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Re: Creationism in New Mexico
Stephen Barnard (steve@megafauna.com)
Tue, 27 Aug 1996 02:49:37 -0800
Bryant wrote:
>
> I posted earlier that creationism was mandated in New Mexico's recently
> revised State Board of Education guidelines to public schools.
>
> This is *incorrect*.
>
> According to journalist Deborah Baker (with the Associated Press), the board's
> guidelines "leave open" to teachers what theories of life's origins to teach
> to their students, but does not mandate (or even explicitely mention)
> Creationism per se.
>
> The guidelines omit the old requirement that evolutionary theory be
> introduced to students, however, so teachers who do not feel comfortable with
> evolution are free to skip it in their presentation of biology to students.
>
> I object to this editorial licensing of teachers. They should teach the
> state of the science, not push their personal ideologies, in the science
> classroom.
>
Teaching biology without referring to evolution is like teaching physics
without referring to atoms.
Steve Barnard
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