The matter

[womzilla]

Before she moved to Wisconsin, my friend paleogrrl was complaining about how much she hated being in Kansas. I tried to defend it, because I have other friends there who like it, other friends who have lived there and look back favorably on it, and in general I don't like demonizing entire states.

For some reason, it took me stupidly long to put together two facts:

1. Paleogrrl is, in effect, a professional evolutionist.
2. Kansas is, well, not.

When a 27-member committee of scientists and teachers began the process of updating the standards, a vocal minority proposed inserting criticism of evolution. Six members of the Board of Education applauded the changes, and agreed to put most of them into the standards. Now the board is poised to put the amended standards to a final vote.

The changes to the standards incorporate substantial criticism of evolutionary theory, calling into question the theory made famous by Charles Darwin. Supporters say there isn’t proof of the origin and variety of life and the genetic code. The changes also alter the definition of science to allow for non-natural explanations.

Supporters of the changes say they don’t want children indoctrinated with an unproven theory.

Now, it's likely that these changes will be rolled back after the next school board elections. But the fact that these changes are being made at all is like ground glass on exposed skin to me. I can only imagine what it was like for her, and I can't blame her for getting out.

Comments

[supergee.livejournal.com]

One factor that amuses me is that until I joined lj, I thought of Kansas as pure flyover, a state that might as well be painted on. Here, however, I have encountered a number of interesting and intelligent Kansans.

It turns out, though, that most or all are connected to the university, a situation I can understand from my years in that oasis in the Sahara of the Bozarts known as Research Triangle.

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

I don't want to sound like a scold, but this kind of thinking is part of why the Republicans have been winning places like Kansas with more interesting histories (http://www.dissidentvoice.org/June04/Frank0614.htm) than you probably know about. They recruit and evangelize all over the country, and don't scorn any place as "flyover country" and not recruitable. Too many of my fellow Democrats have become content to sneer at such folks, then sit around wondering how they lost the elections when All The Right-Thinking People agreed with them.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

I've worked on my regional biases, and by now I almost always remember that the range of intelligence is the same everywhere.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

Those would be the Republicans who decry the "liberal fifth column" of the coastal US and think that only isolated portions of the country are "true" America, right?

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

No. The smart Republicans keep that kind in the dark where they can work their mischief quietly.

In the light, the clever Reps are bribing conservative black and Hispanic clergy with "faith-based" initiatives, solidifying their bases in the suburbs of the "blue" states, etc.

[thetalkingmoose.livejournal.com]

On the bright side, the voters in Dover, PA voted in an entirely new school board after the incumbent wing-nuts shoved intelligent design into the curriculum.

There's still hope for Kansas.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is not amused.

His will, however, will eventually be done.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

I lived in Kansas for 2 years where I found fandom and shed a husband. I have some fond memories but no way would I voluntarily go back there. Nor Oklahoma nor Texas where I also grew up and lived, respectively. Yeah there are good people there and they're surrounded by huge oceans of Know Nothings.

Supporters of the changes say they don’t want children indoctrinated with an unproven theory.

I just want to admire that again. But they want them to believe things which can never, by their very nature, be proved. I want to explode. I would if I had the energy but I have to save it to take kate_schaefer in search of the elusive footwear.