The Discovery Insitute responds on Ohio HB 597

Once again the Discovery Institute (DI) decided that the use of the term 'Intelligent Design' requires some sort of response from them.  They have the nerve to ask "Where is the Intelligent Design in Ohio House Bill 597".  Now I could make a flippant answer and say the bill was not 'intelligently designed', but I won't continue down that path and make a more direct response.

If the DI bothered to pay any attention to the words in an article rather than just what items they think they can cut and paste or quote-mine, they might have realized that no one has said the bill itself mentions Intelligent Design.  Much like their tactics in the past ('Critical Analysis tactic for example), they seem to think that not having used the term, the obvious conclusion is that it has nothing to do it.  However, if we borrow an old line and say "And now a word from our Sponsors!", you can easily see the issue.  One of the statements by bill sponsor, Rep Andy Thompson:

"said the goal is not to mandate what must be taught but provide options for districts.“In many districts, they may have a different perspective on that, and we want to provide them the flexibility to consider all perspectives, not just on matters of faith or how the Earth came into existence, but also global warming and other topics that are controversial,” Thompson said."

When Thompson was asked if intelligent design — the idea that a higher authority is responsible for life — should be taught alongside evolution, Thompson said, “I think it would be good for them to consider the perspectives of people of faith. That’s legitimate.”

So while the public goal of the bill is to repeal the Common Core Standards, which, BTW are not science standards, but English and Math, as you can see Thompson stated the goal was to allow different perspectives . . . a follow-up question targeted one of those 'perspectives' and Thompson called it 'legitimate'.  Of course the DI called that type of question "twisting the words of policymakers".  Sure, trying to get to the intent as well as the meaning behind a policymakers actions is OK, but if they do not agree with your organizations agenda, somehow the reporter is twisting the words.  The last paragraph of the DI's response was:

"So the Columbus Dispatch is right about one thing: history is repeating itself in Ohio. In 2006, Darwin activists inflamed groundless fears about intelligent design in the schools. In 2014, they're getting ready to do it all over again."

Let's think back at Ohio's 'groundless fears'.

• Wasn't it the Discovery Institute who lobbied the Ohio State School Board to teach Intelligent Design?  
• Wasn't it the Discovery Institute who handed to Ohio State School Board a list of 44 peer-reviewed publications that they said showed support for Intelligent Design?  A list that was fraudulently represented by them! (http://ncse.com/creationism/general/analysis-discovery-institutes-bibliography).
• Anyone else remember Deborah Owens Fink (former Ohio Board of Education member) and her efforts to get Creationism, and later Intelligent Design, into the school curriculum.  She was the one who referred to the National Academy of Sciences as "a group of so-called scientists."  When real scientists voiced support for Fink's opponent, the Discovery Institute complained about it (http://www.evolutionnews.org/2006/11/inside_the_mind_of_the_new_yor002817.html)
• Back in 1996 the Ohio House voted down a bill that would have done exactly what this bill can do -- and that bill didn't mention the words Creationism or Intelligent Design either! (http://ncse.com/ncser/16/1/close-ohio-house-vote-scuttles-evidence-against-evolution-bi)

NCSE's own Steve Edinger said perfectly back in 1996: "Creationism is like a vampire, and every time you think the thing is finally dead, someone pulls the damned stake out again."  Ohio has seen that damned stake removed in 1996, 2002, 2006, and now again in 2014.  Ohio's concerns are not groundless, they are a response to a pattern of misguided and, in many cases, reprehensible behavior by groups like the Discovery Institute who wish to destroy science education.

