Miami Herald's Marc Caputo writes on February 6 of basic underlying semantic difference between "theory" as used in science and everyday life and interviews those on various sides of the current debate in Florida.
He raises a question in my mind, writing that
a state Department of Education worker sent out a call-to-arms e-mail to fellow Christians, noting that teaching evolution will be ``a COMPLETE contradiction of what we Teach them at home.What were the details and were there any repercussions? This raises another question never asked nor answered: was the letter writing campaign local or was there an outside actor organizing it?
While this is a state story and mentions the PA court case and briefly alludes to separation of church and state, I would have liked some examination of how the current debate fits into a national trend and the groups and funding involved.
On one side, is Americans for Separation of Church and State, as well as the National Academies of Science and the National Science Teachers Association which issued a joint statement regarding KS curriculum that it
inappropriately singles out evolution as a controversial theory despite the strength of the scientific evidence supporting evolution as an explanation for the diversity of life on Earth and its acceptance by an overwhelming majority of scientists.On the other side, you have organizations such as Seattle's think tank, Discovery Institute, which promotes "intelligent design" through its Center for Science and Culture, and featured letters to the Tallahassee Democrat and Florida Baptist Witness from February 4 on its website.
The library is closing now, but you can be sure I'll be back to write more on this topic.
