Arkansas House Votes to Allow Teaching of Creationism in Science Classes

Of course they have to pick which version of creationism to teach... the 'Noah's ark came here from another planet' one would be fun.

essentialsaltes said:

HB1701 - TO ALLOW CREATIONISM AS A THEORY OF HOW THE EARTH CAME TO EXIST TO BE TAUGHT IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE CLASSES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.

It now goes to the Senate.

Although the bill does not make creationism mandatory, it is still unconstitutional to teach creationism in science classes.

Arkansas should know this from McLean v. Arkansas and the more encompassing Edwards v. Aguillard.

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It seems the Gen X'ers in the Arkansas legislature are leaning into their 80's nostalgia a bit too hard.

Strathos said:

Of course they have to pick which version of creationism to teach... the 'Noah's ark came here from another planet' one would be fun.

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Who has the story about the earth being created on the back of a turtle?

I like turtles.

essentialsaltes said:

....Although the bill does not make creationism mandatory, it is still unconstitutional to teach creationism in science classes.....

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Perhaps they have new hope for Trump's Extreme Court.

essentialsaltes said:

HB1701 - TO ALLOW CREATIONISM AS A THEORY OF HOW THE EARTH CAME TO EXIST TO BE TAUGHT IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE CLASSES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.

It now goes to the Senate.

Although the bill does not make creationism mandatory, it is still unconstitutional to teach creationism in science classes.

Arkansas should know this from McLean v. Arkansas and the more encompassing Edwards v. Aguillard.

Click to expand...

What a mess. Which religion’s creation theory will they teach?

iluvatar5150 said:

It seems the Gen X'ers in the Arkansas legislature are leaning into their 80's nostalgia a bit too hard.



Who has the story about the earth being created on the back of a turtle?

I like turtles.

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It was a tortoise, heretic.

essentialsaltes said:

HB1701 - TO ALLOW CREATIONISM AS A THEORY OF HOW THE EARTH CAME TO EXIST TO BE TAUGHT IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE CLASSES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.

It now goes to the Senate.

Although the bill does not make creationism mandatory, it is still unconstitutional to teach creationism in science classes.

Arkansas should know this from McLean v. Arkansas and the more encompassing Edwards v. Aguillard.

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That's pretty cool.

renniks said:

That's pretty cool.

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Yeah, it's pretty "cool" for all you Christians... until they start teaching the Hindu creation myth, amiright?

renniks said:

That's pretty cool.

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yeah. Now bring on the Aztec chants!

durangodawood said:

yeah. Now bring on the Aztec chants!

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RIGHT!? There was just a panic thread about that last week, lol!

The IbanezerScrooge said:

Yeah, it's pretty "cool" for all you Christians... until they start teaching the Hindu creation myth, amiright?

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Creation just means a Creator. I doubt it's gonna be a " Christian" class. Probably more like ID.

The IbanezerScrooge said:

RIGHT!? There was just a panic thread about that last week, lol!

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That's doing a religious ritual. Hardly comparable to saying the evidence points to a creator.

renniks said:

That's doing a religious ritual. Hardly comparable to saying the evidence points to a creator.

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Ritual. Teaching doctrine. Its all good as long as we're now allowing religion to be taught in class.

OK, forget the chants. Just teach Aztec doctrine. Now are we ok?

renniks said:

Creation just means a Creator. I doubt it's gonna be a " Christian" class. Probably more like ID.

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The bill says "creationism" explicitly. IDists worked really hard to separate ID from creationism, to no avail.

renniks said:

That's doing a religious ritual. Hardly comparable to saying the evidence points to a creator.

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Hey, man. Let's just open the flood gates. Teach it all. Satanism is a legit religion, too ya know. Ironically, their creation story aligns pretty well with science, so...

Sparagmos said:

What a mess. Which religion’s creation theory will they teach?

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They would have to teach all of them.
The Hindu, Norse, Kemetic, Babylonian/Akkadan, Aztec, Inca, Mayan, East Celtic, Swahili, Kymer, Greek, Proto-Indo-European, etc etc etc...

What do you expect when a state has the word Ark in it?

Sparagmos said:

What a mess. Which religion’s creation theory will they teach?

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I have the same question.

sjastro said:

What do you expect when a state has the word Ark in it?

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It's pronounced "R-Kansas".

(Not really, it pronounced "R-Can-Saw" while regular Kansas is pronounced "Can-zass".)

essentialsaltes said:

HB1701 - TO ALLOW CREATIONISM AS A THEORY OF HOW THE EARTH CAME TO EXIST TO BE TAUGHT IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE CLASSES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OPEN-ENROLLMENT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.

It now goes to the Senate.

Although the bill does not make creationism mandatory, it is still unconstitutional to teach creationism in science classes.

Click to expand...

Teaching Creationism or, more precisely, teaching "Creation science" has been ruled unconstitutional in several courts, but teaching of the existence of some alternate theories concerning the origin of the universe--turtles included--is not. Many elementary and secondary schools teach about the culture of pre-Columbian peoples, for example.