There are still many misconceptions about the Common Core standards.  But I would like to put it even plainer than the reporter.  What is Representative Thompson's plan to replace the Common Core?  He has none.  He's going to pass the buck back to local school boards.  School boards that had control over their standards up until 2010 and they were failing our students!  How many Ohio students failed out of college for being poorly prepared?  How many had to take developmental classes (this are a re-teaching of the things they should have learned in High School)?  How many businesses complained that High School graduates did not have to basic tools to perform tasks graduates were able to perform 20 years ago?  We aren't talking highly skilled tasks, we are talking about tasks that require basic reading, writing, and math skills.  These are the problems the Common Core can help address.  Since implementing the Common Core, our neighbor to the South, Kentucky, has reported that the high school graduation rate had increased from 80 percent in 2010 to 86 percent in 2013, test scores went up 2 percentage points in the second year of using the Common Core test, and the percentage of students considered to be ready for college or a career, based on a battery of assessments, went up from 34 percent in 2010 to 54 percent in 2013.  (Ripley, Amanda (September 30, 2013). "The New Smart Set: What Happens When Millions of Kids Are Asked to Master Fewer Things More Deeply?". Time. p. 36.)


So now that we've gotten past the typical knee-jerk reaction of the Discovery Institute, I hope it is clear that there are Ohioans who oppose the Common Core standards.  The standards aren't perfect, but I hope folks oppose it for the right reasons.  I also hope that whatever follows the bill does not, by intent or by accident, open the door for a group like the Discovery Institute or the Creation Museum to walk in trying to pass off their religious ideas as if they belongs in a science class. But regardless of the politics, before you complain about the Common Core Standards, make sure you understand them and object based on reality.

"God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance"

Neil DeGrasse Tyson takes down Bill O'Reilly's use of the God of the Gaps argument.  It's a classic!  I love the line "God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance" because this is how many Creationists actually treat their particular version of a deity.  They defend the idea of God based on there being things we don't understand.  Tyson's argument is a very simple, yet very powerful response to O'Reilly's comment 'tides come in, tides go out, we don't understand that' [I am paraphrasing O'Reilly's comment because I don't have a link to it].  How long have we understood the tides?  Bill O'Reilly, the Ann Coulter for people who cannot read, might not understand tides, but science sure as hell does and has for well over a century.  I remember learning about tides in elementary school science.  Guess Bill missed that day.

Yes, there are things we do not understand.  But can anyone state, with any degree of certainty, that we will never understand something?  Compare and contrast what we knew 2000 years ago to 200 years ago to 20 year ago.  If the idea of God is defined by what we do not know, then in reality, Creationists have placed God in a small box that is getting smaller and smaller. 

Just a small aside.  I saw a Mike Peters editorial cartoon today of Ann Coulter taking the Ice Bucket Challenge and melting like the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.  My first thought was "I wonder is Bill O'Reilly has taken the challenge"?

For the record, I have not been challenged.  If I am so challenged, I will take it and will also donate to a charity that hits closer to home for me, Multiple Sclerosis.  Nothing personal ALS, just MS has more meaning for me.  I usually donate to MS, Special Olympics, Vietnam Vets, and the American Heart Association annually.  I encourage everyone to donate to a worthwhile charity, whether you dump icy water on your head or not or even if you don't film it and post it somewhere!

Words have meanings

I read a post over on the NCSE's blog, that is the National Center for Science Education.  Normally I really enjoy reading their blog and frequently refer to their site to keep abreast of science education in this country.  Often I learn a few new things as well.  However, this particular entry, Misconception Monday: Hypotheses, Theories, and Laws, Oh My!, left me rather perplexed.  In a nutshell the author, Stephanie Keep, defined Hypothesis, Theory and Law.  I was looking forward to it, especially since I've posted on this topic before (Arguments XIX -- Hypothesis, Theory, and Law), but the article rather blurred the lines between them to the point they were barely recognizable, well at least to me.  Now granted my science education from HS and college was a while ago, but what I learned put a much sharper demarcation between them than was described here.

I understand there is no absolute universal definition of the terms, the generally accepted differences were not simply one of scope, but of applicability.  A hypothesis is an idea, a testable idea about some given phenomena.  It can be very narrow or fairly broad.  Hypotheses are tested and from there they can be rejected, confirmed, or even modified.  Over time, as the modifications grow less and less encompassing, the hypothesis becomes stronger and more well supported.  Hypotheses can get rolled up into a Scientific theory.  Now there rarely is a one for one relationship here, but the Theory is much more encompassing than a hypothesis and has undergone considerable testing and constant confirmation.  In fact pretty much all the evidence supports a hypothesis, or hypotheses, before they can be considered a theory, or part of a theory.  It's a process that's been defined time and time again.

