I’m not opposed to homeschooling on general principle. I think it’s possible for reasonably intelligent parents to provide their children a decent education at home. Unfortunately, in the United States the word “homeschooler” has an incredibly strong correlation with “evangelical brainwasher.” This recent news article reveals that the vast majority of American homeschoolers do so, not because they think they are better at teaching math at home, but rather for religious reasons. Indeed, as the article discusses, there’s a frightening number of publishers who put out textbooks that are really just delivery systems for fundamentalist propaganda–especially when it comes to evolution. Alas.
Posts Tagged ‘evolution’
Homeschooled = Evangelical?
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
The Tangled Bank
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Review by John C. Snider © 2009
I haven’t had a biology class since I was in high school in the late 1970s. Despite two college degrees filled with math, engineering and chemistry, I never took any more biology; as a result, most of what I know about biology in general, and evolution in particular, I’ve picked up from magazine articles, internet resources and the occasional TV documentary. So I was very excited when I heard that Richard Dawkins’ new book (The Greatest Show on Earth) would be devoted to the evidence for evolution by natural selection. I was equally excited to discover that the latest book by science journalist Carl Zimmer is a textbook titled The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution (pub. by Roberts & Company, Oct 2009, 385 pp hdcvr, $59.95)
Why can’t Darwin film find a US distributor?
Saturday, September 12th, 2009The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the new film Creation (starring husband-and-wife actors Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Charles Darwin and wife Emma Darwin) has failed to find a distributor in the United States. The film deals with Darwin’s life after his ’round-the-world voyage on the Beagle and his personal struggle to come to terms with the theory of evolution by natural selection. The film has been screened in various places, including the Toronto Film Festival, and has received generally positive reviews. Dr. Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education calls it “a thoughtful, well-made film that will change many views of Darwin held by the public—for the good.”
Bob Wright on the Behe Brouhaha: Mea Culpa
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009I know I’ve posted about this a couple of times before, but this onion keeps growing new layers. Over the weekend, bloggingheads.tv Robert Wright (The Evolution of God) posted a conversation with science journalist George Johnson, in which Wright offers a very detailed explanation of how the Michael Behe/John McWhorter diavlog got posted, then removed, then re-posted. In the aftermath of the incident, a handful of scientists and/or science journalists who have participated on bhTV have vowed never to be on again. Oh, and Bob Wright also addresses (sort of) the insinuations and rumors that he’s angling for the high-dollar Templeton Prize. Enjoy:
The Behe brouhaha at bloggingheads.tv
Monday, August 31st, 2009Boy, what a soap opera this has turned out to be. Late last week, linguist and conservative pundit John McWhorter recorded a segment for bloggingheads.tv (bhTV) with Michael “Irreducible Complexity” Behe. A credulous–even gushing–McWhorter, who is a self-admitted nonbeliever, began by heaping praise on Behe’s most recent book The Edge of Evolution. The 44-minute conversation is unremarkable, given that a linguist isn’t exactly the best conversational partner to pair up with a guy like Behe, and doesn’t break new ground on the supposed controversy of Intelligent Design.
The Voyage that Shook the World
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
by John C. Snider © 2009
If you buy the latest Creationist explanation, Charles Darwin was a fantasy-prone naif who “fabricated stories” as a boy, fell for a bunch of geological uniformitarianist claptrap, got mad at God for the deaths of three of his ten children, and kluged together the Theory of Evolution by cherrypicking the data he collected on his famous round-the-world voyage. Plus he was a racist precisely because he believed that, while all human beings are derived from a common ancestor, some were more evolved than others.
As you probably already know, 2009 marks both Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his magnum opus The Origin of Species. Lovers of science have been celebrating all year, but Creationists–still smarting from recent legal setbacks involving teaching Intelligent Design in public schools, and increasingly desperate to sound “sciencey” when discussing their discredited theories–are determined not to be outdone in the Year of Darwin.
Intelligence Without Design: A Third Way?
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
by John C. Snider © 2009
We’re all familiar with the debate: either the universe was created by an intelligent creator, or it’s the result of natural forces and random happenstance, with no purpose or direction except that which we give ourselves. In other words, Intelligent Design vs. Scientific Naturalism.
But maybe there’s a third way. Maybe it’s all the result, not of Intelligent Design, but of Intelligence without Design. That’s the central thesis of an essay by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad, published last month in Guernica Magazine. Joel Kramer is the author of the 1974 self-help book The Passionate Mind, and describes himself as “an early innovator in the modern American physical and mental yoga.” Kramer’s life partner Diana Alstad is a feminist and teacher of women’s studies. The essay “Intelligence Without Design” is part of their new book The Passionate Mind Revisited: Expanding Personal and Social Awareness, an update of Kramer’s book.
Squeaker in Texas
Friday, March 27th, 2009The Dallas Morning News reports “the State Board of Education on Thursday narrowly turned aside a last-ditch effort by social conservatives to require that ‘weaknesses’ in the theory of evolution be taught in science classes in Texas.” It was a 7-7 tie, so it wasn’t a clear-cut victory. Rest assured the terrier-like ankle-biting engaged in by disgruntled creationists has been deflected only temporarily. Read the whole report here.
It’s amusing to me that these “teach the weaknesses/teach the controversy” whiners would have heart attacks at the suggestion that books like Bishop Spong’s Jesus for the Nonreligious or anything by Bart Ehrman be taught in church.
Podcast #46 – Supreme Court on Summum
Thursday, March 12th, 2009
We analyze three recent developments nationwide that affect the integrity of church-state separation: an Oklahoma legislator condemns evolution; an Arkansas legislator seeks to end discrimination against atheists in his state constitution; and the Supreme Court rules against an obscure New Age sect called the Summum.
Podcast #82 – Creation
Friday, February 26th, 2010Thanks to the many fellow science fans who joined us for the Creation screening at Atlanta’s Landmark Midtown Art Cinema. And thanks to Royal Orchid Thai Cuisine for accommodating our unexpected horde.
Tags: annie's box, charles darwin, creation, david mcallister, evolution, jason bourque, jennifer connelly, paul bettany
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