Thursday, December 5, 2013

With or without Biblical Principles

The Texas public school system is the nation's largest. So if a textbook publisher gets approval there they get both a big sale and a recommendation as they shop the book around the country. Since publishers are reluctant to produce two versions of a book, the Texas version frequently becomes the national standard.

Which means Fundies on the state school board have a lot to say about how evolution, and science in general, is taught in your local school district. We get to choose whether your textbooks are with or without Biblical Principles.

An updated biology textbook was put on the agenda, so back in September groups began to mobilize. On one side was Stand Up For Science with spokesman Bill Nye the Science Guy. On the other was the Fundies and the oil industry. Why that mashup? Big Oil didn't want fracking and carbon emissions portrayed has harmful and a contributor to climate change.

This year science won.

The battle isn't over yet. Fundies are still nitpicking over exact language in an effort to at least delay the decision.

No comments:

Post a Comment