Sure, the reality is less than absolute.  New hypotheses can come out of existing theories, theories can be made up of multiple theories and hypotheses.  But as an explanation or terminology, I think the complicated reality only confuses the issue.  Before you can appreciate the complex reality, you have to understand the basics of the terminology.

Now a law is a manifestation of a theory/hypothesis.  It's much more narrow than either a hypothesis or a theory.  It's an application under a very specific set of parameters.  It's often expressed mathematically, but that's not always true.

What is true is that while hypotheses can become theories, they never 'grow-up' to be laws.  That's a common Creationist myth about science.  I actually have heard people say things like 'If Evolution is so strong, why isn't it a law!"  There I agree with Stephanie!  What bothers me the most about how blurry she defined the terms, it opens the door for this exact sort of behavior.  If we cannot firmly define our terminology, we tend to be fighting an uphill battle when other people misuse the terminology.

Out of curiosity, I searched the NCSE website for 'theory' and found this:

• Fact: In science, an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as “true”. Truth in science, however, is never final and what is accepted as a fact today may be modified or even discarded tomorrow.
• Hypothesis: A tentative statement about the natural world leading to deductions that can be tested. If the deductions are verified, the hypothesis is provisionally corroborated. If the deductions are incorrect, the original hypothesis is proved false and must be abandoned or modified. Hypotheses can be used to build more complex inferences and explanations.
• Law: A descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstances.
• Theory: In science, a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses.
  

I think Stephanie should have consulting the NCSE site before being to vague.

IS it really fair?

I was posting on another forum and someone raised what seemed like a nice, simple, innocuous point.  Isn't the wording of OH HB 597 simply being fair?

I'm reminded of several articles I read about journalistic 'fairness'.  All too often journalists seem to think that presenting both sides of an argument is an effort to be fair and concise.  I tend to disagree.  I know, that sounds harsh, but here is my thinking. 

Say you have a story with two sides.  Can you automatically assume both sides are equal?  No, not without actually examining both sides.  But when they are presented as equal, any examination gets harder to do, because of this artificial perception of equality.  Let's briefly look at one of my favorite examples, racism.  Should someone doing an article on the Civil Rights movement have to provide the Ku Klux Klan with an equal perspective?  Sounds ridiculous, and it is.  Might the article, or class, or film, on the Civil Right Movement mention the KKK?  Sure, probably for about a moment or two.  Without a doubt, the correct balance in any reasonable examination should lean nearly 100% on the Civil Rights side!  No one seems to complain about that.  In fact if you gave the KKK an equal billing, people would be screaming, and rightly so!  But wouldn't it be fair?  Of course not.

Yet, when it comes to science, like Evolution and Climate Change.  One side has tons of actual evidence, the other side has politics, religion, hearsay, wishful thinking and conjecture.  Is presenting them as equal really fair?  Every idea is not automatically on par with every other idea!  Whether we are talking about science vs religion, men vs women, Apple vs Microsoft, artificially inflating one side to give the appearance of fairness is a disservice to one side and offers an artificial -- and false -- support to the other.  Yes, even Apple vs Microsoft.  Some people believe Apple makes better computers.  However in any economic examination, you have to realize that Microsoft has the lion's share of the market and treating them both as equal brings down the market leader while artificially raising up the contender.  It's not fair to either of them.

Looking at HB 597 again, when asked whether "intelligent design" should be taught alongside evolution, Thompson [Andy Thompson (R-District 95)] answered,

"I think it would be good for them to consider the perspectives of people of faith. That's legitimate."

When introducing his bill, Thompson said:

"we want to provide them the flexibility to consider all perspectives,  not just on matters of faith or how the Earth came into existence, but  also global warming and other topics that are controversial."

