Happy Darwin Day!

What's that? You didn't know that today is Charles Darwin's birthday? Or that today is International Darwin Day? Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster! You'd better get with it!

Darwin Day is a recently instituted celebration intended to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin on February 12, 1809. The day is also an opportunity to highlight Darwin's contribution to science and to promote science in general.

You can find events in your part of the world at the Darwin Day website. There's something for everyone, including a barbeque in Australia; a symposium in Austria; a potluck in Calgary; atheists, beer, and books in Copenhagen; lots and lots of events in Italy that I can't understand because I don't speak Italian; and lots and lots of other things around the world.

Evolution vs. Creationism: Are you freakin' kidding me?

A mighty hat tip to Cootamundra Wattle for this "fodder for the blog," as she put it.

In yesterday's CommonDreams, Sean Gonsalves has an excellent article on the current state of the debate between evolution and creationism. (I can't even believe I just wrote that sentence — what year is this?!)

From Gonsalves:

A federal lawsuit has been filed against a biologist at the world-famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution by a zebra fish researcher named Nathaniel Abraham, alleging his civil rights were violated when he was fired because his belief in creationism.

Yes, a researcher is suing a biologist over his beliefs in creationism. (Ironically, this researcher studies zebra fish, pictured above, which are featured in a UC Berkeley article from the series "Understanding Evolution." I guess he didn't go to Berkeley.)

Gonsalves points out that the current strategy of creationists such as the one in this case seems to be to "insert skepticism" about evolution into the public arena, since their outright dismissal of evolution on religious grounds has been thrown out numerous courts. And as often happens in these types of passionate debates, facts are being manipulated and twisted to fit the arguers needs:

The evolution vs. creationism debate may be an unavoidable political fight but much more relevant and revealing is what many evolution-believing secular conservatives and evolution-denying religious conservatives have in common: a belief in social Darwinism.

A popular misconception is that Darwin coined the phrase “survival of the fittest.” Actually, Darwin’s thang was “natural selection,” which turns out to involve lots of cooperation.

The origin of “survival of the fittest” can be traced to British philosopher Herbert Spencer, who had an illustrious career justifying racism and imperialism with his pseudo-science 50 years after Darwin published The Origin of the Species.

Spencer bastardized Darwin’s theory and attempted to apply his misunderstanding of evolution to politics and economics. Thus began a political tradition in this country that has reached its apogee today, in which public policy is seen as a vehicle to prevent the weak from being “parasites” on the “fit.”

I encourage you to read the rest of Gonsalves' article here. With the rise in the polls of social conservatives like Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, it's imperative that we know (1) the facts about evolution theory, and (2) where these social conservatives would take us on their journey down creationist lane.

So while science battles evolution-opponents, I’m trying to understand a conservative political species that opposes evolution on religious grounds while supporting social Darwinism on the political and economic grounds.

Why is our childs behind the rest of the world in science? (and reading, and math)

Breaking news out of Texas:

The state’s director of science curriculum has resigned after being accused of creating the appearance of bias against teaching intelligent design.

That's right. Read it again:

The state’s director of science curriculum has resigned after being accused of creating the appearance of bias against teaching intelligent design.

Blue Gal posted the following story at Crooks and Liars:

Comer was put on 30 days paid administrative leave shortly after she forwarded an e-mail in late October announcing a presentation being given by Barbara Forrest, author of “Inside Creationism’s Trojan Horse,” a book that says creationist politics are behind the movement to get intelligent design theory taught in public schools. Forrest was also a key witness in the Kitzmiller v. Dover case concerning the introduction of intelligent design in a Pennsylvania school district. Comer sent the e-mail to several individuals and a few online communities, saying, “FYI.”

Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, which sent the original e-mail to Comer announcing the event, said Comer’s situation seems to be a warning to agency employees.

“This just underscores the politicization of science education in Texas,” Scott said. “In most states, the department of education takes a leadership role in fostering sound science education. Apparently TEA employees are supposed to be kept in the closet and only let out to do the bidding of the board.”

Needless to say this is taking the science blogs by storm…more at two of my favorites, Bad Astronomy (thanks for the tip, Phil) and Pharyngula.

Update: Some commenters are taking offense that this post is anti-Christian. I wrote it. I’m a Christian (believing Quaker). A great many members of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State believe as I do that intelligent design is a specific attempt by Fundamentalists to inject religion into the public schools, and some of us also believe that if the State teaches the Bible they will misinterpret it for our children. Religious freedom requires freedom from anyone’s individual religious beliefs being force taught in the public schools as scientific fact. Read more here. — BG