Stand Up For Fact-Based Education
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- Опубліковано 17 сер 2010
- / sciencereason ... Secular Coalition for America: Action Alert - Tell Your Representative to Stand Up For Fact-Based Education
• action.secular.org/p/dia/actio...
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By now, you've probably heard about the Texas State Board of Education's moves to impose educational standards into its textbooks intended to indoctrinate Texas public school students with a telling of U.S. history that is based in extremist religious ideology.
You've probably also heard about some of the more jaw-dropping proposed changes to the curriculum, such as booting Thomas Jefferson off of a list of influential thinkers in place of explicitly religious figures, and the totally fabricated assertion that our system of government is based specifically on the laws of Moses. This comes from the same group of theocrats who famously fought to undermine evolution in science classes and delete from science textbooks the scientific consensus on the age of the universe because they conflict with the Bible.
As terrible as this religious imposition is for Texas students, all Americans have reason to fear. Due to the size of the Texas textbook market (and because other highly populated states do not use statewide textbook contracts in the say way), the backward dictates of its theocratic school board effect textbooks used by public school students all across the country.
Someone in Congress is finally standing up to this abuse of power and unconstitutional overreach by the religious extremists on the Texas State Board of Education. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (T-DX) recently introduced a resolution (H. Res. 1593) that supports fact-based curricula in public schools without meddling by those with an avowed religious agenda. Students in Texas and all across America need to know that Congress wants them to have an education based on facts and science, not myth and religious bias.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Watch the video message above from Secular Coalition for America Executive Director Sean Faircloth supporting Rep. Johnson's resolution, and then tell your member of Congress to become a co-sponsor.
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Secular Coalition Member Organizations:
• American Atheists
• American Ethical Union
• American Humanist Association
• Atheist Alliance International
• Camp Quest
• Council for Secular Humanism
• Institute for Humanist Studies
• Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers
• Secular Student Alliance
• Society for Humanistic Judaism
Secular Coalition Advisory Board:
Woody Kaplan (Chair), Robert Boston, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Bruce Flamm, Sam Harris, Jeff Hawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Susan Jacoby, Wendy Kaminer, Michael Newdow, Massimo Pigliucci, Steven Pinker, Salman Rushdie, Ellery Schempp, Todd Stiefel, Julia Sweeney
.
Regarding Australopiticus: Dr. Charles F. Oxnard is a professor in the Departments of Anatomy and Anthropology, According to Dr. Oxnard, his analyses show that Australopithecus was not intermediate between Man and the apes but was uniquely different. He did a computer analysis of the bones found by not only Leakey but also his son, which showed that the creature did not walk upright, and was not a human ancestor.
@isakel Ah, I see. Thank you for further firsthand information on the subject; I appreciate it.
Here in Holland, when something religiously controversial comes up in our schoolbooks, they put both sides of the argument in the books, so we can choose what we want to believe. For example when a subject about the origin of our earth came up, they put Genesis 1:1 in one text box, and an scientific explanation in another. That makes it easy to compare both theories! :)
@egadw
"bias" is a deviation from our usual judgment because of an aversion on inclination in regard to the subject
a "fact" is something you can check for accuracy
"reality" is what continues to exist whether you recognize it or not
@n8style When attempting to make a point to someone, being able to correctly use a language they can understand helps.
@JixYt It's not that the textbooks are from Texas, it's that the textbook companies make their textbooks around what Texans want, since Texas is the biggest state, and all their schools buy the exact same text books.
@GateMessenger usually, either the two species cannot breed, like octopus and people. Or they are close enough to form a hybrid, like donkey and horse form a mule. But mules, and other hybrids are sterile and cannot breed. The few hybrids that can breed normally are rare, so I would look up hybrid creatures. Hope I helped!
@timm9 That's why evolution is not JUST based on finding bones, but studying DNA, and determining how deep the bones were, and determining the age by all the various, independent ways of measuring the age of an object. The fact that these individual tests all come to the same conclusion is a lot more convincing than the 33,000 different sects of christianity who all disagree with each other.
@tctheunbeliever Yes you are right, I just used that line to repressent the spirit of the founders as having a reference and reverence to a creator/deity/god which in context comes out of the christian society in which they came. In the most inclusive way and to appeal to the widest margin of people in the world, creator or god is used by christians everywhere. Once again it is context not direct affiliation or application that I refer to.
