The Atheist Mama

Yet another day to celebrate science! Today is Origin of Life Day. But no cake for this one!! Know anything about Alexander Oparin? Well here’s a little bit about him.

Happy learning!!

You may remember my post about James Randi’s heart attack…
I just read at the Bad Astronomy Blog that Randi is “definitely on the road to recovery.” You can read the full “report” here.
He still has a long road ahead, but he’s on his way. Great news!!

In celebration of the birthdays of Nicolaus Copernicus (born February 19th, 1473) and Galileo Galilei (born February 15th, 1564), it’s Heliocentrism Day!

My children are still young, but I think that fun celebrations like this are great for memory making and of course, for education (theirs and mine). Take some time out today to learn, and to teach what you’ve learned to others.

Ok, I was in desperate need of another column so that I could add another blogroll. Sooooo… Hope you like it and I hope it looks ok on your computer!!

Yesterday I posted a link to “The Hot Issue” at The Columbus Dispatch website.
I just wanted to bring attention to the comment that Dan made (both here and there).

>…Singling out evolution for critical analysis is like telling kids ‘Keep an eye on Mr. Smith’ - it implies Mr. Smith is bad. Given current events (and 2000+ years of sectarian violence), maybe it’s high time we have our schools single out religion for some critical analysis.

Now that sounds logical.

Thanks to RBH at The Panda’s Thumb for posting the text of this resolution.

>Resolved, that the Superintendent of Public Instruction be, and she hereby is, directed to take the following actions immediately:

>1) Delete the model lesson plan, Critical Analysis of Evolution, from the state board-approved curriculum and remove its availability from print sources, technology sources, and any other Ohio Board of Education/Ohio Department of Education mechanism that makes it available for use.

>2) Delete the following sentences from Grade 10 Life Science Benchmark H: “Describe how scientists continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory. (The intent of this benchmark does not mandate the teaching or testing of intelligent design.)â€�, and delete Indicator 23 in its entirety, and adjust all print sources, technology sources, and any other Ohio Board of Education/Ohio Department of Education documents to reflect the removal;

>3) The Achievement Committee of the Sate Board of Education is charged to consider whether the deleted model lesson, Benchmark H and Indicator 23 shoud be replaced by a different benchmark, lesson, and indicator, and if so, to present any recommendation to the entire State Board for adoption;

>4) Communicate the fact of the above actions to all public school superintendents and high school principals in Ohio.

“The Hot Issue” for February 15, 2006 at The Columbus Dispatch website: Should analysis of evolution be included in state school science standards?

Go weigh in. The comments are pretty interesting. It does require a quick, easy registration to comment and vote.

Edited to post the comment that I added here:

>Feb 15, 2006 09:56 am - No

>Besides the fact that creationism has no scientific ground, what needs to be remembered is that this is a clear violation of our Constitutional rights. Religion must not be mandated. The study of evolution does not lead to atheism (which is NOT a religion). The survey that Discovery Institue commissioned here in OH that claimed the majority supported ID in science classrooms, is a clear representation of the uneducated citizens of Ohio. The questions that were asked during that survey were misleading as well, claiming that there was scientific evidence behind ID.

>The Ohio Board of Education voted 11-4 to delete material encouraging students to seek evidence for and against certain elements of evolutionary science. [Link]

Nice!!! 11-4 - I wonder if Cochran was one of the 4….

Thanks to The Panda’s Thumb for the tip (I’ve been waiting all day).

~ Edited to add that the no’s were: Cochran, Owens-Fink, Grady, and Westendorf.

Thanks Russel, for posting the info in the comments! It’s too bad that Cochran’s term isn’t up until December 31, 2008.

So I heard Rover talking about this on my way to my son’s school.

Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (this goes to the low bandwidth site, for high bandwidth, go here) is a film that was made in Turkey. It’s the most expensive Turkish movie ever made - $10 Million.

The Washington Post says:

>U.S. soldiers shoot small children at point-blank range, harvest kidneys from Iraqi prisoners for shipment to Tel Aviv, blow a Muslim cleric out of his minaret and, to top it all off, display utter contempt for Turkish foreign policy. The feature film set a box office record in its first weekend, after opening in more theaters than any movie in Turkish history.

