Idaho Science Teachers Reject ID and Dr Dino update

The blows just keeping on coming to the ID folk. Yesterday, FOX News Boise reported:

Boise, Idaho -- Science teachers in Idaho are officially against teaching intelligent design in the state's public schools.

The Idaho Science Teachers Association has approved the official position, saying teachers in public schools are charged with teaching methodology that's been approved by the scientific community.

Intelligent design contends that complex living organisms must have been created by a higher being.

The Association's president says the teacher's group isn't taking a position against teaching religion, but he says under law, religion does not belong in the science classroom.

At least Idaho got it right from the start! Then again, I'm still wondering why such statements should even be necessary. Science classes are about teaching science, why should we single out only some forms of nonsense? The answer is, of course, sadly simple. ID has political and ideological clout that forces school boards/teachers to debate the idea and posit a stance. It's a darn shame that scientific and educational societies/groups have to come out with a public stance on issues that are neither scientific nor educational, but that's where we are.
Even so, the picture may not be so rosy. According to another news report on the topic:

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna (Republican) says he'll leave it up to local school districts to decide whether or not to teach it.

Teach 'what' Tom? It sure sounded like you wanted strong science in your campaign speeches and writings. A comment on Red State Rebels notes that Luna is pro-ID and here is a nice voter's guide to show why Idaho is not out of the Kansas woodshed yet.

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Creationist Kent Hovind is now holed up in his cell and it's interesting to look at what is happening to his 'ministry' since he left. It may be part shock and it may simply mean that once the con is gone, the con game is short-circuited; however, son Eric is not carrying on Kent's 'speaking over 900 times/year' tradition. There are currently only 5 lectures scheduled between now and May for son Eric. The website is now quite out-of-date still highlighting the 'storms' of July 2006. CSEblogs was getting hundreds of responses leading up to and immediately following the conviction of Hovind, but the latest blog entry by Kent on February 19th has only 98 comments (compared to 358 replies to the Jan 20th I've been sentenced blog or 240 comments on his bunk 3).


Cheers

Joe Meert