Eugenie Scott
asks us to
Imagine you’re a middle-school science teacher, and you get to the section of the course where you’re to talk about climate change. You mention the “C” words, and two students walk out of the class.
Or you mention global warming and a hand shoots up.
“Mrs. Brown! My dad says global warming is a hoax!”
Or you come to school one morning and the principal wants to see you because a parent of one of your students has accused you of political bias because you taught what scientists agree about: that the Earth is getting warmer, and human actions have had an important role in this warming.
Or you pick up the newspaper and see that your state legislature is considering a bill that declares that accepted sciences like global warming (and evolution, of course) are “controversial issues” that require “alternatives” to be taught.
Science, whether it be evolution, climate, medical or any other, is under attack hence the need for an
organisation working to keep science in public school education. And there is a need to do so as Americans seem to be
unsure as the the science of evolution
Almost half — 47% — of Americans surveyed in 2010 agreed that "human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals," and 38% agreed that "the universe began with a huge explosion."
From the above poll it would seem that non science, or nonsense, is winning. Dr. Victor Stenger observes that it is an attack on both
science and reality
Recent trends in some academic circles have called into question conventional notions of truth and reality. The claim is made in these circles that all statements, whether in science or literature, are simply narratives -- stories and myths that do nothing more than articulate the cultural prejudices of the narrator. In this view, one narrative is as good as another, since each is expressed in the language of its particular culture and thus contains all the assumptions about truth and reality embedded in that culture. Texts have no intrinsic meaning. Rather, their meanings are created by the reader. The conclusions are then drawn that no narrative can have universal validity and that "Western" science is no exception..
Today's college students, in the United States and elsewhere, hear this line of reasoning from many of their social science and humanities professors. "Alternative medicine" proponents often use similar arguments to reject science as a method of determining health-related truths.
Much of this can be put to changes in the media and more importantly, the
medium that the media uses
Only Fox News has maintained its audience size, and this is because of the increasing number of Republicans who regularly get news there.
In terms of specific programs, Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly have succeeded in attracting conservative and attentive audiences.
For instance, those who describe themselves as supporters of the Tea Party movement make up disproportionately large proportions of the audiences for Limbaugh’s radio show and Fox News opinion programs. This also is the case for supporters of the NRA (National Rifle Association).
Partisan gaps in media credibility continue to grow, with Republicans far more skeptical of most major news sources than Democrats. The one exception is Fox News, which twice as many Republicans believe all or most of (41%) than Democrats (21%).
And because of the popularity of hosts such as Bill O'Reilly news outlets have become
outlets for opinion
...DAWKINS: Well, there is a problem when you guys, if I could turn it back on you, try to say that, because you believe what you do, because of a holy book and because of the way you've been brought up, therefore that entitles you to go into science classes and tell teachers what they can or cannot teach. You may think that God oversaw evolution, and that's a point of view that you could probably defend, but leave it out of the science class.
O'REILLY: It's not fair to leave it out of the science class if the science class is incomplete. And you, by your own admission, say we don't know how it all began. So if the science class is going to say evolution only, but I really don't know how it started, that gap has got to be explored.
DAWKINS: You must see that it's quite remarkable peace of illogic to say that because science cannot fill a particular gap, therefore we have to turn to Christianity.
O'REILLY: You don't have to turn anywhere. You have to present it. You don't have to turn to it; you present it.
DAWKINS: Will you listen to me and stop shouting at me?
O'REILLY: Well, turn your ear piece down. I'm not shouting; that's the way I usually talk...
