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"A fair result
can be obtained only by fully stating and
balancing the facts on both sides of each
question..." - Charles Darwin in
Origin of the
Species by Means of Natural Selection or the
Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle
for Life
Our previous
newsletter had comments from the general
public. Today we limit comments to those who
hold earned doctorates (PhD, MD, JD,...) in
various fields. While we have had more of these
newsletters than usual in recent weeks, the end
is in sight.
Please bear with us and continue helping this
week and next.
FIRST, "Win by
showing up." If at all possible,
please
consider testifying next week in Austin.
This includes those of you who did not get to
testify, but had prepared remarks, last
time. Pre-Registration THIS FRIDAY March 20,
8:00 am sharp. Call at 512-463-9007, fax:
512-936-4319. More info is located
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3958 and
at
our
website here.
Testimony will be Wednesday, March 25th,
starting at 12noon and continuing until 6pm.
Preference will be given to those who have NOT
already testified in November or January, so
here is your chance. To do so, you MUST
PRE-REGISTER on FRIDAY March 20th, beginning at
8:00 a.m. sharp. A short note letting us know
you plan to do so would be helpful.
SECOND, please
again
email or call the
"SBOE Eight"
who voted to censor "strengths and weaknesses"
from the standards, contrary to the wishes of
Democrats, Independents, and Republican
constituents! Write the board this week at
origin.of.information@strengthsandweaknesses.org,
even if you have already done so via email or
petition earlier. The Darwinists are massing
troops at the border, so to speak, and we must
keep up the battle leading to the board meeting
March 25-27 in Austin.
Call
these State Board members who voted
against "strengths and weaknesses"
Rick Agosto - D, San Antonio
( 210-226-7106 ),
Lawrence Allen - D, Houston
( 713-433-4643 ),
Mary Helen Berlanga - D, Corpus Christi,
( 361-881-1000 ),
Bob Craig - R, Lubbock ( 806-744-3232 ),
Patricia Hardy - R, Fort Worth
( 817-598-2968 ),
Mavis Knight - D, Dallas ( 214-333-9575 ),
Geraldine "Tincy" Miller - R, Dallas
( 972-419-4000 , 214-522-1610 ).
Last , our
online survey (located here) is still
active. Please take a minute or two to
complete it. Note that it can only be taken
once per computer.
Thank you!
TBSE
volunteers
+++
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Evolutionist
Quote of the Day (longer but
worth it)
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"If a particular amino acid sequence was selected
by chance, how rare an event would this be?
"This is an easy exercise in combinatorials.
Suppose the chain is about two hundred amino acids
long; this is, if anything rather less than the
average length of proteins of all types. Since we
have just twenty possibilities at each place, the
number of possibilities is twenty multiplied by
itself some two hundred times. This is
conveniently written 20200 and is
approximately equal to 10260, that is,
a one followed by 260 zeros.
"... Moreover, we have only considered a
polypeptide chain of rather modest length. Had we
considered longer ones as well, the figure would
have been even more immense.... The great majority
of sequences can never have been synthesized at
all, at any time."[1]
"An honest man, armed with all the knowledge
available to us now, could only state that in some
sense, the origin
of life appears at the moment to be almost a
miracle, so many are the conditions which
would have had to have been satisfied to get it
going." [emphasis added] [2]
--arch-evolutionist, and athiest Dr. Francis
Crick. Dr. Crick received a Nobel prize with
for being one of the co-discoverers of the DNA
"double helix" structure, (with James Watson).
[1]
Life Itself:
Its Origin and Nature (New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1981) 192 pp., p51-52.
[2] Ibid,
p. 88
For
MANY MORE quotes from EVOLUTIONISTS pointing out
numerous well-known scientific weaknesses to
Darwinism, please see:
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SCIENCE:
PhDs, MDs and other Doctorates Comment on
Strengths and Weaknesses
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Ed. note: Literally
thousands of voters have written the State
Board of Education (SBOE) expressing their
support for keeping strengths and
weaknesses. Below are a tiny fraction of
those comments. Some are simple, some
complex, most filled with common sense and
insightful. If you have not
recently
written the board, we urge you to do so
today.