@enginekid88
I never said anything about abiogenesis. Mostly because the origin never really interested me as much as the various eras of life do. That having been said, the Italian Wall lizard is an excellent example of punctuated evolution. Simply google it and you'll find articles on it's phenomenal case fairly quickly.
@crabbit101 That's true but we're still not as bad as Texas. Schools aren't forced to teach creationism as a theory for creation, we have REM classes for that (which cover aspects of several religions, not just Christianity). It could be a lot worse.
@RexFordVII I don't necessarily disagree. "Unalienable rights bestowed by our creator". Not overtly Christian but when said by a Christian , implies a certain Christian belief. Some of the people drafting these words were Christians, others were Deists, others were agnostic or atheist. They all have one thing in common, a culture that was Christian in form. How can that not be influential?When most of the people you represent are Christian, and your culture is, you're going to keep that in mind.
I went to school in Texas from K-9th grade years ago and yeah, it was harder, I learned a lot, and when I moved and finished school in TN I felt like I had been pushed back a few grades. Although now with as conservative views are mixing with Texas schools I don't ever want to move and have my kids going there.
@Daud2008 "I didn't made any ad-hominem attack:" followed by "your is similar to the one a 8 year old has".
Lol, especially coming from someone who thinks that the Theory of Relativity has anything to do with philosophy.
I was initially responding simply because I don't like people trying to slide bullshit under the radar (even on the internet). I think this conversation has reached the point where no one can possibly mistake you as anything other than a troll. No more responses needed, now.
I'm guessing the school board said something like "Don't let facts get in the way of education"
I'm currently in high school in Florida. I'm getting a very good education and I feel sorry for Texans who miss out. We seriously need to get those agendas changed with the Texas school board members...
Please forgive my various spelling errors...that would be Big BANG (as in Evolution), not Big BANK (the illustrious Federal Reserve)
Have you ever taken logic? There are plenty of viable reasons why many scientists believe the BBT: 1. The professors at most universities and colleges have been taught/trained at secular humanist government universities where they were taught that the BBT and Evolution was a fact; 2. Professors who don't go along with the BBT and E tend not to get hired or tenured;
@egadw Other theories include the theory of gravity, cell theory, atomic theory and germ theory. Theory means highly tested, Just a theory is like saying "just a pattern that explains observed phenomenon and can predict experiments and is testable in repeatable ways, witch has stood up to sustained scrutiny sense its creation(100years)" If that is what you were referring to than this does not help your case. Might as well adopt alchemy because atomic theory is "just a theory"
@mydogbanjo What I'm trying to ascertain here is why the context is relevant. For example, my favorite color is blue. This is clear by my wardrobe, but when I'm drafting a paper, my favorite color is irrelevant. However, if I printed papers with blue ink, you could point to that and say "He's doing that because his favorite color is blue"
What I'm trying to pinpoint is the "blue ink" of the founders. How do their Judeo/Christian roots shine through in our founding documents?
@johnsenkenn The descriptive of demonstrable.
It should be demonstrably. I mistakenly added too much to the end, yes.
Funny how you can be astute enough to jump all over me for making ONE typo, after you consistently spell evolution 'evolucion', and also manage to make a complete balls-up of syntax, making an entire comment that barely makes sense.
It's like someone mocking a driver because he got a ding in his car, when the same guy has just been in a train wreck.
@Aresftfun Some parts of course usually around the coast line. but the inner portion of the state is very much southern I grew up on and still run a farm so how i escaped falling into the extreme nutty religious category I have no idea
@dimbulb23, we could make that happen a lot quicker if we were wiser. Suppose, for example, that we decided to expand all of the foreign embassies that exist in America into full sized sovereign foreign cities? That would ensure we stayed at the leading edge of the struggle to discover ever more mutualistic cultures and economies. It would make it hard to deploy WMDs against us without unacceptable collateral damage. It would make us more competitive and spread our culture.
@RexFordVII Yes I see your point about connecting dots. I just don't think the "context" should be purged from the history books to satisfy politically correct-ism or any other "-ism". America is still primarilly a Christian filled nation whether we argree about religious issues or not. This is also context. I am of the opinion that science must have a separation from religion and also from political manipulation. Both have bad track records. Context is necessary for history, politics and faith
@MNICY
What the hell? were do you live that gets american text books?
