> If you think a textbook is so full of errors, then perhaps it shouldn't
> be used.
That idea was certainly considered in Alabama during the textbook
adoption process. The concensus was that if only "acceptable" books
were approved, then no textbooks would have been approved.
> My guess is that the people wanting to place these inserts in texts
> have no direct control over textbook adoptions so instead they do an end run
> by placing this obnoxious insert in the texts?
Actually, what you see in Alabama is the result of the democratic
process. Concerned citizens elected State Board of Education
representatives who responded to the concerns of their grassroots
constituents.
> The young-earth creationists
> can't win over the scientific community so instead they attempt to turn
> children against them -- the tone of that label is that modern evolutionary
> theory is a pack of lies.
The tone of the textbooks is that evolution is a fact, and that the
fundamental beliefs of approximately half of the taxpayers of the State
are fairy tales. Who's trying to turn the hearts of the children
against whom?
> The idea of glueing a "warning label" to the inside cover of a textbook is
> repugnant to me.
Now you know how ~ half of the people of America feel - the half who
believe that "God created man pretty much in his present form within the
last 10,000 years."
> The idea of government getting involved in deciding what is
> and isn't science based on the pressures of special interest groups
> (young-earth
> creationists) is a dangerous precedent in my opinion.
Within this topic of origins, YECs are the largest single "special
interest" group in the nation. The idea of an elite group of educators
undermining the religious beliefs of children, using the tax dollars of
unwilling parents, is reminiscent of Nazi Germany. During the Scopes
trial in Dayton, TN in 1925, defense attorney Clarence Darrow said it
was the height of arrogance to teach only one theory of origins. Today,
we've come full circle with the evolutionists exhibiting the height of
arrogance, and the YEC half of Alabama countered.
> Where's the warning label for geology texts?
>
> "WHEREAS, this textbook states that the earth is 4,600,000 years old, it
> fails to mention that many evangelical Christians with no training in
> science believe it to be only 6,000 years old.
>
> BE IT RESOLVED THAT, we will ignore the knowledge gained by 200 years of
> geologic study and paste the address of the Institute for Creation Research
> on the front cover of this text so you can contact people who will tell you
> the truth which isn't disseminated by all of those egghead atheistic
> scientists."
You're a great illustration, Steve, of why the study of origins is so
lopsided, and why an insert should be placed in virtually every science
textbook. Rail on, brother!
Bill Payne