Louisiana's Biology Textbooks Teach Evolution

Are you ready for a shocker?  The biology textbooks in Louisiana teach evolution to the high schools students.  For an even bigger shock, some people are not happy with that.  Louisiana may become the next battleground state in science education.  For a dose of irony, their governor, Bobby Jindal, actually majored in biology in college.


A complaint has been filed against the proposed biology textbooks by Winston White and others who said, "It's like Charles Darwin and his theory is a saint. You can't touch it." Besides the horrible grammar of the sentence, it also sounds the common refrain of anti-evolutionists.  They seem to think that "Darwinism" exists as a religion and tend to use such language to justify their points.  Less than a Saint, scientists revere Charles Darwin because of the enormous contribution he made to biology.  Such language also pretends that evolutionary biology has remained the same since 1859.  Countless experiments continue to confirm and refine Darwin's original theory- much of which eluded 19th century scientists.


Specifically, the complaint references the 2008 Louisiana Science Education Act which calls for science educators to instruction their classes in "critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and objective discussion of scientific theories being studied including, but not limited to, evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."  White's group, Louisiana Family Forum, helped to push for the law under the guise of "Teach the Controversy".  They actually want us to teach Intelligent Design/Creationism in place of the science or simply to introduce warning labels to the textbooks.


If the science textbooks teach Darwin's dangerous idea, then they already adhere to the LSEA.  Any critical analysis and objective discussion of the data plainly dismiss Creationism and point to Evolution.  The writers of the LSEA meant to encourage doubt in the scientific process and rely on the ignorance of the population.  The side of science and education can win by using their own "ideas" against them.  On a good note, the advisory panel endorsed the biology textbooks, but the fight is far from over.