Posts tagged The South

…it appears that North Carolina has become the 30th state to outright ban marriage equality for her citizens.  As much as I love the South, it is so disheartening to watch hatred be inscribed in law.

I know I’m a bit late on this, but school gets in the way of my blogging.  Most people should know about the Scopes Monkey Trial.  If you haven’t…well, here ya go.  If you don’t feel like reading the whole article, basically John Scopes was a high school science teacher in Tennessee and, at that time, the Butler Act prevented the teaching of evolution in any state-funded public school.  Unfortunately, this story is (again) out of my home state of Tennessee.  Long story short, Scopes lost, then the verdict was overturned, and the teaching of science precluded the teaching of religion in public schools. 

Bear in mind, this all happened in 1925 in the rural South of Dayton, TN.  Fast forward to 2012 in the busting metropolis of Nashville, TN.  Gov. Bill Haslam has a bill sitting on his desk that is pretty much trying to reinstate the Butler Act.  It’s masked in language of preventing controversy, but the only controversy that exists here is what’s being stirred up by the bill.  

Here’s what the bill actually says:  

a) The general assembly finds that:

1. An important purpose of science education is to inform students about scientific    evidence and to help students develop critical thinking skills necessary to becoming intelligent, productive, and scientifically informed citizens;
2. The teaching of some scientific subjects, including, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning, can cause controversy; and
3. Some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.

b) The state board of education, public elementary and secondary school governing authorities, directors of schools, school system administrators, and public elementary and secondary school principals and administrators shall endeavor to create an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial issues.

c) The state board of education, public elementary and secondary school governing authorities, directors of schools, school system administrators, and public elementary and secondary school principals and administrators shall endeavor to assist teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum as it addresses scientific controversies. Toward this end, teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.

d) Neither the state board of education, nor any public elementary or secondary school governing authority, director of schools, school system administrator, or any public elementary or secondary school principal or administrator shall prohibit any teacher in a public school system of this state from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.

e) This section only protects the teaching of scientific information, and shall not be construed to promote any religious or non-religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or non-beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or non-religion.

SECTION 2. By no later than the start of the 2011-2012 school term, the department of education shall notify all directors of schools of the provisions of this act. Each director shall notify all employees within the director’s school system of the provisions of this act.

This was settled 87 years ago.  87 years ago.  In the same state.  The separation of church and state in the country means that scientific fact and theory are what is to be taught in public schools.  Personally, I have no problem with religion; I’m religious myself. But my religion isn’t the religion of everyone else and if they want to talk about religion, they can enroll in a religious studies course or a world religions club after school.  And if a teacher wanted to preface “controversial” lessons in class with something along the lines of “some people believe different things about the origin of the world (or whatever topic they’re discussing), but in this class, we are only going to talk about scientific theories and facts and that’s what you’ll be tested on.  If you’re interested in other theories or explanations, the library is down the hall, Google is your friend, and Mrs. Smith runs World Cultures Club Tuesdays after school.”  

It’s not that difficult and it’s not controversial.  If this becomes law, Tennessee will be laughing stock of not just the country.  Again.  But, this time, the difference is that we have global media and the whole world will be laughing.   

I apologize in advance for y’all seeing this more than once over the next week or so. 

I’m doing a project here at The University of Tennessee for a video class and I’m doing it on religion and prayer. I’m looking for additional audio for the video, so I have a request, especially for those of you with iPhones (I say iPhones because I know the audio quality capable on them). I’m wanting prayers/incantations from as many different religions as possible, especially non-Christians and especially if you speak a language other than American English. I have access to tons of different Christian denominations and American English speakers, so I’m trying to increase the diversity of language.

On a 2nd note, if you are in or around the Knoxville, TN area and are willing to be filmed for the project, it would be more than greatly appreciated. Again, non-Christians will take precedence because I have an abundance of them already.

My email address is ***jclayto4@utk.edu**** If you are comfortable being filmed, feel free to just shoot it to me in an email or if you’re open to being filmed or if you record any audio, shoot me a message with the attachment. I’d appreciate it if you’d include:

Your Name (for credit)
Your Religious Affiliation (if any) 
Any other information you’d like to include such as age or location.

Thank you so much in advance!!!

~Johnathan