All the books we get are the standardized Federal text books. As far as I knew if you took social 30 in BC or Manitoba you were taking the same coarse.
@mydogbanjo Which specific item is uniquely Judeo/Christian?
I believe it is a moral obligation to present the truth and accuratly display the history and context of any issue that involves education. I disagree with the notion that Judeo/Christian influence is not a componant with the development of the US constitution and other American legal and moral issues. They may be low on the list but they are on the list as context. I'm an atheist but recognise the importance of context and religion is certainly a part of the fabric of America.
@bnfox
You're welcome.
@holdenbane Good point. I don't think all of them would be in the same catagory though, they all had differing beliefs. I dissagree with your last statement that most of them denounced Christianity. Ben Franklin didn't. George Washington didn't. Maybe some did, but some didn't. It's about the context to me anyway.
I was fully prepared to search my future children's book bag and closet, Now it seems I have to check their History book as well. Damn you Texas.
@CyberNeticRodent Well, I can understand your responses now.
@JixYt The trouble with that, is that the experts have far better things to do with their time than write textbooks.
@baphxiii Well that may certainly be, but some didn't. Anyway that remains outside of what is my main point is which is not removing context for political reasons. As an atheist I find much of the christian dogma to be worthy of the most harsh criticism as I do many religions. I don't like religion but I study it. I can separate my distaste for these beliefs from the historical context and the cutural references that contribute to the world we live in and I don't want that removed from history.
This video needs more than 304 views.
@BradBuddy1212 Brad, Texas has a chance to be a trend setter in acknowledging science's important role in the class room. All it takes is actions by texans such as yourself. I don't live in your state but I still encourage all Texans to get involved and change the course of our children's future.
@dilemmix I am.
@Daud2008 "It doesn't harm the education of Texas children, because the parents decided through voting."
What? Simply because parents decided it doesn't mean it doesn't harm children. Also, as with other things, just because it is the will of the majority does NOT mean that they can perpetrate harm on others.
@enginekid88 The difference with science is it's based off evidence of things that ACTUALLY HAPPEN. Theories can be derived from studying the processes around us from several different angles. when all the angles say the same thing, THAT is proof and evidence, scientifically. Religious faith is based on "believe this because i say so, and even though the evidence is against my claim, you must believe it anyway." That is religion, that is faith. Science is the opposite of faith = honesty.
@cycimian I am fairly certain that 10 year olds could create a better set of ten commandments than the ones offered in the Bible. 1. Do not murder. 2. Do not steal. 3. Do not lie. 4. Always keep learning. 5 Enjoy life. 6. Do no harm. 7. Do not cheat. 8. Be compassionate. 9. Do not be selfish. 10. Seek harmony with the world and those within it.
Sorry I really wanted to get yours in there but I think that they are well represented in my 5, 8, and 10.
I may have to move to Canada. ;)
@johnsenkenn Yes, and you?
@dimbulb23, it's not actually possible to partition our planet, that alone leaves us to either cooperate or compete. Yes, I think the attempt use reason to spread the ideas we find worthy of spreading is wise and a step towards finding cooperative solutions to the various conflicts between cultures. If you consider how rapidly the internet has revolutionized ALL cultures I think there is reason to hope that now that humanity actually has a nervous system, it might just grow a brain on top of it.
I will support this worthy initiative. On behalf of my late brother's three children and their prospective, future children. They live in Texas and are at immediate risk from these ignoramuses.
@mattrules44 I'm with you. As a conservative and an atheist and a skeptic, I have been running into people that are really intolerant of my view point. Most atheists I run into are left leaning, and socialists to the point of being religious about it. They can't understand that socialism and dis-belief in God are two seperate issues and have no relationship. I'm actually conservative because I am a skeptic. They don't get that one either. Just had to put in my 2 cents!
I live in Texas, and as a Texan, I would like to be one of the many other Texans who would like to apologize for our state trying to dumb down the rest of the country.
@gregrutz Exactly! And the thing is, all the religious theories are equally valid (unvalid), so how do you know which is the right one?
