So, in my opinion, we have two tasks before us in Kansas:
First, we need to educate the public about the nature of science, and about evolution in particular. We need to focus on the voters in the middle of the socio-political spectrum, and we need to directly address, in a positive, accessible way, the misconceptions and concerns people have, including their concerns about the relationship between science and their religious beliefs.
We also need to find a better way to produce science standards: the current method is too vulnerable to political whims. The Kansas state BOE has more autonomy than any other BOE in the country, I think, so when we get a Board with the votes and the political will, any policy can be overturned. Somehow we need to get a firm process that respects the scientific and educational communities.
That first one I can live with because I have faith that people aren’t as ignorant as ~some~ scientists believe them to be. If they do a bit of research on their own, they’ll see that there is much more to evolution than these simple micro examples that evolutionists keep pawning off as explanation for their conclusion that all of life evolved from that first living organism.
But, that second paragraph scares the life out of me. That paragraph reflects an effort to completely eliminate the voice of the people. It looks as if that plan would eventually stamp out any criticisms coming from parents on various issues that they those in charge feel are not beneficial to our children. We would be at the mercy of some government appointed ruler ensuring that we offer nothing but “respect” for the scientific community.
