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Distinguishing Freedom and Ability

Byhenry

I have always preferred our classic statements of rights, such as the bill of rights, to such statements as Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms.” What interests me is that while our classic statements of rights indicate things that the government is not permitted to prevent you from doing, the latter two freedoms from Roosevelt’s list, and especially…

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My Advice for Florida Creationists

Byhenry

Which, for those in doubt, includes advocates of intelligent design (ID). I know they won’t take it, but here it is: Just tell the truth. John West, over at Evolution News and Views, has written a quite disingenuous post in which he wonders about the motives of advocates in the Florida House who insisted on…

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Congratulating a Homeschooler on Science and Religion

Byhenry

I write here frequently against teaching creationism of any variety in public schools. I do this, amongst other reasons to protect the integrity of science, to preserve the limited space in the science curriculum for actual science, and because I think religion in public schools is dangerous to both church and state. One major question…

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Handing School Administration to the Courts

Byhenry

In a previous post I mentioned that the proposed Academic Chaos Bill here in Florida was cowardly in that it created a very confused situation which others would have to navigate. The Florida house analysis of the bill says much the same thing: Finally, if a principal, the district school superintendent, or the school board…

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Florida Academic Chaos Bill Advances

Byhenry

The badly misnamed Academic Freedom Bill has advanced through the judiciary committee of the Florida senate. You can find an account of the event on the Florida Citizens for Science blog, and some additional commentary by Pete Dunkelberg on The Panda’s Thumb. Pete notes quite correctly that teachers are not prevented from presenting any scientific…

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Book: Evolution and Christian Faith

Byhenry

I’m constantly on the lookout for books on evolutionary theory aimed at the general public rather than specialized audiences, so when I saw this little book on the shelf of the local university library, I took it home to check out. My response to it is a bit mixed. There are a number of good…

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Curriculum Chaos Bill in Florida

Byhenry

The Florida legislature is considering an Academic Freedom bill. This one has been done to death, and you can find a great deal of information about it on the Florida Citizens for Science Blog, with the most recent update here. I’ll let you get the details via the many posts there. I want to add…

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Florida and Academic Freedom Follies

Byhenry

The Florida Citizens for Science blog has a post summing up the current situation with creationist bills in the Florida legislature. FCFS communication director Brandon Haught shows how the bill in the Florida Senate is essentially taken directly from the Discovery Institute’s web site. What is the purpose of these bills? Academic freedom is not…