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Written by jhm
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Wednesday, 14 June 2006 |
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In Oklahoma, an Intelligent Design Trojan horse bill called the “Academic Freedom Act” died in the state Senate. Here is what was wrong with the Academic Freedom Act, other than the dishonest title it was given. The first set of proposed laws in the “Academic Freedom Act” protects the right of public school teachers to “present scientific information pertaining to the full range of scientific views on the biological or chemical origins of life.” This part sounds great! It protects the right of science teachers to teach science! Great! However, the likely political outcome here is the following: A few science “experts” will claim that Intelligent Design is science, and therefore every public school teacher should be allowed to present it. And Oklahoma courts and legislators will allow it under the “Academic Freedom Act.” And those science “experts” will continue to teach at a community college.
From here, it gets worse: “No student in any public school shall be penalized […] because the student may subscribe to a particular position on scientific views pertaining to the biological or chemical origins of life.” What this says is that if a student’s religious views stop him or her from learning the material, they can’t be penalized. Schools in Oklahoma might as well stop teaching science altogether. And the best part of the bill is “[n]othing in this act shall be construed as […] promoting discrimination for or against religion.” The problem here is that “the full range of scientific views” does in fact discriminate against religion. Science gives natural explanations for natural phenomena, including the “chemical and biological origins of life.” This leaves no room for a “supreme being” or anything defined as supernatural within the realm of science. So, according to the Academic Freedom Act, science could not be taught in science class or any other class for that matter. Fortunately, while the bill did pass in the state House, it did not make it out of committee in the Oklahoma state Senate. This defeat of those trying to link right wing ideologies with academic freedom should in fact be heralded as a victory for real academic freedom.
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