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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
 Posted - 01/22/2009 : 09:16:38
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Yep. Since the Disco Institute keeps failing at coming up with any evidence for their "theory", they've once again resorted to emotional manipulation and stories of "persecution".
Well, time to have a look at that philosophy with "Academic Free-For-All-Day"
Who could possibly be against academic freedom? It sounds so good after all. Freedom is a good thing, and Americans love freedom, so questioning its use almost sounds unpatriotic. And we agree. We are absolutely in favor of academic freedom, the real kind. By that we mean academic freedom as applied to the research interests of college and univerity professors. That is absolutely essential to the exploration of new topics, even if they are unconventional or go against traditional ideas. Researchers must be free of excessive oversight in order to push out the boundaries of knowledge.
But the DI isn't talking about academic freedom at the college level -- they are taking about high school and even middle and elementary school. Do high school teachers have "academic freedom"? Typically, not very much, particularly in public schools. They are almost always rather tightly constrained by state education standards, curriculum guidelines, standards of learning, and preparing students to succeed on an ever-increasing number of standardized tests. That doesn't leave them a whole lot of room to inject new topics or wander far for the usual study plans.
Even so, we wouldn't mind if the DI was really interested in giving teachers -- all teachers -- more freedom in how they teach. But really they aren't. Check out their website: Are they pushing for history teachers to have more freedom to teach controversial arguments over the justification for the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Japan? Doesn't seem so. Are they pushing for English teachers to have more freedom in how to teach composition or poetry? Not likely. No, when you really get down to it, the only people they want "academic freedom" for are the people who want to promote intelligent design and other forms of creationism in public school classrooms. That's it. That's all they really want.
The bottom line is that their direct attempt to inject intelligent design into science classes got shot down by the Kitzmiller trial, so this "Academic Freedom" thing is just a sleazy way in the back door. Don't fall for it. |
Check out the transcripts for the Dover Trial. There one can see that this "controversy" is a manufactured one. Misquotes, "problems" that evolution can't explain which in reality biologists had already dealt with, etc.
If the strengths and weaknesses of evolution are to be dealt with as they pretend to want to do, it should be the real weaknesses, and not manufactured ones.
Something else those people don't mention; where were the proponents of "academic freedom" among the religious right during the original Scopes trial? Back then it teach biblical creationism or else.
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>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.
What brought that on? this. Original posting here.
Another example of this guy's lunacy here. |
Edited by - the_ignored on 01/22/2009 09:18:22
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2009 : 15:20:24 [Permalink]
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Unlike many academic fields with much looser standards, science in academia restricts its debate to those using the scientific method.
You have a wild and crazy scientific idea that you want to debate? We got your academic freedom right here: Do your research, and get your results published in a peer-reviewed journal.
What you can't do is skip all the scientific steps, and then start teaching your ideas as "science." If you had your academic freedom to do your research, and you refused -- or failed -- to do it, you have nothing to whine about, and nothing to teach.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 01/22/2009 15:40:44 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 01/22/2009 : 16:06:59 [Permalink]
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There is no such thing as "academic freedom." The classroom is not nor should it be, a democracy.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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"Academic Freedom" Day
