[ExI] Next: teaching the flat earth controversy in TX schools

[Damien Broderick]

<http://www.christianpost.com/Education/Creation_evolution/2009/03/texas-board-approves-new-standards-requiring-critique-of-evolution-28/>

In a final vote, the Texas Board of Education approved on Friday new 
language that requires science teachers to encourage students to 
"critique" and examine "all sides" of scientific theories.

..."Texas now has the most progressive science standards on evolution 
in the entire nation," said Dr. John West, Senior Fellow at Discovery 
Institute, an "intelligent design" think tank, in a statement. "Texas 
has sent a clear message that evolution should be taught as a 
scientific theory open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma 
that can't be questioned."

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I wonder how a teacher would fare who adopted this ID line but taught 
with great passion that the Raelian position was far superior to 
evolution: that is, UFO aliens had created us. Students wouldn't be 
obliged to *believe* this, naturally, but would need to be up to 
speed on it at least to the same extent as they have to be on 
evolution. Then Scientologists could teach Hubbard's anti-evolution 
version, and so on, or cynics could teach it as an instance of ID. 
Simulation theorists could follow. Would they be hounded out of the 
schools? Would the board insist that only fundamentalist 
Christian-flavored ID (however hypocritically disguised) is 
permissible? It's easily argued that Simulation Theory is far more 
scientific than any other variant (being based on computer science 
and stats), and the Raelians make that claim as well, since they 
appear to be materialists who just think aliens used ID to create us. 
(How the aliens came about themselves is unclear.)

Damien Broderick