Supporting Evolution

reading books such as the god delusion or god is not great is kind of mildly entertaining, but as a european, you don't quite see why they are necessary these days. it feels like people writing elaborate publications about the earth being round instead of flat. sure, it is true and the flat earthers are a weird bunch of lunatics, but why even care?

well, as soon as you enter the U.S., things start to look different. today, the NYT reports about a texas teacher being fired for supporting evolution. if it weren't so sad, it would be an excellent joke. thinking about grown adults supporting the idea of creationism and passing that kind of idiocy on to children really makes me cringe, but here it happens, and it is discussed with an earnestness that is discomforting. here is the core sentence from the article, stating the reason why she got fired:

She acknowledged forwarding to a local online community an e-mail message from the National Center for Science Education, a pro-evolution group, about a talk in Austin on Nov. 2 by Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, a co-author of Inside Creationism's Trojan Horse and an expert witness in the landmark 2005 case that ruled against the teaching of intelligent design in the Dover, Pa., schools.

you just gotta love the concept of a pro-evolution group! that says quite a bit about the state of affairs around here...