Legislators on Monday broadened a proposal aimed at allowing Indiana's public schools to teach creationism in science classes to require that such courses include origin-of-life theories from multiple religions.

The Senate approved the change to legislation critics had argued was unconstitutional because federal courts repeatedly have found teaching creationism violates church-state separation because of its reliance on the Bible's book of Genesis.

The change proposed by Democratic Sen. Vi Simpson of Bloomington says any course offered by public schools teaching creationism must include origin theories from multiple religions, among them Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Scientology.

Simpson said she didn't think the change would resolve constitutional problems, but she believed broadening the subject matter might cause local school boards to hesitate before deciding to insert religion into science classes.


[...the madness continues in the article link...]

Data (1) (1)
The head of the Galactic
Confederation (76 planets around
larger stars visible from here)
(founded 95,000,000 yrs ago, very space opera)
solved overpopulation (250 billion
or so per planet -- 178 billion on
average) by mass implanting.
He caused people to be brought to
Teegeeack (Earth) and put an H Bomb
on the principal volcanoes (Incident 2)
and then the Pacific area ones
were taken in boxes to Hawaii
and the Atlantic Area ones to
Las Palmas and there "packaged."
His name was Xenu. He used
renegades. Various misleading
data by means of circuits etc.
was placed in the implants.
When through with his crime Loyal Officers
(to the people) captured him
after 6 years of battle
and put him in an electronic
mountain trap where he still
is. "They" are gone. The place (Confed.)
has since been a desert.

I suppose that if a scilon cried enough about not getting fair treatment it could happen. The question really is which creation stories will be allowed? Many cultures have their own ideas about creation, so which one will be heard?

Associated Press
Updated: Tuesday, 31 Jan 2012, 8:14 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 31 Jan 2012, 5:07 PM EST

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana's public schools would be allowed to teach creationism in science classes as long as they include origin of life theories from multiple religions under a proposal approved Tuesday by the state Senate.

The Senate passed the bill on a 28-22 vote even though some senators raised questions about the measure's constitutionality. The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

The bill permits local school boards to offer classes that include origin theories from religions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Scientology.

Democratic Sen. Tim Skinner of Terre Haute, a former high school teacher, said he believed few teachers would be qualified to teach a class covering multiple religions and worried about the lack of specifics on what such a class would include.

"I think you are just asking schools —and I think you're asking teachers — to do something that is going to open up a door that is probably going to result in a lawsuit which is going to be costly," Skinner said.

[...more in link...]

[...]

... We're told that the addition of Scientology was actually the work of Senate Democrats who, unable to stop the bill's passing, at least wanted to make it as ridiculous as possible.

This morning, I talked to Kyle Stokes, who covers the Indiana Senate for StateImpact Indiana, a local collaboration with National Public Radio.

I had noticed that Stokes was covering the progress of the creationism bill, which was sponsored in the Senate by Republican Dennis Kruse.

I asked Stokes why, at the last minute, Scientology was added to the bill's language.

"They did that to neuter the bill," he said. "The bill now affirms what already exists, that you can teach religion in the schools."

[...much more in article link...]

SENATE BILL No. 89


_____


DIGEST OF SB 89 (Updated January 30, 2012 4:54 pm - DI 116)


Citations Affected: IC 20-30.

Synopsis: Teaching of the origin of life. Provides that the governing body of a school corporation may require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life. Requires the curriculum for the course to include theories from multiple religions.


Effective: July 1, 2012.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kruse , Holdman, Delph, Banks, Schneider

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


January 4, 2012, read first time and referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.
January 26, 2012, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
January 30, 2012, read second time, amended, ordered engrossed.

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Second Regular Session 117th General Assembly (2012)


SENATE BILL No. 89

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning education.


Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:


SOURCE: IC 20-30-6-18; (12)SB0089.2.1. --> SECTION 1. IC 20-30-6-18 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2012]: Sec. 18. The governing body of a school corporation may offer instruction on various theories of the origin of life. The curriculum for the course must include theories from multiple religions, which may include, but is not limited to, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Scientology.

