More concerned with the rock of ages than the ages of rocks

March 24, 2006

Sometimes, it’s hard to believe it’s the 21st century and teachers in too many communities are still instructed to suppress modern science.

In the fall of 2004, I received an e-mail from an old friend back in Arkansas, where I was raised. She was concerned about a problem her father was having at work. “Bob” is a geologist and a teacher at a science education institution that serves several Arkansas public school districts. My friend did not know the details of Bob’s problem, only that it had to do with geology education. This was enough to arouse my interest, so I invited Bob to tell me about what was going on.

He responded with an e-mail. Teachers at his facility are forbidden to use the “e-word” (evolution) with the kids. They are permitted to use the word “adaptation” but only to refer to a current characteristic of an organism, not as a product of evolutionary change via natural selection. They cannot even use the term “natural selection.” Bob feared that not being able to use evolutionary terms and ideas to answer his students’ questions would lead to reinforcement of their misconceptions.

But Bob’s personal issue was more specific, and the prohibition more insidious. In his words, “I am instructed NOT to use hard numbers when telling kids how old rocks are. I am supposed to say that these rocks are VERY VERY OLD … but I am NOT to say that these rocks are thought to be about 300 million years old.”

“Bob” asked why it was necessary to limit these kids’ education and his supervisors explained that irritating some religious fundamentalists in the area could lead to budget cuts.

Lately, when I hear another one of these breathtaking examples, I think about the president’s recent State of the Union address, in which Bush insisted that American students need “a firm grounding in math and science” or the nation will lose its competitive “edge.”

Of course, it’s the same president who tacitly supports the problems faced by science teachers like “Bob” who aren’t even allowed to talk about the age of the earth or use the “e-word.”

Gosh, Carpetbagger, you aren’t up to date on your Douglas Adams, are you?!

After all, a quick read through The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will reveal that the earth was built on contract as a computer, for mice from another dimension. The actual age of the planet was only approximately 10,000 years at the time of its destruction…

(There are even revealing passages about laying down the artificial dinosaur bones and surrounding strata…)

  • In my Favourites list, “Crooks and Liars” follows the C-bagger Report. Bob’s bosses would seem to be forcing him to be a Crook and a Liar, just like his bosses’ pals in the White House.

  • (I also posted this comment at Pharyngula regarding this item)

    “Red state” folk sometimes complain that the rest of the country perceives them as stupid. Stories like this remind us about where that perception comes from. If you come from a place where people deliberately don’t teach their children basic facts about biology, geology, history, then, yes, you probably are pretty stupid.

  • If you cant teach the actual science, who cares if the budgets are cut. Better to fold than dish out nonesense.

  • All this on evolution is just a “front” in the war, if you will.

    If we (or our government rulers) concede that the religious militants can dictate one part of the school curriculum, then it is half of the battle to having the right to control ALL of the curriculum. As some folks noted, nothing is enough for the fundies–they won’t stop here.

    The ultimate goal for these people? It’s pretty obvious. To destroy the ability of Americans to think–to simply accept whatever they are told by their betters. Science and reason are the death of Christianity and any “revealed” religion, as well as irrational political dogma. And too many people have too much to lose if science and reason win. Unfortunately for them, one cannot legislate away the laws of nature. Gravity, physics, and evolution will proceed whether our schools teach about them or not. But if our schools don’t teach them, then our high theocrats will be a lot richer in tithe offerings, indulgences, and faith-based kickbacks.

  • I wonder if we could start denying Theocratic Reactionaries the use of internal combustion vehicles on the grounds that oil is created from vegitable matter buried under sedimentary rock and under pressure for MILLIONS OF YEARS.

    If they don’t believe it, they shouldn’t get to use it.

  • Religious conservatives are hostile to much true education. Education means getting knowledge and facts. This in turn might lead to questioning. Questioning – especially of things that are to be taken on faith – is not something they want. Blind faith and obedience is what they want. Blind faith and obedience can often be in conflict with questioning and facts.

  • It’s really not to worry. How many scientists ever came from Arkansas? How many ever came from the South? Let them sink into their primordial intellectual swamp.

    If it wasn’t for 5% of the human race who are actually “homo.sapiens.sapiens,” the rest – the “homo.sap.sucker” variety – would still be sniffing each other’s butts and snarfing bananas (as they still do in Arkansas). Concentrate on finding the next 5%.

    As Isaac Asimov put it once (about 50 years ago), the average American knows less about the world around them than a peasant tilling his fields in the shadow of 12th century Chartres Cathedral.

    Sorry to be a “terrible elitist” but “them’s the facts, folks.” The creative minority responsible for all progress still probably numbers less than a quarter-million total in the entirety of human history.

    And before anyone says “oh, that’s anti-democratic,” I believe in democracy as the best way of giving us a chance to find the replacements in the next generation, since “the creative minority” are not an hereditary intellectual aristocracy.

  • This is a critical issue made even worse in that it’s already so entrenched in certain areas of the country. Everyone should read the entire article linked in CB’s post because the extent of this is already scandalous. Just one small quote to illustrate the scope of the situation:

    “According to his survey, about 20 percent are trying to teach evolution and think they are doing a good job; 10 percent are teaching creationism, even though during the workshop he discusses the legally shaky ground on which they stand. Another 20 percent attempt to teach something but feel they just do not understand evolution. The remaining 50 percent avoid it because of community pressure. On an e-mail to members of a list he keeps of people interested in evolution, Randy reported that the latter 50 percent do not cover evolution because they felt intimidated, saw no need to teach it, or might lose their jobs.”