Sounds pretty fair, huh?  Why didn't Andy mention that teaching Creationism/Intelligent Design as science is unconstitutional?  That kinda tilts the teeter-totter in a different direction.  Did Andy forget to mention that the last time a school district tried this (Dover PA, 2005) they wound up in expensive and time consuming litigation?  Now the it should be at full tilt!  While his words sound fair and reasonable, you need to look a little harder to realize they are anything but.

Several times in the past certain groups and people have tried to inject their religion into the science curriculum.  SO far it's failed here in Ohio and in most states.  Notably, Louisiana has a law that would theoretically allow it, but as far as I know, no one has tried to implement that part of the law.  This bill is another designed to allow just such a thing.  It's subtle, but it's there. 

The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) writes  about the bill:

 "The problem here," explained NCSE's executive director Ann Reid, "is that there simply isn't a debate within the scientific community over evolution or over climate change. Instead, there's a consensus, with the vast majority of scientists, of whatever political or religious inclinations, agreeing on the facts. By encouraging local school districts to misrepresent the overwhelming scientific consensus, HB 597 is a recipe for miseducation." (Antiscience legislation in Ohio)

Patricia Princehouse, director of Case Western Reserve University's Program in Evolutionary Biology, told the Dispatch, "It sounds exactly like the kind of things intelligent design and creationist promoters say." (Update on Ohio's antiscience bill)

 I'm sure we will be hearing much more!  Hopefully sanity will break out again in Ohio!

Common Core Standards

I really hadn't given a lot of thought about the Common Core Standards since they were approved in Ohio in 2010.  What I recall disagrees distinctly with some of what I have been reading since hearing about HB 597, an effort to repeal them here in Ohio.

If memory serves, the Common Core Standards initiative was not a Federally-driven program, but one driven by several states who were looking to set a common set of high standards for Science, Math, and English.  It was not part of the No-Child-Left-Behind nor any other Federal initiative.  Ohio adopted them primarily because of the high level AND the ability to have a common set of standards across the state.  These were standards, NOT curriculum, not teaching methodologies, and also not a ceiling.  Local school boards and districts could use the standards as a starting point and go even further.  The objective was preparing students for both college and their future.

What I have been hearing is that the standards dumb everyone down to the lowest common denominator.  I don't recall that at all.  In fact the minimum required level in most Ohio school districts went up when the standards were adopted.

I've also been hearing how the common core injects too much Federal Government into the local school systems.  Again, this was a STATE initiative, not a Federal program.  A number of States got together to pull these standards into a coherent set.  It has never been, nor is there any intention to mandate this at a Federal level.

Check out the CCSSO website for more information.  CCSSO stands for Council of Chief State School Officials.  The standards are a joint effort with the National Governors Center for Best Practices.  I think all of the made-up objections to the standards are politically driven!

Here's why I think that.  (1) If your district thinks the standards aren't high enough, raise them!  You have that right and in my mind that responsibility.  Don't whine, set a higher bar!  (2) Read the article about HB 597, the words say that they authors want to return school standards to the local level.  HELLO!  That's one reason why Ohio adopted the Common Core in 2010, because at the local level Ohio had a mixed set of some high, mostly low standards that were inconsistently applied and the results were poor, at best. (3) Now read more than just the words of the bill, but read the comments made to reporters questions by one of the bill's sponsors.  Political and religious ideas are going to be put on the podium alongside scientific ideas and the teachers are going to be prohibited from contrasting the ideas for any applicability or validity.  How many times do we have to face tactics designed to put pseudo-science like Creationism/Intelligent Design on par with real actual science?

Let's sum things up.  We give schools a limited budget, limited time frame, and we expect them to bring students to the point where they can be successful at college and in the job market following school.  And HB 597's sponsors want to saddle teachers and school districts with a methodology that was failing 4 years ago and further handicap them by letting school districts bring in their political and religious disagreements about science and use valuable resources presenting these concepts as if they are a core part of the curriculum.  How is this doing anything but a disservice to our students!

