Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Evolution Wins as Creationists (Accidentally) Switch Sides in Florida
I just read this on Wired News:
The Florida Board of Education officially upheld evolution yesterday.
In a 4-3 vote, the Board accepted a proposed curriculum that makes evolution central to public school science education.
Until now, Florida's schools weren't required to teach evolution. The old curriculum guidelines didn't even mention it by name.
The 4-3 vote was obtained by including a last-minute amendment to the standards. Suggested last Friday by religious conservatives and dubbed the "academic freedom proposal," the amendment required that the curriculum's references to "evolution" be replaced by the "scientific theory of evolution."
The amendment's supporters called the language change a victory -- and it is, though not in the way they imagine.
Not only will Florida's students learn about evolution; they'll also learn that the scientific definition of a theory is different from the everyday definition, referring not to wild-eyed speculation but a vast body of observation and testing that confirms a hypothesis so strongly that it might as well be considered fact.
A big thank-you, then, to religious critics of evolution education. The language change will better help Florida's children understand not only evolution, but science itself.
It's definitely a victory for promoting knowledge and thinking in my book.
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