Re: for fun

[David Bowman <dbowman@TIGER.GEORGETOWNCOLLEGE.EDU>]

Regarding Roger's comment:

> With that said, and as a previous resident of Topeka (for a year) I
> wouldn't actually be too surprised if they DID try something like
> that - they ARE the state that outlawed teaching evolution for a
> while ...
> (that battle isn't over yet either)

As nonresident who relied exclusively on media coverage of that
particular brouhaha, I remember it being reported that Kansas did
*not* outlaw the teaching of evolution, but rather had removed
evolution-related topics from the state-mandated standardized
tests given in the public schools to assess their state-wide
curriculum standards.  They eventually came to their senses and
reversed themselves with no small amount of help from being
extensively criticized and portrayed negatively across the country
and the world as a bunch of ignorant yahoos.  I'm sure the Onion
chose to place their parody in Kansas *because* of the uproar
generated by that episode regarding evolution in the schools.

The very fact that the original action took place (and that the
Onion piece works as well as it does as a funny parody) is
evidence of the massive ignorance of science that exists among the
population at large, and serves as a warning of what can happen in
a democracy where such ignorance is so widespread as to afflict a
majority of the electorate.

David Bowman
David_Bowman@georgetowncollege.edu