Texas textbook review panel: Put more ‘creation science based on Biblical principles’ in biology books
Religious conservatives on the Texas state textbook review panel have targeted for elimination high school biology textbooks that don’t include robust refutations of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
The panel, which includes several creationists, is urging the State Board of Education to reject any textbook that does not issue what it calls “disclaimers” on key concepts in evolutionary theory.
“I understand the National Academy of Science’s strong support of the theory of evolution,” said Texas A&M University nutritionist Karen Beathard. “At the same time, this is a theory. As an educator, parent and grandparent, I feel very firmly that creation science based on Biblical principles should be incorporated into every biology book that is up for adoption.”
The president of Texas Freedom Network, Kathy Miller, worries that the decisions of reviewers like Beathard will turn Texas into a “laughingstock”:
What our kids learn in their public schools should be based on mainstream, established science, not the personal views of ideologues, especially those who are grossly