Yet Another “Truth in Education” Bill? Make Me Laugh

A state senator from Indiana is going to be introducing a bill into the general assembly next year and we can all guess what the bill is trying to do. The “Truth in Education” bill, according to Kruse, will give students the right to question what they are being taught in the classroom.

According to a report by Brandon Smith at Indiana Public Media this is what Kruse had for his reasoning:

“If you’re teaching something, then a student could question that and say, you know, ‘How do you know that’s true?’ And so the teacher would have to come up with different sources, ‘This is why I think this is true,’” Kruse says.

Sounds reasonable, right? I mean isn't that what students have always done; posed questions when they didn't quite understand what was being presented to them? But we all know that isn't what this is about. It's about another creationist trying to subvert the educational process and either force teachers into providing alternative views or even allow teachers, who probably shouldn't be teaching science, who don't believe in evolution to teach their nonsense in the classroom as an alternative view since they have their “sources” to back up their assertions. Kruse doesn't mention whether or not those sources have to be scientifically valid or even accepted in the scientific community, just that the teacher would have to have different sources in order to support their “position”.

So how do we know that this is about creationism? Well for one, Kruse entered a bill just this year that was killed which would have required Indiana school to teach various theories on the origins of life. The fact that this failed hasn't deterred Kruse and he's using a different tactic to get the same thing done. Also, from the article:

Kruse says the legislation will be a general statement that will not mention creationism or religion. He says it will be up to school corporations to determine what research teachers must do.

So I guess that if you are in a sufficiently religious school district that means that a teacher who can provide enough research on the topic can justify teaching creationism instead of real science in the classroom? How fucking stupid do these people think that we are? Legislation like this is just another attempt to slide religious nonsense into the classroom under the guise of “alternate theories” of the origin of life.

I think the worst part of this is that Kruse is the Senate Education Committee Chairman. How does some bozo with a “degree” from a school of auctioneering become the head of an education committee? Seriously, how is this guy qualified to have any say in the education of young minds in the state of Indiana or anywhere else for that matter? Why are there no real qualifications for people to serve on committees in our legislatures that will have such a great impact on our lives and out futures. You have non scientists on science committees from the state to the federal levels of government. Lunatics who preach religious nonsense as science and then act as though their opinion is of any value or even import regarding scientific discussion and policy in our nation. You have people with absolutely no background in education making decision on what type of education our children get. Idiots that want to teach young earth creationism, demonic possession and that jesus rode dinosaurs on the way to fuck with the rabbis at the temple as facts rather than the superstitious bullshit that they really are. What the fuck is wrong with our government that this is what we have denigrated to? It's just beyond my comprehension.

I'm all for people holding whatever beliefs they want to regarding religion, evolution or anything else. Heck if they voice those opinions it makes it easier for me to just cut the stupid out of my life and find friends who aren't idiots. What I am against is these lunatics forcing their nonsense into the classroom and pretending that it stands on equal footing with proven scientific facts.

I'm sick to death of hearing morons saying “evolution is just a theory” when the truth is they don't even know what the word theory means when used in science. Gravity is just a theory too, but no one is going to go shooting off into space if they stop believing in gravity. The simple truth of the matter is that just like gravity, evolution is both a fact and a theory. They are facts because they happened and are observable or have measurable effects. They are also theories because science establishes theories to explain why these things occur. That is what a theory is, a proven explanation for observable phenomena. It's not a guess that someone pulls out of their ass as those who misuse the word ”theory” presume. Creationism falls into the category of bullshit someone pulled out of their ass, evolution doesn't. But let's be truthful here, it's a lot easier for stupid people to accept goddidit rather than actually learning science and taking the effort to understand the world around them. It's the easy way out and that's why these lunatics choose it; it's just too damned hard to be a rational human being rather than a superstitious dolt.