2008-09-16 Brunswick school board to consider creationism teaching

• when: 2008-09-16
• author: Ana Ribeiro
• source: StarNewsOnline.com
• topics: creationism US/NC US/NC/Brunswick County anti-Darwinism
• link: http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/ARTICLES/809160338/1018/letters
• title: Brunswick school board to consider creationism teaching
  • for page: Brunswick school board to consider creationism teaching
• summary: «The Brunswick County school board is looking for a way for creationism to be taught in the classroom side by side with evolution.»

Analysis

The Brunswick County school board is looking for a way for creationism to be taught in the classroom side by side with evolution.

"It's really a disgrace for the state school board to impose evolution on our students without teaching creationism," county school board member Jimmy Hobbs said at Tuesday's meeting. "The law says we can't have Bibles in schools, but we can have evolution, of the atheists."

When asked by a reporter, his fellow board members all said they were in favor of creationism being taught in the classroom.

The topic came up after county resident Joel Fanti told the board he thought it was unfair for evolution to be taught as fact, saying it should be taught as a theory because there's no tangible proof it's true.

"I wasn't here 2 million years ago," Fanti said. "If evolution is so slow, why don't we see anything evolving now?"

Shouldn't school board members be required to pass some kind of test of basic academic knowledge? These ignoramuses apparently need to do middle school science over again.

Commentary

• 2009-01-11 Pharyngula
• 2008-09-29 sovknight.com
• 2008-09-22 Bitchspot
• 2008-09-21 An Apostate's Chapel
• 2008-09-18 Shakesville

Follow-up

• 2008-09-29 Debate erupts over proposal to teach creationism in Brunswick schools: "The Brunswick County school board's desire to teach creationism alongside evolution in the classroom – which many consider a violation of the separation of church and state, as backed by past court decisions – has launched a debate that has spread to local religious communities, the Internet and beyond."
  • 2008-10-02 commentary: Bitchspot
• 2008-10-10 Brunswick candidates offer stances on creationism:

Bible in hand, Monique Weddle defended creationism in a debate in her high school psychology class.

Half that class at West Brunswick High School was for evolution, the other half for creationism, Weddle said. Influenced by her religious surroundings, she said she completely rejected evolution at the time.

Now a senior studying biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Weddle said she has come to accept both.

"You can't deny something that's scientifically proven," Weddle said of evolution, adding, "I still believe very strongly that God created the world, but you can't disprove evolution."

• 2008-11-05 Republicans sweep Brunswick school board seats: doesn't list which incumbents were voted out... but interesting that the board would be less responsive to creationism the day after gaining 3 more Republicans (see next link)
• 2008-11-06 New approach to creationism draws no response from Brunswick board:

Joel Fanti, a Southern Baptist chemical engineer, made another appearance, like he said he would, and proposed that the board add creationism to the world history curriculum. Fanti had asked the board in September that creationism be taught alongside evolution, but now said he recognizes the teaching of creationism in science class would be defeated if attempted.

He proposed, instead, that the board adopt a curriculum that would make evolution "defend itself" in science class.

"It needs to be thoroughly examined, it needs to be broken apart," Fanti said.

Board members, excited about his proposal in September, made no comments this time around. Board Chairwoman Shirley Babson said after the meeting that she hasn't seen any curricula that would challenge evolution.