Skepticism in Schools: A Carbon Copy of Creationism?

Conservative politicians have mated climate skepticism and intelligent design to produce a mutant hybrid.

A recent South Dakota bill, which Nikki Gloudeman wrote about, would merely "encourage" teachers to provide students with alleged holes in the theory of man-made climate change. But the wording echoes the law that opened Louisiana's public classrooms to instruction on intelligent design in 2008. In a deadpan twist, the Louisiana bill is called the "Louisiana Science Education Act," written "to promote students' critical thinking skills and open discussion of scientific theories." What's not a joke is the fact that the United States Supreme Court struck down this argument more than 20 years ago.

The scientific theories the Louisiana Senate suggested were in need of particularly critical thought are as care-worn as a family bible: evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning. Texas has made it a requirement that teachers advance all sides of the evidence for both evolution and climate change. Since when do the creationists have a dog in the climate change fight?

The timing can be explained with changing administrations. Under Bush both the separation of church and state and any science critical of large corporate interests were left to neglect; before the election they were well on their way to the dustbin of history. According to a Times article, President Obama's administration has already created the Climate Education Interagency Working Group, which folds more than a dozen federal agencies into a program to advance "climate literacy" for teachers and students. Add Congress to that list and we'd be set.

As for why creationists are backing climate skeptics — well, that's a little more complicated. Reverend Jim Ball of the Evangelical Environmental Network, which accepts the science of climate change, notes that deniers feel like "it is hubris to think that human beings could disrupt something that God created. This group already feels like scientists are attacking their faith and calling them idiots, so they are likely to be skeptical." While I'm not a biblical scholar, isn't that what Adam and Eve did? Transgressing the order that God created seems to be page one of the book, and every page after. We've sinned. Get over it.

As for the ways and means of politicians, combining biblical and scientific thought to confuse our children is a good way to get media coverage, I guess. Fresh controversy from climate change is supplying new controversy for creationism.

Yet, the Supreme Court didn't allow creationism into public schools in 1987 for "equal time," and the same logic will ostensibly reverse the assumption that all climate science is created equal. What Justice William J. Brennan noted about Louisiana creationism will also serve the Louisiana skeptic:

"[T]he contention that the Act furthers a 'basic concept of fairness' by requiring the teaching of all evidence on the subject is without merit . . . [i]nstead, this Act has the distinctly different purpose of discrediting evolution by counterbalancing its teaching at every turn with the teaching of creationism."

The only problem is, the creationists are hoping that by broadening their scope to target other scientific findings, they'll find their way around this very ruling.

Photo credit: Katykat