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Blow for creationists in the UK

zooterkin

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zooterkin
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The BHA (British Humanist Association) is claiming victory in a campaign to ensure that free schools are not allowed to teach ID or creationism as an alternative to the theory of evolution in science classes.

The Department for Education has revised its model funding agreement, allowing the education secretary to withdraw cash from schools that fail to meet strict criteria relating to what they teach. Under the new agreement, funding will be withdrawn for any free school that teaches what it claims are "evidence-based views or theories" that run "contrary to established scientific and/or historical evidence and explanations".

The British Humanist Association (BHA), which has led a campaign against creationism – the movement that denies Darwinian evolution and claims that the Earth and all its life was created by God – described the move as "highly significant" and predicted that it would have implications for other faith groups looking to run schools.
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ETA: Here's the full press the release from the BHA.
 
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Yeah, i was just reading this article. Why it is so hard to realise that only Science should be taught as Science is a mystery. If they can't do it right, they shouldn't get public funding for their myth-peddling. :/
 
Are you sure its prudent to give Creationists blow? They already seem to be on some sort of drug.
 
scinece classes have such a bias towards scinece, what's wrong with a bit of fantasy stories? :D
 
It may not be on the curriculum, and will not be as long as there is a central National Curriculum, that does not mean they don't try hard to convert people.

I had a package from a private company into the department of a series of free DVD's for the children to view as (this was the punchline) "a real alternative to evolution". I watched the first 30 minutes of the first one and was nearly falling off my seat with laughter at how poor the logic behind the argument was.

How any serious biologist/scientist falls for it I will never know.
 
True. I have worked with 2 Physics teachers who were JW, and despite following the scientific method thoroughly in most cases, anywhere where it impinged on their personal beliefs they would gloss over it despite overwhelming evidence. I only hoped that it didn't go into the classroom with them. But that being said, one had a doctorate degree in Astro Physics???????? An odd choice for someone who had a fixed unbending age for the Earth and Universe.
 
swanjackal said:
It may not be on the curriculum, and will not be as long as there is a central National Curriculum, that does not mean they don't try hard to convert people.
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National Curricula, actually. And thank goodness they help prevent this kind of nonsense.
 
Fantastic news,

I'll be keeping an eye on the news this week, just to see the smile wiped of the face of the smug prick Adrian Hawkes, the Head of Phoenix Academy in London, that you might remember from Dawkins' 'Root of all evil'.


ETA a quick wiki turned this up, it may jog your memories, the photo should if not.

Dawkins expresses concern about increasing religious influence in British schools with over 7,000 faith schools already and the government encouraging more, so over half of the new City Academies are expected to be sponsored by religious organizations. He says that the most worrying development is a new wave of private Evangelical schools that have adopted the American Baptist Accelerated Christian Education curriculum, and as an example calls on Phoenix Academy in London.[7] Dawkins is shown around the school by head teacher Adrian Hawkes and remarks on how the teaching material appears to mention God or Jesus on almost every page; such as a reference to Noah's Ark in a science textbook. Hawkes responds by saying that the stories could have a lot to do with science if you believe in them, and that the science he was taught at school is laughable today. As an example, he mentions that he was taught that the moon came from the Earth's ocean and was “somehow flung out into space” during the early years of the Earth's life. Dawkins says that it should have been presented as a strong current theory.[8] Another lesson talks about AIDS as being the "wages of sin", so Dawkins inquires whether this might not be mixing health education with moralistic preaching. Hawkes responds that without a law-giver, “Why is rape wrong? Why is pedophilia wrong?” and that if people believe they can get away with committing bad deeds then they will tend to do them. Dawkins responds to this claim by asking Hawkes if the only reason he doesn't do these things is that he's frightened of God and subsequently suggests that this attitude is characteristic of the warped morality that religion tends to instill in people.
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He's got the type of face you could never get tired of slapping.
 
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swanjackal said:
True. I have worked with 2 Physics teachers who were JW, and despite following the scientific method thoroughly in most cases, anywhere where it impinged on their personal beliefs they would gloss over it despite overwhelming evidence. I only hoped that it didn't go into the classroom with them. But that being said, one had a doctorate degree in Astro Physics???????? An odd choice for someone who had a fixed unbending age for the Earth and Universe.
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And that is fine, for them. Just don't try to teach it to my kids.

Why is *that* so hard to understand?
 
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