Religion is replacing science in Georgia classrooms

Religion is replacing science in Georgia classrooms
EDITOR:
There is a court battle going on in Cobb County, Ga. Back in 2002 ,some 2,000 parents complained that public schools were teaching evolution as fact. (Which it is.) In 2002 Kathy Cox was elected superintendent of Georgia's schools. During her run for office she made it clear that she wanted Christian notions of earth and human creation to be taught in state schools. Guidelines for teachers were adopted by a panel of 25 educators and I believe that in May of 2002 the guidelines were adopted.
Many educators are not happy with the guidelines which give ID (Intelligent Design) more than a fair hearing in the classrooms in Georgia. But Dr. Francisco J. Ayala, professor of genetics at the University of California at Irvine said that "Creation is not science, so it should not be taught in science class. We don't teach astrology instead of astronomy or witchcraft practices instead of medicine."
An article in The New York Times stresses the importance of evolution theory as it pertains to world economic development. Brazil is now a world power in agriculture production. Its triumphs in agriculture production is a result of applying evolutionary theory to develop new strains and new varieties of domestic animals that do well in Brazil's tropical agricultural area. The article ends with a warning to America; Wake up, America, our competitors in the world economy are using evolutionary theory to surpass America in world agricultural production.
Could ID ever do that? Fact is, ID can't do anything in the field of medicine or agriculture or pharmaceuticals or botany or biology. ID is not science. Teach it if you will in a class of comparative religion.
Professor Michael Howell is associate professor of marine geology at the University of South Florida and is also a biblical scholar. He writes: "The sticker (put on science textbooks by Ms. Cox) in itself shows (ignorance) because to say that evolution is theory and not a fact shows that you do not understand what a theory really is. It is an explanation of phenomenon, not a hunch or guess."
Educators say that the current curriculum in Cobb County schools is weak in biology which leads to high failure rate in the sciences among school students across the state. Professor David Jackson, professor at the University of Georgia who trains middle school science teachers, said about half the students entering his class each year had little knowledge of evolutionary theory. It seems that they have never been exposed to basic facts about fossils and the universe.
Religious leaders of the radical right: Dobson, Kennedy, Falwell, Robertson, Colson, Ahmanson, Bauer, have unlimited funds with which to influence local school boards.
Their aim is to make sure religion is taught in our public schools. The wedge they use is ID/creationism. If they succeed, Dobson's Christianity could be taught in our public schools.
ROBERT HOPKINS
Hubbard.
The smoke screen lifts
EDITOR:
"Compassionate conservatism" is dead. It was never more than a political smoke screen, but two articles in the Dec. 13 Vindicator tell us that even that pretense is being abandoned. On the front page we read that Congressional Republicans, searching for ways to look fiscally responsible, have their knives out for Medicaid, the bare-bones program that supports limited health care services for the poor (including Youngstown's center that the president praised so highly during the recent election season).
The hypocrisy of that stance becomes glaringly evident six pages back, where it is reported that NASA is getting and extra $16.2 billion this fiscal year as the first payment on a $100 billion (or more) project to send an astronaut to Mars. It's surely no coincidence that the space agency is based in House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's district in Texas.
The whole thing stinks.
ROBERT D. GILLETTE
Poland