Vanderbilt University
Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Vanderbilt University
PROFILE
Larisa DeSantis
Guest
FROM Larisa DeSantis
Which Way, L.A.?
Academic Freedom versus Science Tennessee's Republican legislature has enacted a new law allowing teachers to question the science of Evolution. The legislation protects teachers from helping students "review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories" including… "evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning." It will become law unless Governor Bill Haslam vetoes it today, which he's not likely to do. Is it back to the Scopes trial of 1925? Why is challenging Global Warming also protected? Photo: Clarence Darrow (L) and William Jennings Bryan (R) during the Scopes Trial in 1925
To the Point
Is 'Academic Freedom' a Disguise for Religion? In 1925, a Tennessee jury convicted John Scopes for questioning the Bible by teaching Evolution. More recently, it's become a required science. But now the legislature has passed a law allowing teachers to raise "scientific weaknesses" about Evolution, along with Global Warming. The new law – which protects teachers from helping students "review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories" including… evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning" -- will become law unless Governor Bill Haslam vetoes it today, which he's not likely to do. Science educators say there are no such "weaknesses," and warn that Tennessee could become a laughing stock for teaching pseudo science. The legal language denies any intention of promoting religion, but the ACLU is threatening to sue. We hear both sides.
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