Monday, February 26, 2007
Oldies Not Always Goldies
A Tennessee State Senate member has filed a resolution asking the Tennessee Department of Education to address a few basic questions about life, the universe and all that:
- "Is the universe and all that is within it, including human beings, created through purposeful, intelligent design by a Supreme Being, that is a Creator?"
- "Since the universe, including human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is creationism not taught in Tennessee public schools?
- "Since it cannot be determined whether the universe, including human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is creationism not taught as an alternative concept, explanation, or theory, along with the theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools?"?
This senator is a retired (thank goodness) physician, Raymond Finney. What's with physicians of late? Actually, Ken Whitehouse of the Nashville Post suspects that it might be "the same reasoning that encouraged the Rhea County leaders to spark the debate: a desire for attention."
The resolution needs only to be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate in order to force Tennessee's Department of Education to answer on the record. A joint resolution would have to pass the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, where it would likely find itself relegated to a black hole committee and not see the light of day.
By circumventing the the House, Senate Republicans would then be forcing a [Governor Phil Bredesen] cabinet member to weigh in on the creationism argument, right before next year's legislative session when both parties would be seeking to add to their numbers in the 2008 elections.
After noting the election results in Kansas, Whitehouse says that it will be interesting to see how the Republican caucus reacts.
Poison pill, anyone?
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