Louisiana Coalition for Science

By Barbara Forrest

To parents, public school teachers, principals, curriculum supervisors, school boards, and district superintendents of Louisiana:

Thank you for all you do to support Louisiana’s public schools. The public school system is a lifeline for our state’s young people, who count on you to make sure that their education prepares them for the 21st-century world. A good education is essential to their ability to live decent lives as productive citizens.

As the 2009-2010 school year begins, please remember that Louisiana now has a creationist law: the Louisiana Science Education Act [pdf] of 2008. For an analysis of the LSEA, see this document [pdf]. This law was promoted by the Louisiana Family Forum (LFF), a religious group whose director, Rev. Gene Mills, does not send his children to public schools (Gene Mills’ Christmas Letter 2008). In drafting the LSEA and influencing the BESE policy that implements it, the LFF partnered with an out-of-state creationist think tank, the Center for Science and Culture (CSC). The CSC is part of the Discovery Institute (DI) in Seattle, WA, the national headquarters of the intelligent design (ID) creationist movement. To learn more about the ID movement, see “Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement: Its True Nature and Goals” here [pdf].

You should be on guard against the creationist “supplemental materials” that this law permits under the guise of “critical thinking,” “logical analysis,” and “objective discussion.” Teaching creationism in public school science classes was declared unconstitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court in the case of Edwards v. Aguillard 1987, which originated in our own state of Louisiana. Since “intelligent design” has been exposed as nothing more than creationism, the Edwards ruling applies to ID as well. Below are materials that should NOT be used in Louisiana’s public school science classes, along with tips that will help you recognize such materials. Our list may not include everything that could show up in our public schools. If you have questions about any materials, please contact the Louisiana Coalition for Science. We work directly with the National Center for Science Education.

*Note: This list will be updated as additional materials are identified, so please visit periodically.

Creationist Books and Other Print Material

• Creationist textbook addendums at Textaddons.com —  These addendums were written by Charles Voss, a long-time Louisiana creationist. In 1994, he participated in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Livingston Parish School Board to adopt a creationist curriculum guide. He now partners with the Louisiana Family Forum to promote these addendums, which he has written to be used with state-approved biology textbooks. LFF operative Darrell White promotes the addenda on his creationist “Origins Science” web page.
• Explore Evolution —  This is the Discovery Institute’s new stealth creationism textbook. It is intended for use as a supplement to approved classroom materials. The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) offers an extensive critique of this book. Biologist John Timmer of Ars Technica also reviewed it. See also our LCFS post about this book. In 2008, CSC associate director John West told an Opelousas newspaper that the Discovery Institute hopes that Louisiana schools will use this book.
• Icons of Evolution —  This stealth creationist book was written by Jonathan Wells of the Discovery Institute. NCSE offers links to an extensive list of critiques of Icons, along with NCSE director Eugenie Scott’s review of the book for Science. In 2008, when LFF operative Darrell White (see above) was interviewed on WRKF’s Jim Engster Show in Baton Rouge, LA, during the legislative session in which the LSEA was passed, White identified Icons as the book that he thought should be used in Louisiana public schools. See White’s article, “A Tale of Two Flies,” at the creationist Answers in Genesis website, where he references the “false ‘icons’ of evolution.” In the February 13, 2009, story by National Public Radio featuring Danny Pennington, former biology teacher at West Monroe (LA) High School, a copy of Icons is visible on Pennington’s desk. Pennington helped promote Ouachita Parish’s creationist “Science Curriculum Policy” [pdf], which was adopted on November 29, 2006.
• The Theory of Intelligent Design: A Briefing Packet for Educators [pdf](at http://www.discovery.org/a/4299)  —  DI produced this booklet for teachers in response to Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, the PBS NOVA Peabody Award-winning documentary about the first intelligent design legal case, Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District (2005).

• For a complete catalog of ID creationist books to help you identify a questionable book, consult the website of Access Research Network. ARN is a de facto arm of the Discovery Institute that serves as a clearinghouse for ID creationist materials.

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Creationist Videos/DVDs

(*Intelligent design creationist videos are slickly produced with professional-looking graphics, etc. People who are unfamiliar with mainstream science can easily be deceived into thinking that they are legitimate science documentaries.)

