Science, theology and stupidity running amok in LA...

Apparently, everything is Louisiana is going so well that the Senate and House can waste time, money and...you know...their children's intellectual future on yet another "let's teach creationism as if it were a scientific theory" bill. The republican governor (interestingly, a Hindu turned Catholic), is expected to sign the bill into law. The ACLU and an untold number of other rational organizations will then attempt to save LA from its own stupidity.

I know I have ranted about ID before (see, e.g., here, here or here) and will do my best to avoid doing so again. But. Errr. Ahhh. SERIOUSLY! What the hell is going through these people's collective heads? This is a state whose students score 44th and 46th nationally in Reading and Math, 50th in Advance Placement exams, and is second highest in the nation for the number of children living below the poverty line. Yet rather than spend time/money/effort trying to dig its schools...and students...out of the mire, they spend their time trying to further muddying their already murky educational waters. Twits.

England, rather recently, issued new guidelines to teachers on creationism and ID. They included a wonderful passage on what makes and does not make a "scientific theory":

The use of the word 'theory' can mislead those not familiar with science as a subject discipline because it is different from the everyday meaning of being little more than a 'hunch'. In science the meaning is much less tentative and indicates that there is a substantial amount of supporting evidence, underpinned by principles and explanations accepted by the international scientific community...Creationism and intelligent design are sometimes claimed to be scientific theories. This is not the case as they have no underpinning scientific principles, or explanations, and are not accepted by the science community as a whole.

There is something about the very carefully premediated effort to repackage/promote theology as a scientific construct that I just find wildly offensive...to both theology *and* science. I am have too much to do to rail about this today...and it annoys me too much. Please see the "About FSM" et seq. for an enjoyable analysis of the logic flaws and do not miss the Open Letter to the Kansas School Board. Admittedly, I am fond of sarcasm...it is so much more pleasant than screaming and whacking people with boards...

Also, though published some time ago in the renowned scholarly source, The Onion, please also see "Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory".