THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(apologies to Keith Olbermann)
Barbara Cargill
It is said that God has created man in his own image. But it may be that humankind has created God in the image of humankind.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Science knows it doesn’t know everything; otherwise, it’d stop. But just because science doesn’t know everything doesn’t mean you can fill in the gaps with whatever fairy tale most appeals to you.
- Dara Ó Briain
If we’re talking about edumication in Texas, then we must be talking about the fight to include creationism in the curriculum. Don’t get me wrong; I respect faith. I just don’t understand what place it has in a public school classroom being taught as part of the “science” curriculum. If science is about the knowable, the definable, the measurable, and the empirical- and it is- then creationism has no place being taught alongside evolution. Unless you goal has more to do with religious indoctrination than education.
What’s the difference? Well, outside the reality that evolution has evidence to support it while creationism has none, probably not much…not that this is about to stop Texas Republicans. Since a goodly portion of the Texas GOP believes our public schools should be the educational arm of the Christian Church.
Cargill, chosen by Gov. Rick Perry to chair the Texas State Board of Edumication, is a creationist. She says with a straight face that “Our intent was to teach all sides of scientific explanation,” ignores a hole in her argument you could drive a tank through. Creationism is NOT in any shape, manner, or form a “scientific explanation,” except in the minds of Evangelical Creationists like Cargill (who, scarily enough, is a biology teacher). These folks are determined to teach their belief as a legitimate scientific option for understanding and explaining how we got to where we are today.
There’s a time and place for that, and it’s called “Church.”
Cargill decries the fact that Texas school districts don’t “teach the controversy,” while blithely ignoring the reality that there is no controversy. There’s actual scientific evidence- and an abundance of it- to support evolution. There is no scientific evidence- zero, zip, none, nada, bupkis- that supports creationism as a legitimate scientific explanation for the evolution of humanity.
Unfortunately, that’s the way zealots like Cargill operate. Under the guise of providing children a quality education, what they’re actually doing is working towards creating an indoctrination system. In this system, public schools are merely taxpayer-funded extensions of Christian churches charged with instilling thoughtless reactionary ignorance where reason and rational thinking should be. For Christocrats like Cargill, science in their estimation rightly takes a back seat to faith in Jesus Christ.
When you aspire to create a system that churns obedient and reliably Conservative Christians…well, when you have people like Barbara Cargill sitting on the Texas State Board of Education, you’re well on your way towards realizing your dream.
“God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” It’s a helluva way to run an edumication system, don’tchathink?
