NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2017/04/07
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2017-04-07 14:27.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Arkansas's creationism bill is apparently dead. And NCSE is pleased to offer a glimpse of Moore and McComas's The Scopes Monkey Trial.
ARKANSAS CREATIONISM BILL APPARENTLY DIES When the Arkansas legislature recessed on April 3, 2017, House Bill 2050 -- which would, if enacted, have allowed "public schools to teach creationism and intelligent design as theories alongside the theory of evolution" -- apparently died. Introduced on March 6, 2017, by Mary Bentley (R-District 73), HB 2050 was filed as a shell bill, with only its title, subtitle, and a description of its purpose provided. Bentley apparently never provided the text of her bill to the legislature. As NCSE previously observed, the federal courts have repeatedly held that teaching creationism in the public schools, whether under the guise of "creation science" or "intelligent design," is unconstitutional. According to Arkansas Online (February 4, 2017), the legislature will convene again on May 1, in order to give lawmakers "time to consider fixing errors in bills or override any vetoes" before it adjourns for good. For the text of Arkansas's House Bill 2050 as introduced (PDF), visit: http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2017/2017R/Bills/HB2050.pdf For the story from Arkansas Online, visit: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/apr/04/online-sales-tax-quest-fails-again-2017/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Arkansas, visit: https://ncse.com/news/arkansas A GLIMPSE OF THE SCOPES MONKEY TRIAL NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of Randy Moore and William F. McComas's The Scopes Monkey Trial (Arcadia Publishing, 2016). The preview consists of chapter 5, "The Defense Calls Mr. Bryan," which explains "the Scopes Trial's climactic event: [prosecution attorney William Jennings] Bryan being called by the defense to the witness stand ... Darrow and Bryan were set to go head-to-head in a clash of faith and science." Published in the popular Images of America series, The Scopes Monkey Trial abounds in images, including previously unpublished photographs, from the Scopes trial, which, as the publisher writes, "has been analyzed by historians, praised and vilified by politicians and preachers, cited in countless legal, political, and theological skirmishes, and retold in plays, movies, museum exhibits, and television documentaries." For the preview (PDF), visit: https://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/excerpt--scopes.pdf And for information about the book from its publisher, visit: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467116480 WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Eugenie C. Scott praising Friend of Darwin award recipient Dan Phelps: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/03/friend-darwin-daniel-j-phelps-0018494 For NCSE's blog, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's blog: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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