Ethics

What do Biologists Know About Biology?

By Ed Brayton

A couple of Baylor professors, Paul Glanzer and Wesley Null, have written a profoundly silly op-ed in a Texas newspaper taking the bizarre position that the State Board of Education shouldn't listen to biologists when developing the biology curriculum.

Some state biologists claim they know the most about this interdisciplinary relationship, but they are wrong. Why should we trust biologists over religion professors, curriculum professors and others who spend their lives studying and teaching these subjects? We can think of many good reasons not to trust biologists on matters of religion and curriculum. A recent statement by a biologist affiliated with the 21st Century Science Coalition highlights a problem with listening to "experts" who are out of their specialized field. Speaking of the relationship between religion and curriculum, that biologist said, "It's time to keep religion and faith in the Sunday schools and not in the public schools." That position is a view that many legal, religious and educational experts outright reject.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on October 09, 2008 (boomark / email).