@timm9 31.Today, the theory of evolution is an accepted fact for everyone but a fundamentalist minority, whose objections are based not on reasoning but on doctrinaire adherence to religious principles. [Dr. James D. Watson, winner of the Nobel prize for his co-discovery of the structure of DNA]
@jgordon707
We aren't the most populous state, nor the largest. However, I think we buy our textbooks in smaller clumps, whereas it seems Texas constitutes one big account.
@CyberNeticRodent What's the issue with johnsen anyways?
JOhnson deserves a standing ovation.
@Direkin love that show!
Felt the need to throw in my two cents... Why can't people wrap their heads around the idea that evolution is both an observable fact in the present, and a strongly support scientific theory of how evolution happened and continues to happen (natural selection).
@GodofCider None of what I have is off-topic. While I have admitted to have a false ideal of a fact(if you read the comments, you'd see), my original attempt to define said words hasn't been exactly successful.
@OpenlyClosed
Austin can go to California, right?
@surfingky they released that in memo form?
It's really sad that *anyone* has to "stand up" for fact based education. The idea that education should be based on facts is so obvious that it would be insulting to point out if it weren't something that actually needed to be actively ensured.
It's about damn time I watched a video that made sense
@alphacause great to hear
How can one possibly consider fighting people who want their country to be governed by a religions text while at the same time one is trying to do the same in one’s own country with the only difference of the text being a different one?
@mjelves In science theory is an attempt to explain empirical phenomena.
More important than teaching facts, we should teach logic & critical thinking. That way, the student is armed to discern facts. Oh yeah, and send all politicians & media talking heads to such a school!
Am I the only one who is saddened by the fact that "Fact-based education" isn't a redundant statement?
Despite Texas' laws I remain a bit optimistic about the rest of the country. Where there's a market for non-Texas textbooks, someone will show up to take advantage of it.
Since purchasing school textbooks is an annual endeavor, and the publishing house for American school textbooks bases its publishing of these new books on Texas, why cannot the rest of the nation, not Texas, just not buy new textbooks for one year. Buy the previous year's textbooks only, to teach the publishing house not to ever do that again? Most of the information hasn't changed all that much and any vital new info can be taught as an addendum.
@enginekid88 "The fact that macro-evolution and abiogenesis are hypothetical theories formed in peoples minds, like string theory and dark matter."
The fact that macro-evolution is the exact same thing as micro-evolution would like to have a discussion with you. Abiogenesis is not taught as a fully settled theory, only as the most reasonable current option (and in fact there are multiple different theories).
@timm9 Geology shows that fossils are of different ages. Paleontology shows a fossil sequence, the list of species represented changes through time. Taxonomy shows biological relationships among species. Evolution is the explanation that threads it all together. Creationism is the practice of squeeezing one's eyes shut and wailing "does not!.
Best of luck from the UK
Man know his audience
@phoisgreat We have good BBQ? Yeah, I live here and I cringe every time I even hear the word "Texas" in the news.
@OpenlyClosed
Texans keep talking about how they want to be independent. I'm all for it.
@isakel Hmm, I really can't agree with your assessment of Sweden 'getting rid' of religion to date; although I most certainly will agree that it is ahead in that area.
@southmcl thats a good point, i'll be going into this crap in about a week, i'll be a junior so i wont be in biology, i'll be in chemistry so i probably wont have this shit thrown at me but i plan to fight it and stand up for facts not myths
@egadw Yes it is.
@lumbeeboy92
Good point.
I myself am a Cthulic, praise the great old ones!
@MsWanderer1 quick question - in America is socialism another word for satanism? I've noticed a lot of americans have a similar reaction to both.
@MRMAGIC305X Yeh I'm taking an AP class next year :) and I plan on going to UF, alothugh it'll be hard
I'm wondering if a Texas citizen couldn't file suit vs. the school board for their distortion of the facts.
Excellent work, keep it going guys!
TRUTH MUST PREVAIL!
@mortensjoegren indeed!
@egadw
Definitions of words don't shift with the subject at hand. And neither do the truth values of facts. You can deny all you want the population mechanics popularly referred to as evolution, you can deny gravity as well. It really doesn't change much does it.
Its very hard for me to understand that this is really happening in America!!! Ive never been to America yet Im so close to american culture and admire so many good things that came from this amazing country... but this... I really cannot understand how and why this is going on...I mean...Bush was a Texan right?? I think THAT would explain a lot of things....
