Thursday, November 29, 2007 | Science : Teaching Science | print version

Fear of Barbara Forrest

by PZ Myers, Pharyngula

Reposted from:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/11/fear_of_barbara_forrest.php

In the Dover trial, you got the palpable sense that the creationists were terrified of Barbara Forrest's testimony. I did not know quite how deeply the dread was until today, though: the Texas director os science curriculum, Chris Comer, was pressured into resigning because she forwarded an e-mail announcing a talk by Barbara Forrest. One Lizzette Reynolds, Republican hack and senior advisor to the Texas Education Agency, was freaking horrified.

This is highly inappropriate. I believe this is an offense that calls for termination or, at the very least, reassignment of responsibilities.

Barbara Forrest is a philosopher of science with special expertise in creationism. Inappropriate? She's exactly the kind of person boards of education ought to consult before going down the road of attempting to legislate religion into the public schools.

This is something that the State Board, the Governor's Office and members of the Legislature would be extremely upset to see because it assumes this is a subject that the agency supports.

Well, that's honest, at least. I did assume that the Texas Education Agency would support science education. I guess I was wrong. The situation is really bad, though, if learning about science is a subject that gets the Texas Legislature upset.

This is the word from Chris Comer's boss:

the forwarding of this event announcement by Ms. Comer, as the Director of Science, from her TEA email account constitutes much more than just sharing information. Ms. Comer's email implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that TEA endorses the speaker's position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral. Thus, sending this email compromises the agency's role in the TEKS revision process by creating the perception that TEA has a biased position on a subject directly related to the science education TEKS.

Whoa. The Texas Education Agency is neutral on the subject of teaching good science? It's bad if the TEA takes a position on the subject of science education?

Apparently, TEA members are supposed to close their eyes and maximize ignorance before making decisions. I really feel sorry for Texas.

Otherwise, though, someone unleash Barbara Forrest and set her to smiting the creationists. It's impressive the way they have this knee-jerk terror of her soft-spoken words.

(You can get more commentary on this issue from TfK and the Austringer.)

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1. Comment #92103 by Zakie Chan on November 29, 2007 at 9:52 pm

If I was a cdesign proponentsists, I would be scared of Forrest too.

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2. Comment #92127 by Stewart on November 29, 2007 at 10:59 pm

How about producing a short film about the getting-rid-of of Chris Comer that could precede screenings of "Expelled" in the cinemas? The side that is unjustifiedly screaming for equal time won't give one second of it once they have the upper hand.

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3. Comment #92130 by wagnerfilm on November 29, 2007 at 11:14 pm

As an Austin resident and CFI-Austin member who attended the Forrest lecture, and who spoke before the State Board of Education in 2003 when ID was trying to make inroads into science textbooks back then, I'm appalled but, sadly, not surprised by this nonsense. My own thoughts, plus a letter to the editor of the Austin paper I submitted today, are at http://atheistexperience.blogspot.com/2007/11/teas-science-curriculum-director-forced.html . It's all leading to another big fight in 2008 to save science education. Why do we still have to do this in the 21st century!?

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4. Comment #92151 by action bastard on November 30, 2007 at 1:20 am

I don't understand how these creationist/ID wackos think science teachers are going to teach their classes if all the exam answers are "god did it". My mother is a science teacher in a small town in Texas and I'm reasonably sure she would retire rather teach pseudoscience.

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5. Comment #92172 by jonjermey on November 30, 2007 at 2:22 am

"Apparently, TEA members are supposed to close their eyes and maximize ignorance before making decisions."

Of course.. this is good Christian practice. If you went about gathering evidence before making a decision then you wouldn't be able to exercise your free will, would you?

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6. Comment #92352 by room101 on November 30, 2007 at 10:31 am

I have to say on a general level I am deeply relieved in knowing that the secularists have on their side two implacable watchdogs in the persons of Barbara Forrest and Nick Matzke. Their efforts drove the proverbial nail in the ID'ers coffin in Dover.

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7. Comment #92358 by phasmagigas on November 30, 2007 at 10:42 am

can you imagine it:

1) give a detailed explanation of the processes that led to the diversity of life on planet earth.

Gawd did it.

A+, well done johnny!!

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8. Comment #92671 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on December 1, 2007 at 6:29 am

I just posted this :

It is with amazement and dismay, that I heard of the lunatic policy of "neutrality" on evolution versus ID.

As you must surely know, evolution is established scientific fact, while ID is thinly disguised creationist nonsense.

Chris Comer should have been promoted, while the "creator" of the idiot policy of neutrality should have been summarily fired.

This is almost as bad as the "Teddy Bear" incident in the Sudan. Except instead of a flea infested third world rat hole, this is occuring in the most heavily armed, and ostensibly the most progressive nation on earth.

I'm not an American, I live in Sweden. You should know that there is a belly laugh echoing around the globe right now, and Texas is the butt of the joke.

Reinstate Chris Comer and get rid of the religious nuts infesting the TEA.

Here : http://www.tea.state.tx.us/tea/contact.html

Go thou and do likewise:-)

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9. Comment #93039 by Sean on December 2, 2007 at 3:41 am

Have we seen a statement from the TEA regarding their stance on the theory of gravity, or are they remaining neutral on that as well?

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10. Comment #93048 by Jonathan Dore on December 2, 2007 at 3:56 am

Thanks for the link Brian. I've just posted this:

"I am writing to protest the treatment of your employee Chris Comer, Director of Science Curriculum, who was recently bullied into resigning because forwarding an email advertising a lecture was deemed "highly inappropriate". Quite apart from the suppression of free speech issues involved, the lecture in question was in fact *very* appropriate for a director of science curriculum to publicize, since it is by a speaker (Barbara Forrest) known for her staunch defense of science teaching against those intent on subverting it with an irrelevant religious agenda. If anyone should be fired it is your advisor Lizzette Reynolds, who seems to have an agenda to introduce creationism/ID into Texas schools. As Judge Jones's ruling in Kitsmiller v. Dover has demonstrated, creationism/ID is not science, and has no place in a science curriculum. Unless you want to make Texas look as crackpot as the Sudanese Muslims prosecuting a teacher for naming a teddybear Muhammad, you need to get hold of this situation immediately, re-hire Chris Comer (if she'll agree to come back) and find yourself a new senior advisor."

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11. Comment #93309 by kaiserkriss on December 2, 2007 at 4:13 pm

Has anyone received a reply from TEA? My guess is they will just ignore email complaints, since they are not part of the "formal" process as indicated on their website. jcw

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12. Comment #93498 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on December 3, 2007 at 9:35 am

no reply I'm afraid:-)

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13. Comment #93679 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on December 3, 2007 at 10:43 pm

keeping up the pressure. Just posted this :

I note that Chris Comer has not yet been reinstated.

When do you plan to redress the ludicrous and laughable behaviour of the TEA's inhouse religious nuts?

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14. Comment #95041 by rod-the-farmer on December 7, 2007 at 8:12 am

On another blog I found the name and phone number of the person who instigated Ms. Comers dismissal.

Deputy Commissioner, Statewide Policy & Programs,
Lizzette Reynolds (Acting) (512) 936-6060

Feel free to call her and express your opinion, if you wish.

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