Moms Against Darwin Dogma?

The state's proposed new science standards aren't on today's Board of Education agenda, as we far can tell. But a handful of influential Northeast Florida moms who are active in their PTOs and the Republican Party say that with the help of state Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, they’ve been given the green light to come to Tampa to tell the board they don’t like what they consider to be a dogmatic, all-or-nothing take on evolution.

"It's just evolution and that's it," Kim Kendall, a St. John’s County resident and self-described mom-who-won't-go-away, told The Gradebook. She said she and her group "want to make it clear we are not advocating creationism, or anything that's illegal by Supreme Court ruling. (But) there’s a lot of different scientific data out there showing different things … Science told us forever that the earth was flat."

Kendall said Wise, the chair of the Senate education appropriations committee, intervened to get her and the other moms some time before the BOE. She said she doesn’t represent any particular group, but a press release she sent out to dozens of media outlets (including Disney, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity) refers concerned citizens to the Florida Coalition for Academic Freedom, which credits the Center for Science and Culture, which is part of the Discovery Institute, which is the nation’s leading think tank for intelligent design.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

For an update, click here.

Comments

[JLO]

"Science told us forever that the earth was flat."

Uh, no. That would be the bible.

When are creationist going to learn how to have public discourse without flat out lying.

I don't care if they are a bunch of moms. If they're saying that science told us the earth is flat, then they are a bunch of lying creationists.

[scripto]

"Think tank" is an overly generous description. The Discovery Institute is best known for egging individuals and school boards on by feeding them misinformation and then bailing out when the beneficiaries of their "advice" end up in court.

[Chris W]

Why is anybody surprised? Creationists don't have facts, and they don't have the truth, so they have to lie.

[Tom]

OK, all together now...

Teaching ID/Creationism is a violation of the establishment clause. It's been ruled that way time and again by the federal district and Supreme Courts...

Florida is in budgetary free-fall. Spend what money that's there on improving literacy, increasing vocational education and otherwise improving our schools... not tilting at religious windmills.

Moms with kids in school should KNOW this!

[S. Scott]

Does anyone have a link to that Press Release?

Kim is actually a good friend of mine, but knows that I disagree with her. It saddens me that she was not forthcoming with me.

However, I am proud of her for being an activist. I'm also happy that she is not getting paid with any public funds - like Donna Callaway and Charlie Carraway!

Those two need to be forced to resign as far as I'm concerned!

S-