What is the scientology creation story?

I know about the thetans, but for there to be a creation story surrounding this "belief" somebody had to create the thetans right?

Incident I

Occurs at start of track (4 quadrillion years ago).
LOUD SNAP
WAVES OF LIGHT
CHARIOT COMES OUT, TURNS RIGHT AND LEFT
CHERUB COMES OUT
BLOWS HORN, COMES CLOSE
SHATTERING SERIES OF SNAPS
CHERUB FADES BACK (RETREATS)
BLACKNESS DUMPED ON THETAN

The Indiana Senate has approved this bill:

The governing body of a school corporation may offer instruction on various theories of the origin of life. The curriculum for the course must include theories from multiple religions, which may include, but is not limited to, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Scientology.

I've heard a few complaints from Hoosiers about this, including teachers. One high school science teacher has asked me to post this open letter on the subject; they've asked that I not include their name, which is sad in itself. Not only is the legislature passing stupid laws, but the environment is so oppressive that the science teachers who are expected to implement it cannot speak out against it, for fear of losing their jobs. Indiana, you suck.

At least I don't have to worry about the politicians of Indiana gunning for my job, so I can post this letter for my correspondent.

Honorable Representatives of the state of Indiana,

I am quite dismayed to learn of the passage of SB 89 which will give Indiana school boards the authority to require the teaching of various origin stories in public schools. There are several reasons I feel this is an inappropriate action for our state to take.

First, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in 1987 in Edwards v. Aguillard that balanced treatment of creationism and evolution violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Then in 2005 the U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania ruled against the inclusion of Intelligent Design in the science curriculum. As Judge Jones wrote, "To be sure, Darwin's theory of evolution is imperfect. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions. The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy." Now it appears that the citizens of Indiana are being poorly served. If this becomes law, our citizens will have to foot the bill for the lawsuits that will certainly ensue.

Second, I appreciate Indiana's need to educate our citizens about the beliefs and cultures of our planet's people. Our students would greatly benefit from learning about the multitude of worldviews that exist, in a philosophy or comparative religion class. Such understanding would make our citizens better prepared for international commerce and political discourse. I do not believe that SB 89 was introduced for this reason, however. The implication is that the introduction of various religious beliefs would take place in the science class room. As a biologist and science teacher, I understand the evidence for evolution is as strong as the evidence for any other theory we teach. I also understand that religious belief is based on faith, which by definition requires no evidence. I do not comprehend how exposing my students to ideas based, not on evidence, but faith could constitute good science education. When I read that this bill will allow school boards to require the teaching of "theories from multiple religions", I interpret this to indicate that a school board may specify which religions may be taught. Two constitutes "multiple", so if a school board so chose, they could require teachers to teach Christian and Jewish creation ideas only, which are essentially the same. This would not serve to enlighten students on the diversity of ideas, but to reinforce ideas that either they already hold or that they will find in conflict with their beliefs. In either case, it could set students at odds with each other, while not teaching any science at all.

If I am misinterpreting the spirit of this bill, please change the language to indicate that this is not to be applied to science classes, and/or specify which religions' views must be taught if the local school board chooses to require this. In my opinion, if this is to be done in any way consistent with spirit of the Establishment Clause, all religious views must be taught. In this case, teachers will not be able to cover the state science standards in 180 days and also teach religion.

Third, the misunderstanding of the word theory in the bill is a sad indication of the ignorance of the authors. In science, the word "theory" does not mean an "idea". A theory is an explanation for how something happens, based on a great deal of research which has been reviewed, published, tested, re-tested, accepted by most scientists in the field, and not yet disproven. No religion has a "theory" of the origins of life that meets the criteria we require to give an idea the full weight of the title "theory" in science. I would be happy to speak with any representative who would like to learn more about what the theory of evolution actually says and what evidence supports it.

Sincerely,

Indiana High School Science Teacher

I know about the thetans, but for there to be a creation story surrounding this "belief" somebody had to create the thetans right?