    Bottom line: At this very moment, only 20 percent of biology teachers in this survey are actually teaching evolution while 80 percent are teaching creationism or ignoring it altogether. This may be currently limited to Arkansas but there are no assurances that this is the case.

    Somebody had better start waking folks up in a big fat hurry because this isn’t going to go away by itself.

  • I just want to defend Arkansas schools (at least mine anyway). I teach Psychology at a high school in central Arkansas. I have never been told that I cannot teach Evolution. In fact, I teach it along with the other Psych teachers and science teachers. I cannot vouch for every school in the state, but I really have never heard of it being a problem. There are still some teachers who are still trying to educate down here. Please don’t lump us together with the nutjobbers!

    And for the record, we don’t sniff each others’ butts here in Arkansas. You’re thinking of Mississippi. I kid!

  • Tuck,
    I taught at Arkansas State at Jonesboro for a couple of years. What was sad was that many of the kids had potential, but that they were so badly served by their public schools. Some students were barely literate and had no business being in college. Others, those who had real talent and rose above their circumstances, were so indoctrinated that they could only see locally and were frightened of even moving away as far as Memphis. And we had students getting graduate degrees and going back to work at Wal-Mart. It was incredible and too depressing to even think about.

    But there are worse states out there…(usually in the Southeast)

  • Nice find, CB. I took the ball and ran with it at my place.

    I’ll just paste in the personal anecdote part of my post here:

    A couple weeks ago, I took my daughter to the local science center run by the City of Ann Arbor. It was an event all about reptiles and we went on little hike, carefully rolling over logs looking for salamanders (we found one), and then a discussion and handling some animals back in the classroom. There was a moment when our guide/instructor (likely a U-M grad student) was showing the kid’s a particular snake, and refered to it’s two vestigal “legs.” For a brief moment, I could sense her hesitation, almost as if taking a deep breath or making a mental scan of the room, before she introduced the word “evolution.”

    I’m telling you, I don’t believe it was my imagination. She actually paused for a moment. This is at a science center Ann Arbor, Michigan—home of a leading research University—not a one-classroom parochial school in Backwater, Arkansas. If this is any indication where the nation’s educational discourse is headed, we are fucking screwed.

  • Ah, hell. Here’s my conclusion too:

    I really am starting to get worried that this mentality is spreading throughout the country. It’s bad enough that it’s all over Kansas or wherever, but it’s working it way in everywhere. Right now the vocal minority is affecting the curriculum for the rest of the country, and people are unwilling to tell the people to shut the fuck up. The scariest part, to me, is that I’m not sure how long they will be the minority. The population shift in this country is all to the South, and the religious-types are far out-producing liberals in terms of offspring. There may very well (soon) be a time when these maniacs will be able to democratically instill these values even more easily by simply outnumbering the rest of us.

  • All of us have varying degrees of intelligence and education.

    It is no crime to be ignorant, only, to willingly remain so.

    If a group of parishoners petitioned the pastor to change his pedantic positions, the pastor would likely tell the petitioning parishoners that they need to find another place of worship.

    So, too, with schools and school boards. A group of parents petitioning a school to teach what-is-not-science-as-science needs to be told that their best bet is to find another school.

    I am ignorant on how much school administrators are tied by laws and such, but I suspect many schools go along with the greasy god-invoking goons because they want the goony support for the next bond issue or some such nonsense.

  • I suppose we can be somewhat heartened by the idea that, in a great post-peak-oil collapse, the migration of population will be massively *away* from the south, and to the northern and western urban cities and farms.

    The south exists as a political force due to air conditioning, suburban sprawl, and cheap travel. It will collapse without them. Times will be tough everywhere, but if the lessons of West Africa and indeed most of the third world are an example, people flock to the cities when the shit hits the fan.

    http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.com and http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/ for more.

  • Goat,
    OT–I’m betting that the cities will collapse without gasoline. Cities require access to sufficient food sources, commerce, functioning infrastructure, and political stability in order to survive. Without gas, or at least some preparation for the day when we don’t have it, I don’t know how cities are going to make it–Southern or Northern.

  • Wow, I went and read the whole article linked to above, and it is appalling! Every one of the people interviewed insisted on anonymity for themselves and their institutions, as if the Gestapo were just around the corner. It reminded me of a movie I watched about women in Iran recently, The Circle, where there was this overwhelming sense of threat and foreboding. And these people are just trying to teach science!

    Those of us fortunate enough to live in states that are relatively enlightened often have discussions about these issues pooh-poohed as if these are just fringe nuts without any substantial influence. Far from it! The American Taliban hovers over tens of millions of our countrymen every day, and if you don’t believe it just read that article and multiply it manyfold.

    Religious tolerance? Forget it! I’m quickly becoming a militant atheist. These people are a toxin that has to be flushed out. They should be roundly criticized at every opportunity, spared no quarter, and exposed for the dangerous buffoons they are.

  • Go to any rural school district anywhere in the US and chances are you will find a similar scenario. When people put greater importance on getting on to the next world after this world they will put less importance on understanding this world, especially if that understanding conflicts with their beliefs needed to get them or their youngin’s to the next world. If Johnny don’t get to heaven with us, all is lost.

    For all that denial about our being related to the other apes as well as all creatures on this planet, the deniers sure bring a Planet of the Apes feel to it. They will bear their crosses to the end and miss the greatest story ever known to man — the rise and diversification of life on earth.

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