🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <12533@watnot.UUCP> ccplumb@watnot.UUCP (Colin Plumb) writes:
>In article <646@cdx39.UUCP> jc@cdx39.UUCP (John Chambers) writes:
>> Oh, yes, another loss:  Back in the 40's and early 50's, we had high-school
>> biology texts that did a reasonably good job of introducing the concept of
>> evolution; religious pressure caused the publishers to eliminate this part
>> of the texts.  Now we have a population that thinks that it is reasonable
>> to debate whether "scientific creationism" should be taught in schools.
>> The very fact that they can get away with using such a phrase and not be
>> laughed out of the room is evidence of how much we have lost on this front.
>
>  Agreed wholeheartedly.  I've never felt the effects of such debates,
>but it's scary to think they're taking place at all.
>
>	-Colin Plumb (ccplumb@watnot.UUCP)

	There are several ways to look at this.

	Some possible interpetations:

	1) The schools, especially public schools, have been co-opted into
thinking they have to please everybody, every minority that has a voice in
their community and state, and not offend anyone. This view holds that you
water everything down that is controversial because it can't be handled in
the classroom, or it must be handled legally, administratively, at the
state level. Maybe this is a symptom of a fundemetal trend in problem solving
in this nation.
	2) The science curricula have been suffering from a peak of support in
1963 because national priorities have shifted away from support for basic
science. Science is being more poorly taught now than it was before. People
don't understand what science claims anymore. They con't distinguish it from
non-science, cult or religion.
	3) The country has gone Conservative. It is older demographically, and
the conservatives, who have always been there, are getting their views aired
because of the political mood of the nation and the administration in
Washington.
	4) The opposite view may be the case, the 'fundies are getting smoked
out of the pulpet, the Creationists are getting their view aired in a
real examination of the issues.

	What do you think? Is it all of these? Are there any more? What could
we do about it as technocrates and, some of us, with advanced degrees in
science?


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