stevestory
Posts: 13407
Joined: Oct. 2005
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| Quote (hooligans @ May 30 2008,15:58) | I'm curious if anyone has bothered to check in with some of hte people who endorsed the 1st version of Explore Evolution. One was Doug Cowan from George R. Curtis Senior High School Biology near Tacoma, WA.
He said: | Quote | | Explore Evolution is an excellent resource for those who wish to study the topic of neo-Darwinian evolution objectively. The standard pillars of the theory are examined from all sides objectively, but more importantly, civilly. The inquiry approach is excellent for students as they use critical thinking skills to "explore" cutting edge information in an evidence for and evidence against format, leaving room for further debate and questions. The students can follow the evidence wherever it leads and form their own conclusions, or as Charles Darwin said, "A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question" |
His email is dcowan AT upsd DOT wednet DOT edu. The department chair of biology at his school is Peter Heussman. His email is pheussman AT upsd DOT wednet DOT edu
I happen to know that they are doing a textbook adoption this year. I wonder, now that the year is over, if Explore Evolution was one of the texts piloted? I wonder what decision was made? I wonder what feedback Doug Cowan or Peter Heussman have for Paul Nelson. Perhaps someone should enquire? I'm rather shy. |
What went wrong in Dover was that the yokel creationists weren't savvy about hiding their religious motivations and content. They made lots of belligerent "Don't you love Jesus?" type remarks before the Discovery Institute got there. Explore Evolution and this business in Tacoma is presumably the DI's attempt to get the locals saying the dishonest PR stuff from the very beginning, the better to survive a court challenge. I doubt there's any point in talking to Doug Cowan, as he's likely been covertly set up from the beginning to carefully use the right language. I don't think Cowan is stupid enough to believe a book funded by the DI and written by a bunch of Dissent from Darwin signers is 'objective', I think he's part of the next phase of the creationist strategy.
As I've said for years, I think eventually they could water it down enough to hide their true nature from the courts. As a friend said recently, "At first it was 'evolution sucks, therefore Jesus', then it became 'evolution sucks, therefore unnamed designer', and now it looks like 'evolution sucks'."
('course, there's always the possibility that Cowan is a raving nutter and that his nuttery can be located on the internet. I haven't looked)
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