Mississippi Atheists

MS Fares Poorly on Secular Coalition's Congressional Report Card

2012-01-27T08:14:00.001-06:00

The Secular Coalition for America recently released their 2011 Congressional Report Card based on how our representatives have voted on legislation of relevance to the secular community.

Not surprisingly, our elected representatives in Mississippi did not score particularly well. Of the four representatives scored, Rep. Thompson earned a B grade while Harper, Nunnelee, and Palazzo all earned Fs.

Is there anything we can do about this? I think it would be nice to thank Rep. Thompson. Sure, he could do better. But he's still far ahead of the others. By thanking him, we also let him know that we are paying attention.

As far as the others, Secular News Daily has some great ideas about how we can hold them accountable. To contact your representative, begin here.

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Letter on MS Senate Concurrent Res. 505

2012-01-09T05:53:00.001-06:00

In the interest of doing what we can to stop our state's Senate Concurrent Resolution 505, Mims has shared a letter he wrote to his representative and a few key senators. With his permission, I am posting the letter below. Hopefully, it will serve as a model for additional letters.

Dear Senators Brown, Moran, and Fillingane, and Representative Crawford:

As the Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, as my State Senator, as the author of CR 505, and as my State Representative, I want to express my opposition to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 505.

This Resolution establishes a government committee aimed at forwarding a Judeo-Christian prayer and ministry. This is a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause as elucidated in the First Amendment. It is an affront to all non-Judeo-Christian residents of this State. It is an affront to rigorous social science research, all of which shows a negative correlation between the depth of a society's religious beliefs and the health of that society. Mississippi is the most pious of the fifty United States, and also leads in almost every negative social parameter, from teen pregnancy rates to crime rates to mortality rates to high school drop out rates to violence against women rates to divorce rates to poverty rates to obesity rates...I could go on and on.

Meanwhile, the only parameter which correlates positively with a healthy, prosperous, happy community - a high level of education - is ignored as we cut our education budget. Recent studies have shown that early education, specifically pre-K education, has a tremendous influence on positive social outcomes. I suggest that you do not spend a dime of state money or a moment of legislative time on activities which do not have a positive influence on Mississippi citizens, and do everything you can to promote education, from early education through university studies.

I know Jackson. You can walk easily to a venue from the state capitol to any number of religious institutions that can assuage any spiritual travails you may be feeling. You can also easily walk to an educational institution in need of help from the state in providing a good education for its young citizens. The same is true for almost every municipal or county seat of government in our state. I ask you to get your priorities straight and do what will really move our state forward.

Sincerely yours,

Mims H. Carter

Pass Christian

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Vote No on Initiative 26

2011-10-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

On November 8, Mississippi voters will decide whether to amend our state constitution by redefining personhood to include fertilized eggs. The stated goal of those promoting Initiative 26 is to provide the U.S. Supreme Court with the case they need to overturn Roe v. Wade, effectively ending reproductive freedom for American women. Mississippi was selected intentionally after similar efforts failed twice in Colorado. Proponents of Initiative 26 are counting on Mississippi voters to be less informed and more conservative than Colorado voters.

The Goal of Initiative 26

Initiative 26 would ban abortion in Mississippi, even in cases of rape, incest, or cases where the woman's life was endangered. But even this drastic step is of minimal importance to proponents of Initiative 26. Their stated goal is to ban abortion in Mississippi in an attempt to get the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. The court is far more conservative now than they were when Roe was decided, and there is a good chance that they would overturn it today if given the opportunity to do so.

Proponents of Initiative 26 are supported by the American Family Association and other Christian extremist groups. They have been using statewide robocalls, billboards, TV and radio ads, yard signs, and the like. They are very well funded and have been effective in persuading the Southern Baptist majority to join them.

Unintended Consequences

Besides banning abortion, Initiative 26 appears to have many other serious consequences. Some of these might be intended but are not being publicized; others may truly be unintended. They include banning certain forms of birth control (i.e., most birth control pills), making miscarriage a criminal offense, and costing the state of Mississippi a considerable amount by requiring a thorough re-write of the entire legal code.

Some pro-life groups in our state are coming out against Initiative 26 precisely because they are worried about these possible consequences. Even though they agree with banning abortion, they realize that this is not the way to do it. Unfortunately, they seem to be in the minority.