The American actors are Gary Busey and Billy Zane. They went to another country to make a movie that depicts U.S. soldiers as monsters during a time of war.

Would you have taken a role in the movie??

So most of you read my post re: my son’s school and Valentine’s Day.
He came home with a little bag full of those little valentines. Very cute. I started looking through them and I was thrilled because now I have all of the names of the kids he sees everyday. I only knew a few names before.

Then I came across a Veggie Tales valentine. I kind of rolled my eyes because I know that the mission of Veggie Tales is to “promote biblical values and encourage spiritual growth.”

I turned it over to look at the other side, and I see:

>…God loves you.

>Deuteronomy 23:5 NIV

UGH. WTH? I’m sure that no one at school even noticed, but hello??? What was the parent thinking??
What if I had sent my little boy to school with valentines that said, “God is just pretend.”

I just can’t win.

So believe it or not, I actually showed up, in my jeans and t-shirt, with my 17 month old!!!
I didn’t stay for more than 30 seconds though because my son went straight for a phone.
My origninal plan was that he was going to fall asleep on the way there. It was just about his nap time. If he had fallen asleep, I could have stayed. He would have been in a comatose state. However, he didn’t fall asleep. LOL!!

The guy who signed me in was very nice and when I left, he followed me out and told me that I was welcome to come back in when I was ready and that I didn’t need to sign in again, just grab a pass.

They weren’t on the subject of ID anyway. I have no way of knowing when they are going to talk about it…

But hey! I tried… I got some funny looks and I’m sure I scared the hell out of some people (bringing my kid in) but that’s ok. I’m not disrespectful; I would have never let him disturb or inturrupt the meeting.

Should I be embarrassed that I showed up, dressed down and all??

If you remember, I wrote about the Bill that Berceau (of WI) propesed on Feb 8, 2006.

The Bill - LRB-2463 - is called the Pseudo-Science Prevention Act. The text can be seen here.

This is how it’s summarized on Berceau’s site:

>The bill would still allow intelligent design and creationism to be taught in non-science courses, such as comparative religion, social sciences, philosophy, and even history of science.

>Intelligent design or creationism may still be taught in science courses, as long as it is not presented as science, but rather as an example of non-science.

So this is great news!!

Now all we need is something written that says that religion can’t be taught in public school.

Oh, wait…

Thanks for Phil Plait for his post on Heliocentrism Day: February 17th - a comprimise between Copernicus’ birthday (February 19th) and Galileo’s birthday (February 15th).

Swarthmore College has more on Science Literacy Month including Darwin Day, Origin of Life Day, and Round Earth Day. Coming soon: “Big Bang” Day.

As a mom, I totally appreciate this. I’m thrilled that in this time of struggle for science, the educators and scientists are trying to keep science on top. Thank you all. These people are heros in my opinion.

Today, on DI’s index page, there is a link to an article about the overwhelming support in Ohio for Intelligent Design.

On that page, there are two links: one pointing to the “executive summary” (which is password protected) and another link pointing to the “complete report” (they provide a broken link, but please see the complete report here).

Discovery Institute commissioned Zogby International to conduct a phone survey for a period of 1 day (2/2/06 thru 2/3/06).

Robert Crowther, director of communications for Discovery Institute, said:
>“The public is solidly behind the approach to teaching evolution that the Ohio state board of education has already adopted. Those attacking the school board for supporting teaching both the evidence for and against evolution don’t represent the views of the majority of Ohioans.â€�

From the complete report:

>Which of the following two statements come closest to your own opinion?
>A) Biology teachers should teach only Darwin’s theory of evolution and the scientific evidence that supports it.

>B) Biology teachers should teach Darwin’s theory of evolution, but also the scientific evidence against it.

>C) Neither/Not Sure

>In 2006 in Ohio:

>A = 19%
>B = 68.8%
>C = 12%

>Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the following statement: “When Darwin’s theory of evolution is taught in school, students should also be able to learn about scientific evidence that points to an intelligent design of life.â€�

>1. Strongly agree 2. Somewhat agree 3. Somewhat disagree
>4. Strongly disagree 5. Not sure

>In 2006 in Ohio:

>1. Strongly agree 56.4%

>2. Somewhat agree 19.3% Agree 75.7%

>3. Somewhat disagree 5.0%

>4. Strongly disagree 13.0% Disagree 18%

>5. Not sure 5.9%

Notice that in each question they are claiming that there is scientific evidence for ID? I would support ID if there were scientific evidence pointing to it too. The problem? There is no scientific evidence.

