By Barbara Forrest

Readers may remember this quote in which Rev. Gene Mills of the Louisiana Family Forum (LFF) described the Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA).

This bill is not about teaching creationism or religion. If one reads the language of his bill, it is clear that it simply permits teachers ‘to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories pertinent to the course being taught.’   [emphasis added]

Mills wrote this in an April 11, 2008, letter to the Hammond Daily Star, in which he had to do some very quick damage control after Senator Ben Nevers, who sponsored the bill for him, forgot to follow the script in his remarks in the April 6, 2008, Daily Star, in which he explained why he was sponsoring the LSEA on behalf of the LFF:

‘They [the LFF]  believe that scientific data related to creationism should be discussed when dealing with Darwin’s theory. This would allow the discussion of scientific facts,’ Nevers said. ‘I feel the students should know there are weaknesses and strengths in both scientific arguments.’  [emphasis added]

You could just about hear the kittens over at the LFF headquarters in Baton Rouge.

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By Barbara Forrest      

OK, readers, who knows what these two pictures have in common?

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By Barbara Forrest

The Louisiana Coalition for Science (LCFS) is pleased to announce the demise of HB 580, which is official with the adjournment of the Louisiana legislature today, June 23, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. This legislation was, by every indication, nothing more than an attempt to reverse the Louisiana Family Forum’s defeat in its effort to block the approval of new biology textbooks for Louisiana public schools in fall 2010. However, even though HB 580 was another stealth creationism bill, no subject of instruction in public schools would have been safe from its effects. Continue Reading »

By Barbara Forrest

The Baton Rouge Advocate has a great editorial today about Rep. Frank Hoffman’s HB 580, about which the LCFS sent out a press release [pdf] and a detailed analysis [pdf] on June 13. (See LCFS post, June 10, 2011.) The Advocate has it right: this bill does an end run around the established textbook review and adoption process that the Louisiana Family Forum has been trying unsuccessfully to thwart since 2002.

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By Barbara Forrest

Friends, we at the Louisiana Coalition for Science would like to be able to say that we are pulling your leg. But we’re not. Louisiana is about to enact into law yet another stealth creationism bill in the form of HB 580 — unless the Senate finally decides to put a stop to this foolishness within the next 13 days when the current legislative session (mercifully) comes to an end. HB 580 passed in the House of Representatives on June 8 with a vote [pdf] of 87 yays, 5 nays, and 13 abstentions. (Thank you, Rep. Walt Leger, Rep. Patricia Haynes-Smith, Rep. Regina Barrow, Rep. Barbara Norton, and Rep. Charmaine Marchand Stiaes.) Louisiana is the embodiment of one of the cardinal rules that every pro-science citizen has to learn:  CREATIONISTS NEVER GIVE UP. To which we now add a corollary:  CREATIONISTS WANT IT ALL. Louisiana creationists were given the proverbial inch in the form of the Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA), and since 2008 they have been industriously grabbing their mile.

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The Louisiana Coalition for Science is pleased to post (in alphabetic order) the following statements and letters of support [pdf] for the repeal of the creationist Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008.

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (added on May 6, 2011)
• American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS)
• American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
• American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
• Clergy Letter Project (added on May 7, 2011)
• Louisiana Association of Biology Educators (LABE)
• Louisiana Science Teachers Association (LSTA)
• National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)
• Paul Gross and Lawrence Lerner statements
• Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), cosigned by Society of Systematic Biologists and American Society of Naturalists

Along with Zack Kopplin, we thank all of these organizations and individuals for their support of the repeal effort. Should we receive additional letters and statements, we will update this post.

For readers who were not able to attend the rally at the Capitol today, Zack has posted his  YouTube video.

WAFB also ran a video news segment about the rally. Earlier in the day, Zack was interviewed on the Jim Engster Show on WRKF. Darrell White of the Louisiana Family Forum was included in this interview.

In addition to Zack, who delivered an address to attendees, Dr. Ian Binns spoke on behalf of the Louisiana Coalition for Science. Dr. Kevin Carman, Dean of the College of Science at Louisiana State University, also offered remarks. The Louisiana Coalition for Science thanks both Dr. Binns and Dr. Carman for participating.

Most of all, we thank Zack Kopplin for taking on the task of seeking repeal of the stealth creationist law that should never have been passed. The Louisiana legislature should care enough about what the rest of our fellow Americans think of our state by getting it off the books. But most of all, they should care enough about the education of young people like Zack, who has done what every responsible adult in Louisiana should be doing.

Thank you, Zack.

By Barbara Forrest

On Thursday, April 28, Zack Kopplin will hold a rally at the Capitol in Baton Rouge in support of SB 70, a bill sponsored by Senator Karen Carter Peterson (thank you Senator Peterson!) to repeal the creationist Louisiana Science Education Act, which was passed in 2008. Zack has a Facebook page with information about the rally, and he has information about the repeal effort at Repealcreationism.com. On April 22, Zack was interviewed by WBRZ in Baton Rouge. This young man is doing what every responsible adult in the state of Louisiana should be doing — petitioning the legislature to correct the mistake they made in 2008 by letting themselves be cowed by the threat of political hardball by the Louisiana Family Forum.

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The following letter has been sent to the Louisiana legislature and to Gov. Bobby Jindal. (Reproduced from Repealcreationism.com, posted by Zack Kopplin, April 21, 2011)

42 Nobel Laureates Call for a Repeal of the LSEA

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / Louisiana Coalition for Science  / http://lasciencecoalition.org

Download press release [pdf]

Louisiana Coalition for Science Supports SB 70 to Repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act

Baton Rouge, LA, April 18, 2011 — In solidarity with Baton Rouge Magnet High School senior Zachary Kopplin’s effort to repeal the 2008 Louisiana Science Education Act (www.repealcreationism.com), the Louisiana Coalition for Science supports Senator Karen Carter Peterson’s bill, SB 70, which will repeal the law in its entirety. In the interest of Louisiana public school students, the legislature should pass the bill and Gov. Jindal should sign it. (See http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/byinst.asp?sessionid=11RS&billid=SB70&doctype=ALL.)

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