The full
polling reports are now located on
the TBSE website
here.[1]
Today we
have restricted the comments below to
those with "Earned Doctorates"...PhDs,
MDs, JDs, etc. Who said scientists don't
question evolution? Note that some are
truncated, due to the doctors writing more
than our webform preserved. Where this
happened, an elipsis is included (i.e. ...
). Enjoy and share with your favorite
SBOE member!
++++++++++
+
I agree with Ben Franklin who observed
that "When men differ in opinion, both
sides ought equally to have the
advantage of being heard by the public;
when truth and error have fair play, the
former is always an overmatch for the
latter."
+ The only people who still believe in
Darwinism are low level "science"
teachers and their unfortunate victems.
This is no true scientific evidence
supporting it.
Biology
is the only science that, for obvious
agenda reasons, denies the law of
entropy, whereby all things, once set in
motion, tend to deteriorate. Even the
Nobel prize level Darwinists admit that
their belief in Darwinism is based on
faith, not evidence.
+ True science investigates all sides
of a question, therefore, I request the
wording of Texas Essential Knowledge and
Skills (TEKS) continue to include
teaching both "strengths and weaknesses"
of evolution and other theories.
+
In restricting the teaching of strengths
and weaknesses of any subject, means
that it is no longer a true scientific
study. If we are not teaching our
children to look at a subject
scientifically, then what are we
teaching them. As a doctor, I was taught
to look at everything with the
principles of science in mind. If you
can't apply science to a subject then it
shouldn't be taught at all. Please
re-think your decision on this matter
and let our children learn all aspects
of a subject. Thank you for your prompt
attention to this matter.
+ The full scale teaching is necessary
for students to get the proper picture
and evaluate their own opinion.
+ Please retain your textbook
information concerning evolution:
strengths and weaknesses.
+
It is obvious that children develop
critical thinking by considering the
weaknesses as well as the strengths of
various theories. More than 30 years of
experimentation on the origin of life in
the fields of clinical and molecular
evolution have led to a better
perception of the immensity of the
problem of the origin of life rather
than to its solution. It is a fact that
the discovery of the structure of the
DNA double helix was not guided by
Darwin's theory of evolution. Where is
the harm in permitting children to
consider the theory that life did not
have a random beginning and that
organisms were designed for a purpose?
+ I
would implore you all to keep in the
requirement to continue teaching the
"strengths and weaknesses" of
evolution. Science requires experiment
and testing. Much testing has shown
evolution to have a very weak basis. The
theory of evolution should be taught in
its proper context as a theory and what
evidence is out there that supports it
or strengthens it should each be given.
To only "analyze and evaluate" is not
sufficient.
One
could analyze and evaluate only the
strengths and totally negate a review of
the weaknesses of this theory.
As a lawyer I know that words matter and
in this case they especially do. Thank
you for your consideration.
+ Open minds should be the agenda and
not political humanism. Teach the truth.
+ As educated Texans, we understand the
importance of free exchange of ideas and
the acquisition of critical thinking
skills. Our students today should be
allowed access to the strengths and
weaknesses of scientific theories -- all
scientific theories that are necessary
for a well-rounded education. To create
an educational atmosphere of any other
sort would be to squelch real learning.
Please keep the wording of TEKS as is.
Thank you.
+
Teachers must teach the truth about all
academic disciplines, whether it agrees
with their worldview or not. TEKS MUST
teach strengths and weaknesses of
evolution and all other subjects;
otherwise we are a totalitarian
socialist country which is
unconstitutional.
+ "God
created the heavens and the earth." To
deny that fact is most unwise.
+ I am
a retired college professor who included
lectures on philosophy of science in my
classes. Genuine science requires
consideration of both the strengths and
weaknesses of all theories. Please
retain the strengths and weaknesses
approach that has served us well for
many years. There are many scientific
(not theological) problems with
Darwinism. To accept Darwinism
uncritically is to make it a religion in
itself. Thank you.
