There’s been some good news on the teaching of evolution front this month. In Oklahoma, the “Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act” (Senate Bill 320 – rtf) failed to make it out of the Senate Education Committee.  This means it is effectively dead in the Senate for the next two years.  Good thing.  The bill stated, in part, that:

The Oklahoma Legislature finds that an important purpose of science education is to inform students about scientific evidence and to help students develop critical thinking skills they need in order to become intelligent, productive, and scientifically informed citizens.  The Legislature further finds that the teaching of some scientific subjects, such as biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning, can cause controversy, and that some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.

In reality, there is no controversy among biologists.  Evolution exists; we can measure it.  Like many “Academic Freedom Acts,” it’s an attempt to sneak ID into science classrooms.  Sounds silly, but it worked in Louisiana, where Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the Louisiana Science Education Act into law last summer.  Barbara Forrest posted a penetrating analysis of the bill on the Louisiana Coalition for Science blog.  And last week, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology announced they would no longer hold their annual meetings in New Orleans, noting:

The SICB leadership could not support New Orleans as out meeting venue because of the official position of the state in weakening science education and specifically attacking evolution in science curricula…SICB is joining other scientific organizations in suggesting professional societies reconsider any plans to host meetings in Louisiana.  As scientists, it is our responsibility to oppose anti-science initiatives….

Nice to know my home state is one up on Louisiana, but it bodes ill for the scientific education of the children of The Pelican State.

On this Darwin Day, the 200th Anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, and with the election of our new President and his promise to restore science to its rightful place in informing policy, 2009 has been declared the Year of Science by COPUS, the Coalition of the Public Understanding of Science. The Year of Science is intended to be:

a national year-long celebration of science to engage the public in science and improve public understanding about how science works, why it matters, and who scientists are.

NPR did a short interview with one of the organizers of YoS, which you can listen to here.

Last night, the House and Senate agreed on a compromise stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provides more than $15 billion investment in Science and Technology, including:

• $3 billion for the National Science Foundation, for basic research in fundamental science and engineering – which spurs discovery and innovation.
• $1.6 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which funds research in such areas as climate science, biofuels, high-energy physics, nuclear physics and fusion energy sciences – areas crucial to our energy future.
• $400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to support high-risk, high-payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency in collaboration with industry.
• $580 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, including the Technology Innovation Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
• $8.5 billion for NIH, including expanding good jobs in biomedical research to study diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, and heart disease.
• $1 billion for NASA, including $400 million to put more scientists to work doing climate change research.
• $1.5 billion for NIH to renovate university research facilities and help them compete for biomedical research grants.

More posts on the Year of Science theme will follow.  Today, I am grateful that Congress saw past the limited view of a few Senators (Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME), in particular), who were working to gut science funding from the stimulus package, and realized that this funding is not only critical to advancing science and technology, but also our economy.

The bill is expected to be on the President’s desk by Monday.

I recently saw Senator Obama Goes to Africa, recorded in 2006 on his diplomatic mission to Kenya.  A couple of things struck me.  First, he’s not afraid to bring up sensitive and controversial subjects, whether it’s corruption in the Kenyan government or a dangerous health policy in South Africa.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Second, he leads by example.  HIV testing is almost a taboo subject in Africa, where in South Africa alone, 3.2 million women are living with HIV/AIDS, and an estimated 1.4 million children have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. While on his visit to Kenya, he and his wife, Michelle, both took a public HIV test, to encourage Kenyans to know their status and take charge of their health.

I’m looking forward to a leader who has connections and concerns outside the US, who can reach out and build consensus with other nations, who can tackle the difficulties that face our country with intelligence and sensitivity, and who has a genuine care for the common people.  Change is coming, and not a moment too soon.

I’m generally fairly quiet politically.  I vote, but I’m not one to put signs in my yard, bumper stickers on my car, or otherwise advertise my political position.  While I do believe that everyone is entitled to a political opinion, I prefer that people keep it to themselves, thank you very much.

But this morning, after General Colin Powell endorsed Senator Barack Obama, conservative pundits were claiming it was a purely racial decision.

Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race… OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I’ll let you know what I come up with. — Rush Limbaugh

No surprise there, but others followed suit, including Pat Buchanan and George Will.  I suppose it’s to be expected, since the McCain campaign apparently thought that choosing a female running mate would attract angry Clinton voters (and appease his conservative base at the same time).  Nevermind that politically Palin and Clinton are polar opposites.  They have the same plumbing, so voters won’t know the difference. Wrong.

…McCain seems to believe that millions of women voters will coo indiscriminately over any female candidate who comes along. He wants disappointed Hillary supporters to stampede to his side, followed by all other women who are enthralled by Palin’s life story.

This miscalculation could — and should — cost McCain the election.

– Susan Nielsen, Associate Editor, The Oregonian

I, for one, am not so shallow that I base my vote on superficial similarities.  I vote on issues.  And I believe that General Powell does the same.

I feel much lighter this morning, after watching the election results come in last night.  Democrats now have control of the House, gaining 32 seats when they only needed 15 (one of which was lost by Jim Ryun (R-Kansas)), and very nearly have control of the Senate, picking up seats in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio, and now Montana. Only the Viriginia Senate race is still too close to call, and is now headed for a recount.

Democrats have governorships in 28 states, including new seats in Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. In state referendums, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment supporting stem cell research, South Dakota voters struck down a law banning most abortions, and Arizona voters rejected a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

And, perhaps best of all, Donald Rumsfeld resigned today!

“I’m obviously disappointed with the outcome of the election and, as the head of the Republican Party, I share a large part of the responsibility,” President Bush told reporters this afternoon at the White House. He then announced that Rumsfeld would step down.

The Neo-Cons are OUT! Woo hoo!

Just a reminder that today is election day. Many voters don’t bother to vote in non-presidential election years, but they should. Local politics has a greater impact on your everyday life than national politics. In addition, many member of the U.S. Congress are up for re-election today. Try to ignore the mud-slinging, the attack ads, and the half-truths. Focus on the issues that matter to you, and go vote!

I Voted… Did You?

Wonder why we started this site? Here’s one reason :

American evangelists report feeling persecuted

“many evangelicals still consider themselves a persecuted majority, hounded by ‘secular fundamentalists’ intent on driving religion from public life.” — Rachel Zoll – Associated Press Writer

This was in the Lawrence Journal-World this morning. Hounded? Are they kidding? They obviously haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on in Oz. Given that conservative Christians exhort the greatest influence in the Republican party, have a look at the results of the 2004 Presidential election for Kansas (red indicates Republican votes, blue represents Democratic votes).

See that tiny blue speck towards the northeast corner, floundering in a rising red sea? That’s us. The persecutors. Myth: America is a Christian Nation

America was founded by Western Europeans. As a whole, Western European society was, and still is, influenced heavily by Christianity. For most of American history, Western Europeans have comprised the largest constituent of immigrants into the country. It is factually incorrect, however, to claim that America was founded as a “Christian Nation”. John Adams, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and every other participant in the formation of America’s government was very deliberate about forming the government with no basis in religious doctrine of any persuasion. According to the many writings and diaries of America’s founding fathers, as well as the Constitution and Bill of Rights, religious freedom was a coveted goal meant to be enjoyed equally by all, but certainly not meant to play a role in governing the country. However, historically, Christians as a whole have enjoyed disproportionately high favor, in terms of privilege, in influencing public policies and public religious expression. A simple example is religious holidays. The Feast of Ramadan is not a legal U.S. holiday, nor is Hanukah. Christmas is.

Everyone in America has a right to equal influence in public policy making and equal privilege in public religious expression. No single religion should enjoy consideration that another does not. Does that mean we should make every major religious holiday of every religion, mainstream or not, a legal holiday as we do Christmas? Absolutely not. That simply is not practical. So, we are then forced, in our quest to balance everyone’s rights and privileges equally, to consider the possibility that where privileges are unequal, they must be altered to accommodate this end.

Persecution is punishment or harassment usually of a severe nature on the basis of race, religion, or political opinion in one’s country of origin. The erosion of one group’s unequal privileges, in the arduous process of balancing everyone’s privileges fairly, hardly constitutes persecution. To even suggest it indicates how deeply skewed these claimant’s perceptions are, and how inconsiderate they must be of the world around them.

Credit: The map was adapted from Robert Vanderbei’s map of national election results.