Posts Tagged ‘evolution’
Friday, March 27th, 2009
The 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.
Tags: board of education, creationism, evolution, texas
Posted in christianity, evolution, intelligent design, news, politics, religion, science | No Comments »
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.
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Tags: arkansas, evolution, hjr1009, hr1014, hr1015, oklohoma, pleasant grove, richard carroll, richard dawkins, seven aphorisms, summum, supreme court
Posted in civil rights, evolution, news, podcast, politics, religion, religious rights, science | 5 Comments »
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Hmmm. Now even mainstream churches are jumping on the Darwin Day bandwagon. Evolution Weekend 2009 is coordinated by something called The Clergy Letter Project, which encourages congregations, “through sermons, discussion groups, meaningful conversations and seminars, [to] show that religion and science are not adversaries.” Well, we’ll set aside whether or not that last part is true, but it’s at least heartening to see churches and synagogues participating in this event.
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Tags: clergy letter project, evolution, evolution weekend 2009
Posted in christianity, evolution, news, religion, science | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Darwin! To celebrate, we interview Ken Miller (a.k.a. Dr. Kenneth R. Miller), Professor of Biology at Brown University and co-author (with Joseph S. Levine) of Prentice-Hall’s Biology, one of the most-used and most-respected high school textbooks in the world. Ken strikes a thoughtful balance between his Roman Catholicism and a deep appreciation of the reality of evolution. He was a key witness for the plaintiffs in the 2005 Kitzmiller-v-Dover trial, which overturned an attempt by intelligent design creationists to infiltrate the local high school biology curriculum. Ken is also the author of two science memoirs: Finding Darwin’s God and Only a Theory. For more about Ken and his work visit MillerandLevine.com.
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Tags: biologist, biology, darwin day, evolution, ken miller
Posted in christianity, evolution, interviews, podcast, religion, science | 1 Comment »
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
May I recommend the Atlanta Science Tavern? If you live in metro Atlanta, that is (if you don’t, do a little googling and you might find a science tavern active in your city). The AST is coordinated by the soft-spoken (and very tall) Josh Gough, and offers a great opportunity to hear accomplished researchers speak on subjects like astronomy, geology, biology, etc. in a friendly pub environment. How can you resist the Three “-ations”?: Education, Conversation, and Libation (there’s also Gustation, Mastication and Digestitation, but hey). The get-togethers usually attract around 25 attendees.
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Tags: atlanta science tavern, e. o. wilson, emory university, environmentalism, evolution, evolution revolution
Posted in evolution, news, religion, science | No Comments »
Friday, October 24th, 2008
We talk to Dr. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) about the recent action by the Texas Board of Education [www.tea.state.tx.us/sboe] that places three creationists on the six-member committee that reviews science standards [link]. How damaging could this move be to the rest of the country?
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Tags: creationism, eugenie scott, evolution, intelligent design, national center for science education, ncse, texas
Posted in christianity, evolution, intelligent design, interviews, podcast, politics, religion, science | 1 Comment »
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Darwin Day 2008 – Charles Darwin’s birthday is February 12, which is as good a day as any to celebrate his achievements and those of science in general. We talk to evolutionary biologist, philosopher and popular science writer Massimo Pigliucci of the State University of New York in Stony Brook, the organizer of SUNY’s Darwin Day events, and who organized the University of Tennessee’s first Darwin Day in 1997. Massimo maintains several web presences, including RationallySpeaking.org, PlatoFootnote.org, and GenotypebyEnvironment.org. We’ll also feature a special “scientific gospel” song from the California based band The Galapagos Mountain Boys.
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Tags: charles darwin, darwin day, evolution, massimo pigliucci
Posted in atheism, evolution, intelligent design, interviews, music, podcast, religion, science | 1 Comment »
Louisiana’s Jindal Signs Stealth Creationism Bill
Sunday, June 29th, 2008http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2719223520080627
The day before we recorded episode #20 of the podcast, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed the Louisiana Science Education Act, which is essentially designed to protect teachers who might want to insert creationist teachings into public school biology classrooms. It’ll be interesting (and probably frustrating) to see how this thing plays out in practice.
Tags: Add new tag, bobby jindal, creationism, evolution, intelligent design, louisiana, louisiana science education act, science
Posted in commentary, evolution, intelligent design, news, politics, science | No Comments »