By: Center for Science & Culture
Discovery Institute
February 14, 2006

Action Needed: Darwinist Censors Mount Effort to Repeal Ohio’s “Critical Analysis of Evolution” Model Lesson Plan

>In 2004 the Ohio State Board of Education led the nation by adopting a landmark model lesson plan on the “Critical Analysis of Evolution.” However, those who favor a Darwin-only approach to teaching evolution are now trying to strong-arm the Board into repealing this lesson plan. In January, the Board voted 9-8 to preserve the lesson plan, but the razor-thin margin of the vote guarantees that Darwinists will try to get the Board to repeal the lesson once again at the Feb. 14 meeting.

Oh how I wish I could attend tomorrow… How innapropriate would it be to bring my children? ;-)

In the Columbus Dispatch, Catherine Candisky give her report of the happenings yesterday.
She quotes Rothschild:
>Why is there this need for critical analysis of evolution? Why is there no call for critical analysis of plate tectonics?

Read the article here.

She does say that the issue is expected to come up tomorrow at the meeting.

This morning when I dropped my son off at school, his teacher pulled me aside to talk to me (he’s in pre-school, by the way). She said, “I know that you guys don’t do holidays but we’ll be giving out valentines, or ‘friendship’ cards tomorrow. Is that ok with you? We can provide the cards for Jesse so that you don’t have to purchase them.”

Of couse it’s ok with me, and I’ll purchase the 16 valentines myself!! I told her that we aren’t bothered by holidays like Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. She then informed me that they were days based on Catholic saints. I told her that I was very aware of the history of the days but that they are really just hallmark holidays in my opinion.

Is this hypocritical of me? Contrary to popular belief, I’m not intolerant. I mean, no - we don’t celebrate Christmas. But I don’t plan on shielding my children from any of these holidays. That’s not living in reality. While we may not celebrate them all in our home, I certainly won’t keep him from giving and receiving little cards from his friends or stop him from wearing green so he won’t be pinched. I think that’s a bit extreme. I do plan on telling my children what the day is all about and why it is celebrated at all (something that I didn’t learn until I was an adult, despite attending Catholic school).

Anyway, anyone have thoughts on the subject?
After I pick my son up today, we’ll be going to the store to buy little cards to tell his friends and teachers how much they are appreciated.

Tomorrow the Ohio BoE will be meeting at the Ohio School for the Deaf. Here’s what’s on the schedule. ID is not on the agenda but I read somewhere (can’t recall where right now) that they would more than likely be discussing the topic some.

I won’t be able to make it. I did try to get a sitter but it didn’t work out. Maybe next month.

I was able to make it to this event after all!!
See the flyer.

As I said in my last post, this was held at Tifereth Israel in downtown Columbus, and it was a really nice place. Yamikas were provided at the door for the men.

This event was sponsored by Ohio Citizens for Science and the National Council for Jewish Women. I learned that “NCJW believes that religious liberty and the separation of religion and state are constitutional principles that must be protected and preserved in order to maintain a democratic society.”

Kicking things off was Dr. Hillel J. Chiel of Case Western Reserve University. He was speaking on Religion vs Evolution: An Unnecessary Struggle for Survival. He talked about how evolution is the conceptual framework for biology. He covered a little bit about Evolutionary Algorithms, which I will quickly admit is way over my head. He spoke about how science is responsible for the “how” questions and religion is responsible for the “why.”

Dr. Chiel talked about the common thought that evolution leaves no room for God. Of course, his thoughts were that evolution does leave room for God and that it absolutely does not lead to atheism. He discussed the idea that evolution implies “Social Darwinism.” He suggested that yes, there are those that have the ideas that Social Darwinism would be a good thing, but no, evolution does not imply Social Darwinism, nor does it endorse it.