What You Can Do

Assuming that you want to keep abortion legal in the U.S., here are some things you can do:

Vote no on Initiative 26.
Encourage every registered voter you know to vote no on Initiative 26.
Volunteer to work with Mississippians for Healthy Families or donate to support their efforts.
Use whatever means are at your disposal to inform and educate Mississippians about the implications of Initiative 26.

There is some evidence that Mississippi voters may change their minds on Initiative 26 when they are informed about some of the possible consequences, especially the implications of banning birth control. It would be naive to suggest that everyone can be reached, but it is possible to change minds on this one.

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Occupy Mississippi

2011-10-02T08:13:00.001-05:00

If you have been following the Occupy Wall Street protests and wish you could do something similar a bit closer to home, you'll have a chance on October 6th. An Occupy Mississippi event is being organized in Jackson.

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Submit Public Comments on the Personhood Amendment

2011-07-27T14:58:00.001-05:00

From Mims:

For those of you who cannot attend the Public Hearings on Initiative 26, the 'Personhood Amendment', the Secretary of State has set up a comments site. From here you can click to submit a comment or view comments.

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Urging Our Representatives in Congress to Support Reproductive Rights

2011-05-11T06:50:00.001-05:00

What follows is a letter written by Mims Carter to Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS). Mims wrote the letter to urge Rep. Palazzo to vote against HR 3 and other anti-woman legislation. I will post Palazzo's disappointing response next, but I wanted you to see Mims' letter first.

Dear Congressman Palazzo,

If the right to life is the most important right we have, how do you feel about US forces taking the life of Osama bin Laden? Like many of us, I am sure you see it as a justifiable taking of life. So this idea of the right to life obviously has some nuance, or we would never take a human life. Given this, we often take in to account the quality of the life in question. Would you make exceptions for abortions in cases where the well-being of the mother, a woman of child-bearing age, with the aspirations and hopes of a human adult, over the life of an embryo or fetus, with no aspirations, no consciousness, no ability to feel pain? In other words, a pregnant woman and the embryo she carries may sometimes have an adversarial relationship. Should the embryo's rights always take precedence over the mother's? In which cases would they not? As to embryonic stem cell research, would you rather have frozen embryos stored until they are disposed of, or used to advance medical knowledge that can be used to decrease suffering to an unimaginable degree. I am a biologist, and I have heard all the arguments that we don't need embryonic stem cells to advance medical science. This is not true. We do.

In all, your views on these matters are based on a view that human life starts at conception. I would ask you to talk to a developmental biologist and find out what this term means in a scientific sense. If you do, I think you will find that the term is almost meaningless, and certainly not a logical place to define the start of a human. It is only such if you have some religious notion that the soul enters the noocyte at this time, which is an untestable claim. I would ask you to re-think these issues without the addition of religious dogmas which add nothing to the debate on how society should approach these important questions systematically and humanely, using evidence and reason to come to policies which advance the best possible outcomes for the most people.

Mims H. Carter

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Florida Atheists Challenge Church-State Violation by Sheriff

2010-12-31T09:31:00.001-06:00

After Sheriff Grady Judd used inmate labor to remove basketball hoops from the county jail and relocate them at area churches, a group of atheists in Florida is taking him to task. They sent a letter and plan to file an injunction if his office does not respond in a timely manner.

See the video here.

Again and again, it falls to atheists to push for enforcement of separation of church and state. This sort of activism can be difficult, but it remains necessary. A big thanks to Atheists of Florida for setting such a wonderful example.

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A Reasonably Secular Graduation in Mississippi

2010-12-17T07:11:00.001-06:00

I have written here before about the absurdity of sectarian prayers at the graduation ceremonies of the state university where I work in Mississippi. After sitting through such a ceremony in the Spring of 2009, I decided that I had finally reached my breaking point. It was time to do something. I contacted the Freedom From Religion Foundation to ask about my options. They were very helpful, but in the end, their intervention did not prove necessary. I was overjoyed to find that a handful of my fellow co-workers, including more than a few theists, who felt similarly. We decided to take action.

A few of us wrote to the president of our university and other administrators. Yes, this was a big risk. That we could have sued if we had been fired was small consolation. It was not an easy thing to do, and I'd be lying if I said I lost no sleep over it.