I recall a comic strip from 2012 that sums it up pretty well:  Doonesbury!  The final student comment in the strip really brings it home to me:  "Please stop, I would like to get into a good college."  Yes, Ohio lawmakers, please stop HB 597 so our children can get into a good college, so they can get a quality education, so we can compete in the future with other countries whose school standards are putting us to shame!  Please stop allowing a few to use our children to push a political or religious agenda!  Please Stop!

All not quiet on the Midwestern Front

One of the reasons I started blogging was in response to some of the anti-science activities here in Ohio a few years ago.  I guess things have been too quiet to suit Creationists because the war on science has reared its ugly head again.  Cleveland.com is reporting that a bill designed to remove the Common Core education standards will also have the impact of not prohibiting Creationism/Intelligent Design in the classroom.  Here's the article I caught this afternoon: "Common Core opposition bill won't limit foreign authors -- or teaching of creationism and 'intelligent design'" 

Now before I actually read the article, I noticed a little sideline on the page.  You might have spotted it as well, "Common Core is bad for students and teachers: Kelly Kohls, school board member, activist".  I'm not sure if you remember Kelly.  She was the president of the Springboro Ohio school board when they flirted with the idea of Creationism.  The Dayton Daily News had this article.  Kelly said

“Creationism is a significant part of the history of this country,”  . . . “It is an absolutely valid theory and to omit it means we are omitting part of the history of this country.”

That would immediately make me think there was something very right with the common core science standards.  Anyone else read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller?  You might know the part I am thinking about -- when an insane psychiatrist declares you as sane, are you?  To paraphrase, when an avowed Creationist declares the common core science standards bad, are they? 

In my opinion adopting a common core set of standards would annoy someone like Kelly because it would make it harder for a local school board to inject Creationism/Intelligent Design into the science curriculum.  Imagine how hard it would have been for certain members of the Dover PA School Board to push their religious agenda if the common core science standards had been in place.  It might have saved that school system some money and not been such a time waster or generated such negative publicity for Dover.  But then again, the fact the court case went the way it did might well be a silver lining.  As it was, Kelly and her supporters on the board didn't make much headway and eventually less evangelical board members were elected and sanity reigned.  Kelly herself 'retired' from the board and ran unsuccessfully for the State Senate.

OK, now back to this article.  The National Center for Science Education also reported on this new Ohio bill.  They noted this from the article the same points I saw when I read it::

" . . . prohibit political or religious interpretation of scientific facts in favor of another." Thompson said that clause prevents teachers and schools from only presenting one side of a political and scientific debate -- global warming, for example -- without also presenting the other side."

That pretty much says it all. Not only would it make it easy for Creationism/Intelligent Design to be brought into the classroom, it sounds like it would be mandatory to present it -- even though it's a political and cultural debate, not a scientific debate. Plus, as I am sure Kelly likes, the bill's sponsor makes it very clear that it

"the bill gives districts and teachers the freedom to teach religious interpretations of scientific issues as they deem best."

 I'm working on an email to my State Representatives in hopes this bill will die the nice quiet death it deserves.  But even if the death isn't so quiet, as long as it does before dragging the whole state into another round of 'Let's be Fair and teach both sides', 'Teach the controversy', or 'Evolution, it's only a Theory', like we were in 2002.

Darwin is Responsible for . . .

I have a Google News Alert that doesn't seem to be working well.  I have it set that anytime the Discovery Institute posts something newsworthy, it should go off and I would get an email notification.  The problem is that it keeps going off even if they aren't posting anything worth looking at.

I won't give you a link this time because they have done nothing more than repeat a tired old line of theirs.  I'll give you a hint.  If we held a contest and tried to determine who is the single most reprehensible figure of the 20th century, who do you think  would win?  Yes, you already know the name, and he doesn't work at the DI.  Of course, he does appear to be some sort of hero for them because they cannot stop writing about him.  Not only that, but their pet 'historian', you know who I mean as well, has now tried to associate Darwin with the cause for not only the Second World War, but the first one as well.  They even had one of their own 'executives' produce a 12, or so, minute video explaining this most recent 'revelation'.  Of course everything their pet 'historian' has accomplished has met with a much success in historical circles as their pet team of crack 'scientists' has met in scientific circles will never deter the DI from continuing to post foolishness.