@happysplodie nah
@CreativeVisionary92 Well, you're half right....
@ChainX You accuse me of my assertion being false, I am not getting lost in the meaning of the word, I am backing my assertion up. While I use science in most aspects of my life and I am a pragmatic believer in science, it doesn't change the fact, that neither evolution and gravity are facts.
Please also see my video 'Its up to us' humanism will find Peter Blake from Cornwall explaining how he came to reject religion and embrace humanism.
@xqyzii, You can't deny that faith is the most cost effective solution to health care. As well as the other benefits I've already mentioned. I think Richard Dreyfuss is on the right track. We need a revolution in civics--in the technology we use to harvest our collective acumen, the degree of our direct involvement, the quality civic education delivered to kids, etc. It could be that a government intended to be "for the people, and by the people" actually requires our participation. Go figure.
@egadw There's a difference between facts and truths. Even if evolution would not a truth it would still be a fact. A fact is determined by our ability to observe, whether our observations are universally true or not. A fact is not something universal beyond us, we define it. It is a fact to us.
@GodofCider This has nothing to do with trolling. It has something to do with people being indoctrinated to believe in science rather than superstitious deities. The result is the same, you lose your skepticism.
Just wanted to let you know I sent the secular.org form email to my representative. Thank you for the post. While creationism is part of this country's history, it should not be studied in a science classroom. If Christian fundamentalists want this method to be taught in schools, let it be mentioned in a history or civics class as part of our history. It could be studied alongside the Scopes Monkey Trial of the 1920's; however, past this, it should never be an alternative to the Big Bang.
@Hopeful71 It's a well established theory indeed, how does that make it true? Science regards a human being as imperfect, thus it's observations needs to be replicable and verifiable, yet if the human is imperfect and not all-knowing, how can it state whether something is true or not?
@egadw ...not released for more than an hour and already I find myself repeating something that should be common knowledge.
I almost wrote this in a very negative manner.
Evolution is simultaneously fact 'and' theory. Akin to how gravity is simultaneously fact 'and' theory. Or how a heliocentric solar system is simultaneously fact 'and' theory.
@xxxFaustusxxx
I think it has to do with the "Texas" .. ness.. dunno. I heard people there have to spend their whole lives in windowless freezer rooms because outside they'd be brainfried (at least in summer). And they don't have tables there and have to eat standing up and do their homework in their beds... *shrug*
@agnostaxian We want free thought, and free thought for everybody of every religion. We do NOT want people of one spiritual opinion telling everybody ELSE what to do. No religion should ever be held in higher regard than another or non in the political arena, because religions are basically still here to maintain prejudices and bigotry. People can be prejudiced bigots on their own time, but their particular discriminations should never be government funded. Facts of reality should be promoted.
They are mad, flying in the face of all the new scientific discoveries and truth.
@byteresistor If the definitions of facts from that article were true, then facts aren't related to truths. While I don't agree on the definition of fact, as I read about it's etymology it becomes clear that I was misinformed regarding the definition of a fact. The main point being that evolution is a truth still apply.
@fcdog555 How is it ignorant? Being skeptic was what started the rejection of religions and being the start of serious science.
@Hashime777222 Same with me in my Catholic HS. However, Conservative Christians are very different than Catholics. In fact, most Christians I've encountered have very low opinions on Catholics. They call them pagans due to their Saints...as well as many other titles. Conservative Christians aren't led by a pope, they are led by their ministers in their churches...and they follow quite blindly unfortunately.
@mydogbanjo No, I totally agree with you, I think all religious dogma is worthy of criticism as well. More people need to realize religious mythologies are nothing more than that. At some point most people study Greek mythologies, I do not think any modern religion is any different.
@mydogbanjo You are certainly right, they grew up in a Judeo/Christian tradition, but aside from simply referencing God in a way that's looks more like poetry than reverence, I can't really see any hint of something uniquely Juedo/Christian.
I understand where you're coming from, I do, but I just don't see anything that shines through as an example of America being founded on anything from that tradition. Context is often important, but I don't see anything that I can point to and connect dots
@DaithiDublin I've taught with science teachers who don't believe in evolution. Its really depressing.