Monday, February 14, 2005
Who Will Choose the Experts? Who Will Pay?
In an effort to get his ID supporters off stage -- and out of the court record in the suit that will follow a vote by the conservative majority of the board of education to open the door to intelligent design -- John Calvert of the Intelligent Design Network has called for "focused hearings from experts."
Having rudely disposed of the work by the scientists and educators who make up the majority on the science standards writing committee, the "gang of three" creationist board members who are the sole members of the rump Science Hearings Committee will choose. We can be sure that, just as they have taken direction from John Calvert on doing an end run around the longstanding curriculum development process, they will also take direction on who is, and is not, an expert. We can also be sure that these experts will not be representative of the science community as a whole, but will rely heavily on "think tankers" from the Discovery Institue.
Who will pay to bring these experts here? Why the good citizens of Kansas, of course.
Having rudely disposed of the work by the scientists and educators who make up the majority on the science standards writing committee, the "gang of three" creationist board members who are the sole members of the rump Science Hearings Committee will choose. We can be sure that, just as they have taken direction from John Calvert on doing an end run around the longstanding curriculum development process, they will also take direction on who is, and is not, an expert. We can also be sure that these experts will not be representative of the science community as a whole, but will rely heavily on "think tankers" from the Discovery Institue.
Who will pay to bring these experts here? Why the good citizens of Kansas, of course.