+
Existing language in the Texas Essential
Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) details the
teaching of "strengths and weaknesses"
of evolution and other theories. The
wording should be retained. This
stimulates student awareness while, at
the same time, encouraging a student's
development and appreciation of critical
thinking skills. The "strength and
weaknesses" wording has served Texas
well for the past two decades and should
be retained.
Your
consideration is deeply appreciated.
+ Even Darwin wrote of the two ways his
theory would need to stand up.
The two requirements don't stand up to
scrutiny. First, there are no fossil
proofs showing the hundreds of steps
that would have occured proving the
changes from one species to another.
Variations with in one species is all
that have been found.
And second,the complexity of the cells
must not be so great as to prevent the
changes from being possible. We now know
that the complexity is too great.
+
During the vast
majority of my medical practice, I was a
member of the New York Academy of
Sciences. As a Distinguished Life
Fellow of the American Psychiatric
Association and having practiced
medicine in Texas for over fifty years,
it is difficult for me to understand how
one can adequately teach scientific
theory without encouraging students to
examine the strengths and weaknesses of
a proffered theory.
The "strengths and
weaknesses" wording, contained in TEKS
has served Texas well for the past
twenty years and should be retained.
Your consideration
is deeply appreciated.
Sincerely,
[signed] ___________, M.D., D.L.F.A.P.A.
+ I do not support Evolution only in
our class rooms!
+ I agree that the current wording of
the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
(TEKS) that specifies teaching both
"strengths and weaknesses" of evolution
and other theories, having the effect of
both interesting students in the
subjects and in developing critical
thinking skills, and having withstood
TWENTY YEARS of good service in Texas
without a single lawsuit, should be
retained.
+ I am in Louisiana but I hope my
comments will encourage you to support
strengths & weaknesses in teaching
science, particularly evolution. Since
Texas is a leader in textbook curriculum
design, we in LA appreciate your
leadership in this vital area. Please
vote accordingly! Thank you!
+
It is beyond me how anyone can come to
the conclusion that it is good for our
children to allow discussion of only one
side of something as interesting as
evolutionary theory in our classrooms.
Please allow our teachers to present
evolutionary theory as just that - a
theory on the origin of man that has
both strengths and significant
weaknesses. The facts are that Darwin's
theory of evolution is unproven with
significant gaps that should not be
hidden from our kids.
+ Please keep holding the science
education in Texas to a high standard.
Evolution is a theory, and like all
theories, the strengths and weaknesses
should be explained to our students.
They should be taught how to critically
evaluate scientific theories, not just
to accept them without questions. There
are many valid scientific concerns about
the theory of evolution, and it would be
unwise for our children to be
scientifically unprepared to logically
think through them.
+ The
concern is that the proposed wording
suppresses academic freedom in order to
propel the political agenda of those who
are pushing the changes. I do not have
an issue with fully analyzing
evolution. I believe any analysis with
academic integrity must include all
sides of the issue: strengths &
weaknesses.
+ I
have been teaching biology and IPC in a
local Christian school for the last 3
years. My career was as a research
entomlogist with ARS. My degrees were in
entomology and biological control with a
PhD in insect pathology. I taught my
students the basics of evolution from
the text, but then made it more
interesting by educating them in the
falsehoods and innuendos prevalent in
the text. I believe they learned a lot
more biology this way and received 'the
other side of the story' as well. They
will be much more prepared for college
than those who only get one side of the
issue. Since I now sub at the local HS,
I hope I will be able to tell the truth
to biology students when I get the
opportunity.
+ How do we expect students to learn
critical thinking skills if we do not
allow them to examine the evidence on
both sides, then analyze and draw
independent conclusions? This field
offers such a fertile opportunity to
challenge students to think [and] to
debate.
+ Don't listen to
hypocritical "scientists" who
don't even want the open inquiry that
that say is necessary for true science
and true freedom of thought.