So, if you haven't heard by now, the Discovery Institute seems to blame Charles Darwin for the Civil War, WWI, WWII, disease, racism, poverty, crime, infidelity, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, divorce, the sub-prime mortgage debacle, the assassinations of Lincoln, both Kennedy's, and King,  the lack of Congressional term limits, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Rush Limbaugh, and the failure of the Chicago Cubs, to name a few.

I may have to cancel my Google News Alert because it's sure not doing it's job!  Maybe I'll just set it to go off once a year and hope for a change they actually post something worth reading at once in a given year.  I know, I am being way too optimistic!

Kennie Ham is still making a fool out of Kentucky!

The people in the Great State of Kentucky should be outraged!  Back in 2011 I posted the following "Kentuckians, kennie ham is making a mockery of you!".  It was a post about how Answers In Genesis (AIG), a non-profit Evangelical Christian Ministry, is hiring people for jobs at the Ark Encounter Park, a for-profit business.  That was over three years ago.  Since then little kennie has struggled with funding and Kentucky has offered him even more tax breaks for his Noah's Ark replica.

Here we are in 2014 and AIG is still doing it.  "The dishonesty continues from Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis" lays out exactly what was happening.  Once again AIG, who also runs another ministry, the poorly named Creation 'Museum', is still advertising for positions.  The first part of the job opening says:

"Our work at Ark Encounter is not just a job, it is also a ministry. Our employees work together as a team to serve each other to produce the best solutions for our design requirements. Our purpose through the Ark Encounter is to serve and glorify the Lord with our God-given talents with the goal of edifying believers and evangelizing the lost."

In order to be considered you must also sign a:

• Creation belief statement
• Confirmation of your agreement with the AiG Statement of Faith (If you need a real laugh, you really need to check out their statement of faith.  It's hilarious and, in my opinion, should be illegal for a for-profit business who is using State tax money and incentives. 

Why are the people in Kentucky putting up with this?  I believe little kennie is ripping you off and breaking your own employment laws.  He's claiming since the employees will be working for AIG, he can flout the law and have them working on a for-profit business!  If this continues I expect someone to eventually sue AIG/Creation Museum/Ark Park Ministries and also name the State of Kentucky as defendants for letting them get away with it.

Based on this, what I think should happen is any and all tax breaks, subsidies, and incentives should be removed from little kennie and his pet project.  Unless he complies with existing laws and it's proven he has done so.  You shouldn't be subsidizing his ministries.  Plans to expand the roads and upgrade highway exits should be put on hold until his Park is up, running, and drawing in the 'crowds' little kennie has claimed it would.  I believe it was his own study that predicts fairly large numbers of tourists. 

Shades of Kristin Macguire

What is it about South Carolina?  Remember Kristin Macguire, the homeschooler Mom who ended up heading the State School Board briefly a few years back.  During her tenure, she caused extra expense by bringing in a couple of Young Earth Creationists to question the already selected science textbook.  Yes, the selection process had been followed, decisions were already made and, at the last minute, the incoming school board president, Macguire, brings in a couple of ringers to push her personal religious belief on the students of South Carolina.  That time sanity prevailed and the already selected textbooks were voting in after a number reviews and public testimony and additional time and expense.  I guess every school board has time and money to burn, right?

Well history is sorta repeating itself.  In this article "S.C. Education Department out of the loop in writing of new evolution standard" in the Post and Courier, things are still not kosher in SC.  While the headline tells the story, it's not the whole story.  Apparently in an effort to deal with some of the contentious issues around getting a new science standard approved, a new 'compromise' standard was drafted.  Guess who wasn't involved . . .but more interesting guess who was?  Obviously the Education Department, whose job it is to draft standards, was not involved.  However, a certain organization from the Northwest had inside knowledge of the process and was invited by . . . guess who to play?  You got it, Mike Fair -- yes, that Mike Fair -- he invited the Discovery Institute.  They presented to the group drafting the new standard.