He talked about the question, “Why not teach ID?” His answer for that was “because ID does not provide material explanation for natural phenomena and it does not generate testable hypotheses.”
He then covered the “why not teach the controversy” question. He brought up a good analogy: There are those who deny that the Holocaust occured. Should there be a critical analysis lesson plan designed on that topic? Should that controversy be taught to our children? I would think not…

Dr. Chiel said that America values and encourages creativity, tolerance, skepticism, ingenuity and the rights of individuals to think independantly.

He then took a few questions and the first question asked was, “Doesn’t teaching only evolution promote atheism?” I heard a gasp, but I think it was me. He looked at her and said, “No…” in a tone that said, “have you been listening to me at all?” He again told her no, it does not lead to atheism and then a man from Ohio Citizens for Science took the mike and told her that thinking that evolution leads to atheism would be the same as plumbing leading to atheism. He said that it wouldn’t matter to him what religion his plumber was, as long as he could work with the pipes. Religion shouldn’t be a factor in this. This is about science.

So then they got set up for Eric Rothschild. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it because he got stuck in the snow, as did Tammy Kitzmiller. Luckily, they had his presentation there and we had him on speaker phone!!

He completely explained how the lawsuit came about. I’m not going to get too into that, but it was very interesting hearing it first hand from Mr. Rothschild. Here’s a link to some really good info on the case if you’re interested.

He talked about the book Of Pandas and People brought to us by the Foundation for Thoughts and Ethics, and how it clearly went from a Creationism book back in 1986 to an Intelligent Design book in 1993. All they did was change a few words (creationism to intelligent design).

So that’s a good summary of what was discussed. He answered a few questions, one from a woman who began, “With all due respect, have you even read our lesson plan on the ‘Critical Analysis of Evolution?’” She also pointed out that it was not teaching ID, it was just suggesting that the students “critically analyze” the theory of evolution. The people in the room began to stir… He said that he had read it, and pretty much said that it was the same thing (I can’t quote him word for word here). I honestly thought for a second there that a debate was going to break out. She was armed with paperwork and tried to tell him he was mistaken. I wasn’t very close to the action, but I believe she was told that she had already asked her question and to take her seat - can’t be sure about this though because I couldn’t really hear what was being said.

After all of the other questions were asked, I learned that a few Ohio State Board of Education members were there to address the group. First was Sam Schloemer who represents Hamilton and Warren counties. He was appointed in 2002 but was elected in 2003 to a 4 year term. This is a good man. His bottom line was that this whole situation was an agenda by fundamentalists and that it needed to be stopped. He got a great applause.

The other board member that was present was Rob Hovis from Millersburg.
Unfortunately, that’s when I had to go. So if anyone knows what he had to say, I’d love to hear it!!

Sorry about all of the links. I was trying to be thorough and I hope they’re useful! I wish that the pictures had come a bit clearer, but that’s alright. I was mainly there to listen and learn. I consider the pictures a bonus.

Thanks for reading!

>False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for every one takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness.
~Charles Darwin

Is there an event celebrating Darwin Day near you?

Yesterday I went to the monthly HCCO meeting (the first monthly meeting I had been to) and Dr. Susan Fisher, of the OSU Department of Entomology, was the guest speaker. She gave an excellent presentation on Darwin, his works and his life. It was a great meeting, and there were probably over 35 people present. Lots of good conversation and there was even dinosaur cake. :-)

I also learned that Mayor Robert L. McPherson of Reynoldsburg, Ohio issued an official proclamation proclaiming (can I use those two words together?) today as Darwin Day after receiving a letter from the President of the HCCO. Wooo Hooo!! Great job all around!!

Today in Columbus, Eric Rothschild (the lead ACLU attorney in the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial) will be speaking on “An Inside Look at the Dover Intelligent Design Case and What it Means for Ohio.” This will be at Tifereth Israel. Tammy Kitzmiller, the lead plantiff, will be there too.

Also, Rob Boston from AU will be speaking at the 1st UU Church of Columbus.

This has been cancelled due to a blizzard in DC!

Unfortunatly, I don’t think I’ll be able to attend any of the above events, but I’m going to try to “pop-in” to hear a bit of what Rothschild has to say.

So sit down to a “Phylum Feast” tonight and celebrate the work of Charles Darwin!
If you are interested in more ideas, the Agnostic Mom has a couple of great posts on Darwin Day activities.