+ All scientific theories have
strengths and weaknesses! Discussion and
vigorous debate of these theories
without interfering
CENSORSHIP is how theories
progress to even stronger theories.
+ Any theory of science that publicly
requires with-holding raw fact ...?
+
The propaganda approach to education is
inexcusable. Good education requires all
the evidence.
+
Why would you not want to teach the
weaknesses of the theory, unless you are
afraid it will completely undermine the
theory, and if that is the case, then
the theory must be worthless in the
first place, so why teach it?
+
I have a PhD from Columbia University in
Marine GEOLOGY. I strongly support
teaching both strengths and weaknesses
+ I
completely support the importance of
teaching the strengths and weaknesses.
+ Please continue teaching both the
strengths and weaknesses of evolution.
+ What
has happened to academic freedom in USA?
The Children should be taught all sides
of an issue and let them decide which
worldview best suits them personally.
+ See the movie EXPELLED
to witness the strident dogmatism of the
Evolutionists ...
+
Science is and has always been about
testing and challenging the orthodoxy.
This is how knowledge progresses. The
current attempt to stifle investigation
and debate regarding life origins and
diversity needs to end so that the human
race can progress.
+
Students are required on the TAKS test
to evaluate advertisements offering
scientific evidence in support of their
point-of-view. All students should be
able to think critically to evaluate
strengths and weaknesses of such
arguments using scientific facts
+
Please do not allow our schools to
become entrenched in indoctrination.
Genetics is a rapidly changing science
and the information from the recent DNA
sequencing of human and primate species
make it increasingly difficult for
simple point mutation theories...
+ Thank
you for your
efforts to preserve the right to think
and question in our public schools.
Thank you for your efforts to protect
our schools from atheism so rampant in
today's society.
+ Vote YES on this petition. [to retain
strengths and weaknesses language] I'm
currently about to publish my book
entitled: "Which Ones are Scientific?" -
here I present up to 35 Figures and
Tables so that the reader gets a chance
to complete a Scientific Score Card.
+
I have taught biology at the college
level for 16 years and will testify in
Austin...
+
There can be no scientific progress or
political freedom without critical
thinking; teachers and texts should
model critical thinking.
+ I support the use of real science
which always looks at the strengths and
weaknesses of everything under
consideration.
+
I have a PhD in Entomology from UC
Riverside and have been engaged in
research and teaching for close to 40
years. I have taught biology and life
sciences...
+ I
cannot believe that the strengths and
weaknesses of any THEORY would not be
taught and identified so that students
could explore the subject and develop
their skills of critical thinking.
+ We thank you for treating science as
a subject for constant questioning and
investigation.
+
Please keep the word "weaknesses" in the
policy. All the scientists I know
acknowledge that there are numerous
weaknesses in the macro-evolution
theory. Kids need both sides of this
issue.
+ It is very important to see both
sides of controversial issues. Often
the 'right' is accused of being
closed-minded; however, I am finding the
left as the least open-minded group with
which I've had to communicate. Perhaps
tolerance is only something ...
+
There are scientists who question the
Darwinist theory. Please continue to
support teaching our children both
sides!
+
[This one was sent in three parts due to
our form limitations]. To not allow the
teaching of the weakness of the theory
(not fact, but speculation) of evolution
is an admission that this theory cannot
stand on its own so all challenges must
be silenced. This does not sound very
scientific at all. I believe that ...
Part 2:
It
should be taught that nothing of the
theory has ever been observed and that
no one was there to see how it all
happened. If one example of the
spontaneous occurrence of DNA
information or one example of the
spontaneous appearance of something... f
Part 3:
As it
is this theory teaches our children that
there is no ultimate authority, that
they are merely products of millions of
accidents, meaning their life has no
purpose and so they can do as they wish
(go out and kill innocent fellow
students) and ...
+ Thank you for considering our
assertion that the only way to reach a
valid conclusion on this issue is to
present the claims of evolution and
creationism, including the full truth
about each.