• Unlocking the Mystery of Life —  This is a Discovery Institute video that DI has promoted aggressively for use in public schools. A critique of the video is available at NCSE, along with analyses by scientists. This video is heavily promoted by fundamentalist Christian organizations and young-earth creationist organizations such as the Institute for Creation Research. Focus on the Family, a national religious ministry (the LFF is the Louisiana affiliate), partners with Christianbook.com to promote this video packaged with Icons of Evolution (see below).
• The Privileged Planet —  This DVD is based on the book with the same title written by two Discovery Institute creationists. The authors have written a study guide [pdf] for teachers and students to use with the book and DVD in which they say that these materials “can be used as a supplement for an introductory astronomy or general science course.” A critique of the book by Prof. Hector Avalos of Iowa State University is available at Talkreason.org, which is an excellent source of articles that critique intelligent design.
• Icons of Evolution —  This video is based on Jonathan Wells’s book of the same title above. There is also a study guide that DI describes as a”curricular supplement for use in conjunction with any high school biology textbook.” Access Research Network features an Icons of Evolution Video Study Kit. The above critiques of the book would apply to the video as well.
• Investigating Evolution —  This Discovery Institute DVD contains teaching modules that were adapted from the Icons of Evolution video. The LA Family Forum is promoting this DVD from its “Critical Thinking” web page.

• For the complete catalog of ID creationist videos, consult the website of Access Research Network.

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Tips for Identifying Creationist Materials  —  And What to Do Next

1. Be alert to the code language that creationists are using in their effort to disguise their intentions.

• “Critical thinking,” “logical analysis,” and “open and objective discussion” as applied to “evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning” (these are the code terms and subjects enumerated in the LA Science Education Act).  —  These are the code words of choice in the LA Science Education Act. For the background on these code terms as used in the LSEA, see “Analysis of SB 733: ‘LA Science Education Act‘” on our website. See specifically the “Updated June 5″ pdf document linked at the bottom of that page. For a more comprehensive discussion of the code language being used by the ID movement, see “Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement: Its True Nature and Goals,” pp. 19-22, here [pdf].
• “Academic freedom” —  This is the code language under which the LA Science Education Act was initially introduced as SB 561. Since 2007, the Discovery Institute has been promoting its deceptively named “Model Academic Freedom Statute on Evolution” in state legislatures. None of these code terms are new. Creationists have used them for decades, as, for example, young-earth creationist Henry Morris used “academic freedom” in 1975.
• “Strengths and weaknesses of evolution,” “arguments for and against evolution,” and “evidence against evolution” —  ID creationists are using these code phrases to fool people into accepting the false premise that there actually is evidence that weakens or undermines evolution. The fact is that ALL the scientific evidence that has been amassed since Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859 confirms the fact of evolution. There is no evidence against evolution. The use of these terms in material that is being taught in a public school science class is a red flag. Here is an example of ID creationist Jonathan Wells arguing for teaching the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution. The New York Times published an article about this strategy. The book Explore Evolution uses the “arguments for and against” tactic: “This book is one of the first textbooks ever to use the inquiry-based approach to teach modern evolutionary theory. It does so by examining the current evidence and arguments for and against the key ideas of modern Darwinian theory.” The Discovery Institute commissions flawed polls based on these false premises in order to support their contention that most Americans support teaching “evidence against” evolution.
• “Teach the controversy” —  The Discovery Institute uses this sound bite to promote the false idea that the mainstream scientific community considers the theory of evolution to be controversial. The only controversy about the status of evolutionary theory is the cultural controversy stirred up by the Discovery Institute and their supporters.
• “Naturalism” —  Creationists reject the naturalistic methodology of modern science, which is nothing more than the “scientific method” about which we learned as children in elementary school. Phillip Johnson, the central strategist of the ID movement, has made the rejection of scientific naturalism the centerpiece of the movement’s attack on the teaching of evolution. A very good discussion of the ID movement’s rejection of naturalism is available at Talkdesign.org. Complaints about the teaching of “naturalistic” evolution are one of the warning signs that evolution is being attacked.

2. Find out what materials your children are using in their science classes and read them carefully.

3. If you encounter literature or hear proposals to school boards that use any of the above the terms, you should be suspicious. Attend your parish and local school board meetings and take notes. Please be cordial and respectful to everyone with whom you interact, including teachers, school board members, etc. The National Center for Science Education has a list of helpful tips for citizens who want to get involved in protecting science education.

4. If you find out that your child’s school or your parish school board is using creationist supplementary material, REPORT IT to the LA Coalition for Science.