UPDATE: An initial vote on the amendment to add “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories back to the science standards . The board voted 7-7 and a split vote is not passed. The final vote will be taken on Friday.
TENSION is rising prior to this Friday’s crucial vote on whether Texan children should learn about creationism in science lessons. In the run-up to the vote, which will decide the state’s school curriculum, it has emerged that , chair of the Texas Science Board of Education, recently endorsed a book criticising the US National Academy of Sciences statement on evolution, and recommended it to his fellow board members.
In Sowing Atheism, Robert Bowie Johnson describes those of the Christian clergy as “morons”. McLeroy says he does not support calling anyone a moron, but agrees with Bowie Johnson’s arguments. The US National Academy of Sciences statement, he says, is a “theft of true science” and neglects “other valid scientific possibilities”.
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The vote itself will likely go to the wire, with eight pro-evolution members and seven creationists on the board. Although evolutionists prevailed in an earlier meeting, the creationists slipped in last-minute amendments to the curriculum.