+
As a physician who must use applied
physiology to the practice of medicine,
critically examining the strengths and
weakness of all lines of thinking about
medical problems is essential to
properly caring for complicated
patients. That thinking process ...
+ Any
one who has studied evolution and Darwin
knows that anything man has discovered
is not perfect. Therefore to not present
both sides of evolution shuts down
rational thought. Is that stupid or is
it more of the same planned dumbing down
of our children?
+ One purpose of education is to learn
to critically evaluate ideas.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In case you missed it,
some selected results from the 2009
Zogby International telephone poll (a
"gold standard" among polling techniques
and companies) are shown below.
 +++
According to the poll,
Democrats(82%) and liberals (86%) are
even more likely than Republicans
(73%) and conservatives (72%) to
support the academic freedom of
teachers and students to discuss the
"strengths and weaknesses of
evolution."[1]
+++
Democrats (82%) supp ort giving
teachers and students the freedom to
discuss Darwinism's "strengths and
weaknesses" even more overwhelmingly
than Republicans (73%).
Self-identified liberals (86%) favor
the freedom to discuss evolution's
"strengths and weaknesses" more than
conservatives (72%).[6]
+++
QUESTION: Charles
Darwin wrote that when considering the
evidence for his theory of evolution,
"...a fair result can be obtained only
by fully stating and balancing the
facts and arguments on both sides of
each question." Do you strongly agree,
somewhat agree,
somewhat disagree, or strongly
disagree with Darwin's statement?
Strongly agree 45%
Somewhat agree 31%
Total
Agree 76%
Somewhat disagree 6%
Strongly disagree 12%
Total Disagree 19%
Not sure 5%
Three-quarters (76%) say they agree
with Darwin's statement, while about a
fifth (19%) say they disagree. [7]
In
light of this report, it seems
reasonable to
ask who the eight
"teach-evolution-only-and-as-fact"
members of the SBOE are representing and
why they have voted to censor the
discussion of "strengths and weaknesses"
from the classroom. Perhaps you
should write them and ask them. Replies
may prove interesting.[2]
[1] Report on 2009 Zogby Poll about
Evolution and Academic Freedom, Center
for Science & Culture, Seattle,
Washington.
[2] SBOE members voting with the
Darwinists, ACLU, and secular humanists
to censor weaknesses from the TEKS
standards were Rick
Agosto
(San Antonio), Lawrence
Allen
(Houston), Mary Helen
Berlanga
(Corpus
Christi-McAllen-Brownsville), Bob
Craig
(Midland-Odessa-Lubbock-Amarillo), Pat
Hardy
(Ft Worth, Weatherford), Mavis
Knight
(Dallas), Tincy
Miller
(Dallas), and Rene
Nunez
(El Paso),
+++
Please
email the State Board
weekly and help wherever you can.
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CITIZEN
INVOLVEMENT-How YOU Can Help!
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Your
Assistance Is Still Needed on Three
Fronts!
First,
please write a politely worded letter of
support to the State Board of Education
encouraging them to keep or even
strengthen the "scientific strengths and
weaknesses" language that has served Texas
well for TWENTY YEARS without a single
legal challenge. You might also point out
one or two of your favorite weaknesses of
evolution theories. SBOE Email:
origin.of.life@strengthsandweaknesses.org.
Other contact information is located
here.
Second, please take a minute and
sign our "Teach
Both Strengths AND WEAKNESSES of Evolution
Petition"
here. It will only
take 30 seconds and will help counter the
Darwinist dogma that, "No one questions
evolution." Note that we are now sending
these responses directly to the board
automatically as they are received. A
steady stream of "Teach the Weaknesses"
messages will help keep them focused on
the truth.
(http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org/teachbothsides.htm).
Third,
mark March 25, 2009 on your calendar.
This is the day public testimony will be
taken before the full State Board of
Education in Austin. It is especially
important that you consider testifying if
you are a teacher or have Ph.D.
credentials. For more information, see:
Agenda:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3785
Sign-up info:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3958
http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org/Contact.Texas.State.Board.of.Education.htm.
Thank You!
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