Why am I saying history is repeating itself?  Well just like Kristin, certain players ignore the rules and push a personal religious agenda.  One of the Board members himself didn't know this re-drafting was going on.  That's right the group whose job it is to write the standards and at least one of the people who approve such standards were out of the loop!  Once again South Carolina violated their own rules and procedures for the express purpose of trying to weaken science education.  This time they invited the DI, an organization dedicated to doing just that. Anyone else see a problem here?

Let's hope sanity once again breaks out and this 'compromise' standard goes the way of the dodo.  Is it too much to hope that Mike Fair's political career goes the same way?

Keith Blanchard and Belief

Interesting article "Why You Should Stop Believing in Evolution".  It's by Keith Blanchard who is identified as  the chief digital officer of World Science Festival.  I'm not sure what the World Science Festival is or what a Chief Digital Officer does, but I am pretty sure Keith Blanchard is not a biologist.  Even my high school and college biology wouldn't have characterized a few of the things about evolution as he did.  But to his credit, I think his heart is in the right place and his basic message is sound.  Yes, I said his basic message is sound.

Should we stop 'believing' in evolution?  I would put to you that the answer is yes, we should.  Primarily because evolution is real and it is happening all around us whether we believe in it or not.  Our 'belief' plays little in the value and validity of evolution as a fact.  What I think the term does is open the door for misinterpretations of the term 'Belief'.  I've said this before . . . but it does bear re-consideration.

Since I said belief in evolution in no way impacts it's validity, let's look at that for a moment.  Let's look at any other scientific theory, say one of my personal favorites, Gravity.  If I did not 'believe' in Gravity, would I suddenly go flying off of the planet Earth?  Of course not.  By the same token, If I believed the Earth was the center of the Solar System, would that automatically position the Earth so that everything, including the Sun, would start revolving around it?  Do you see what I mean?  Belief does not impact the fact of gravity, nor does it have much impact in the explanation of how gravity works.

One of my issues with the term 'Belief' is that many Creationists try and equate Belief in things like the Bible, Creationism, and Intelligent Design as the same thing as Belief in Evolution.  I disagree with that completely.  Belief in a theistic concept is also known as faith, and it's a belief without any form of actual support.  Belief in a scientific theory is an acceptance of the theory based on evidential support.  There is a world of difference between no evidence and evidence!  That is why, in my opinion, we should stop using the phrase of 'belief in evolution' and start more saying 'acceptance of the theory of evolution'.  I think it's more accurate and less likely to be abused in word games with Creationists.

My main issue about using the term 'Belief' revolves around those word games and I think continuing to use it might not impact scientists, but it can impact the people who are working with and within the education system concerning science education.  How many school board meetings does this subject come up and one of the standard lines you hear is "I don't believe in Evolution!"  Imagine if you refuse to play that game and agree, "I don't believe in it either, I accept it as the only explanation we have that actually works!"  Not sure if that would help, but the double-take look you would get might make it worth doing.

Like I said I don't think Keith Blanchard is a biologist and while I didn't want to get into all the reasons why I think that.  I will leave you with one thing to consider.  Blanchard makes a comment about common ancestry, claiming that if you go back far enough you can find a direct common ancestor between people, trees, and insects.  I think the weakness of his argument is that he seems to see reproduction as the only method of gene transfer.  He's missing many others, like gene drift and Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT).  All I am saying is that natural selection is one of the methods of gene transfer, but not the only one.  Therefore, finding a common ancestor to incredibly diverse species might be a bit more challenging that Mr. Blanchard seems to think.  But I do think it's time we stopped 'believing' in a scientific theory because of how easy it is to confuse belief based on nothing and belief based on actual evidence.

Didn't the comic Lewis Black stated that whenever someone tells him they don't believe in evolution, he throws a fossil at them!