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Her 'Academic Freedom'? Not Free, Just Dumb

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By Daniel Ruth

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 3, 2008

With a straight face, state Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Tammy Faye Bakker Only Without The Sense Of Whimsy, has insisted her dubiously titled "Academic Freedom Act," which is really the nose of the "Intelligent Design" camel poking under the tent, has nothing to do with eventually introducing into public school classrooms the wizard in the sky mumbo jumbo argument for creationism.

The reason Storms turned into a repeating sound loop of denials that made Baghdad Bob look like Winston Churchill is that even the state senator knows that if she publicly admitted she was trying to turn Florida's public schools into fundamentalist Christian madrassas, her silly "Academic Freedom Act" fiddle-faddle would get the bum's rush from every court in the land - including the "American Idol" judges.

Indeed, the obvious anti-Darwin's Theory of Evolution effort by Storms, R-The Madame Defarge of Genesis, has nothing to do with "Academic Freedom." This is the senator's "Academic Fiefdom Act."

Hocus-Pocus

Under the hypocritically disingenuous guise of simply allowing the state's science teachers who don't agree with ... well, the science of biology, to introduce their own version of pseudo-hocus-pocus science to their students.

Storms got her sackcloth and ashes in a wad when the Florida Board of Education, after consulting with actual scientists and science teachers, otherwise known as "adults," determined here, in the 2008th year of our Lord, it might be a really crackerjack idea to teach Florida public school students that Darwin's theory of evolution is indeed the settled science upon which the study of biology is scientifically objectively based.

There was a brief meaningless flap over including the use of the word "theory" in connection with evolution.

Of course, evolution is a theory, just as Newton's theory of gravity or relativity and various physics standards are all settled science, too.

Had the evolution opponents been more linguistically astute, they would have insisted evolution be regarded as a "hypothesis," which more accurately defines an unproven supposition, or proposition requiring further study.

Round? It's Flat, Isn't It?

It's hardly a huge surprise that Storms' effort to turn Florida public schools' science standards into a Biblical buffet line was successfully passed out of the Senate "education!!!!!!!" committee. Stay tuned for "The Earth is round? What's up with that?"

After all, what gutless pol wants to be accused by the religious right moneybags types of being anti-God, even if they privately believe it might be a fine idea to teach science in science classrooms?

Of course, if you start permitting crazy teachers to teach their own parallel universe reality, where does it end?

By the twisted logic of Storms' "Academic Freedom Act," what is to prevent teachers from telling students - because they feel like it - the Holocaust never happened, or that the 1969 moon landing was nothing more than a Hollywood sound stage hoax, or that Barack Obama is a Muslim?

That's not "Academic Freedom." It's sanctioning intellectually dishonest scholastic anarchy.

Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.

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