mean the big bang theory?

At risk of being modded down...

[Mex]

Hey, *Americans* may come from apes, the rest of the world evolved from hominids ;)

(yes, yes I know... It's just a joke http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominid [wikipedia.org] )

On the origin of species...

[onemorechip]

There are only three possibilities.

1. All species that exist today have always existed. This would only be compatible with a steady-state cosmology.

2. Complex species appeared suddenly (with no predecessors). Observe as long as you wish, you will never see this happen.

3. Single-celled species appeared at some point in the past, and complex species evolved from those.

Guess which option I'd put my money on.

Denying or not teaching evolution?

[Z00L00K]

Will not that be a problem for the students later in life if they chose to seek higher education?

Oh - wait - religion wants us to be all meek and follow the leader and his disciples.

There is only one religion that always works and that is Murphy's Law [wikipedia.org]. But there are some who think's Murphy was an optimist [fu-berlin.de]. - In short "Shit happens".

"Religion is only a crutch"