Being conservative, in my opinion, means being slow to change, slow to accept new ideas, slow to progress. It also in most cases means slow to learn. Take for instance the idea of climate change. Who denies its existence these days and why? According to the National Center for Science Education the evidence shows this.
These ideas resonate with a particular set of political views, and there is a strong, widely reported, and extensively researched correlation between political conservatism and climate change denial in the United States (see, e.g., McCright and Dunlap, “The Politicization of Climate Change and Polarization in the American Public’s Views of Global Warming, 2001—2010” (PDF), The Sociological Quarterly 2011). With local school boards usually, and state boards of education often, filled by electoral contest, it is hard to avoid the influence of partisan politics on climate change education in the United States.
How pervasive are these attacks?
Attacks are occurring from many sources from local residents to school boards and state boards of education.
Numerous state legislatures are also attempting to inhibit the teaching of climate change. First there is Missouri's House Bill 291, which would, if enacted, require "the equal treatment of science instruction regarding evolution and intelligent design." Montana's House Bill 183, which purports to "encourage critical thinking regarding controversial scientific theories" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, random mutation, natural selection, DNA, and fossil discoveries," was tabled in the House Education Committee on February 5, 2013. The bill was originally intended to "require public schools to teach intelligent design along with evolution." Colorado's House Bill 13-1089 would have encouraged teachers in Colorado to misrepresent the scientific status of evolution and climate change. It was recently rejected by a 7-6 vote in the House Committee on Education on February 4, 2013.
And the list of attacks goes on:
Oklahoma: Senate Bill 758 and House Bill 1674.
Arizona: Senate Bill 1213
Indiana: House Bill 1283
From an article in the Los Angeles Times on 1/17/2012:
"Any time we have a meeting of 100 teachers, if you ask whether they're running into pushback on teaching climate change, 50 will raise their hands," said Frank Niepold, climate education coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who meets with hundreds of teachers annually. "We ask questions about how sizable it is, and they tell us it is [sizable] and pretty persistent, from many places: your administration, parents, students, even your own family."
The National Center for Science Education has recently announced the launch of its new initiative aimed at defending the teaching of climate change.
It's important to teach the truth!
Ignoring a fact just because it doesn't fit into your creationist, fundamentalist, conservative little pea-brained picture of the world does not make it go away. Climate change is a fact, it needs to be studied and it needs to be dealt with. Climate deniers need to get that through their ass-backward head! The
Church of the Holy Shitters fully support this initiative.
The Church of the Holy Shitters will post articles on our holy S.H.I.T. day ( So Happy It's Thursday)
Last week 2/14/13: Declaring War on Fossil Fuel
Next week 2/28/13: Unplugged from Mother Nature
Hoping to add some humor, provoke thought, spark debate, deepen understanding, and shed some light on the fecal side.
Remember: "If we really want to straighten out all this crap we really need to think about shit." ( Shitbit by Poop John the First of the Church of the Holy Shitters)
Church of the Holy Shitters
Originally posted on
http://holyshitters.com/
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