But it worked. At the Fall ceremony, there were no sectarian prayers. No clergy were invited to speak. Yes, the commencement speaker still mentioned Jesus for no apparent reason, reminding us that our work is not finished. But at least it was done in a fairly minor way that did not come across as university sanctioned. Overall, I have to say that it was a big improvement over anything I have seen yet at graduation. It was a reasonably secular graduation, and it happened in Mississippi.

Was it worth the risk? Time will tell, but I can say one thing: this was the first graduation ceremony I have attended in Mississippi during which I did not feel like an outsider.

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Subverting the American Family Association's Bigotry

2010-07-30T06:37:00.003-05:00

I subscribe to the online American Family Association newsletter. If you are from Mississippi, you are probably familiar with the AFA. They have a radio station which is very popular among our devout christian fellow citizens. Very much in the James Dobson, Jerry Falwell version of good old time religion. The reason I subscribe to their newsletter is that it is always good to see what they are taking seriously. I learn from this site much earlier about issues affecting my world than I would from mainstream media or even the non-religious cyberverse. The AFA is the organization behind the referendum to get human life declared as starting at conception, for instance. I found out about this campaign first on the AFA website.

Their latest campaign involves a university student in Georgia, a good christian young woman who has views on homosexuality informed by her faith. Views she has voiced in her counseling classes. Yes, she is a counseling psychology major with religiously informed, negative opinions on homosexuality. The Augusta State University faculty decided she could not graduate holding such without having some interaction with actual homosexuals, in order to find out what their life is like, and recommended she take part in some sensitivity exercises about homosexuality before she became eligible to graduate. They did not say she had to change her views; they just said she had to have some contact with the homosexual community before she graduated. She refused.

The AFA was outraged. They claim this impinges on her rights to her religion. They have one of those links you can click on and send a form letter to the Georgia State Board of Regents to express your displeasure at the Augusta State University's infringement on the young woman's freedom of religion. I clicked on this link, wiped out the text of the AFA's form letter, and put in my own text supporting the ASU's position. I stated that this woman had a right to her religious beliefs, but beliefs are not facts. I said that it is comparable to allowing a pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription for a legal, prescribed contraceptive to a woman because it violates his or her religious beliefs. Health providers have to separate their religious beliefs from their legal obligation to provide appropriate health care to their clients, or we will have real problems.

I can't tell you how much fun it is to use their contact information to subvert their message. I am even listed as a pastor on their website (I am the one and only ordained minister of the First Church of the All-To-Human Revelation), so I have some juice. The First Church of the A-T-H Revelation is a church I started as a project for a religion class I took as an undergraduate at Western Michigan University studying under the remarkable Dr. E. Thomas Lawson. I used the seminar on Rationality and Religion I was taking to recruit members to my church. We met weekly at our class, and later at a two-for one special at a local bar, to establish that the congregation met weekly and consisted of at least twelve people. That made my church official in the eyes of the State of Michigan. I even performed a wedding ceremony. The couple I married in 1978 are still happily married, enviously wealthy, with five wonderful children. You could say I quit the marriage biz while I was ahead.

The Revelation of my church was that we are all alone in a big, cold, uncaring universe, and our only chance of surviving is to take good care of each other, because no big sky-daddy is out there to take care of us.

Check out the AFA and subvert their message. It is fun.

Mims

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Atheist Billboard in Austin, TX

2010-07-04T08:32:00.002-05:00

The Austin Coalition of Reason has erected a billboard along I-35 with a simple message of inclusion. My only complaint is that it should have said "Don't Believe in Gods?" I wonder how long it will last before the vandals come?

I also wonder if we'll ever see something like this in Mississippi. If there was ever a place where being an atheist would make one feel alone, it would have to be here.

H/T to the Atheist Experience

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My Letter to Gov. Barbour on the Prayer Proclamation

2010-06-26T12:21:00.001-05:00

This was my letter to Gov. Barbour about the prayer proclamation:

Dear Gov. Barbour:

I was disappointed to hear that you have designated June 27 as a Day of Prayer for the Mississippi Gulf Coast and other areas affected by the oil spill. As a public official, encouraging Mississippians to pray is a misuse of your office. The government is not supposed to be in the business of promoting religion.

Prayer seems to be what many politicians fall back on when they are not interested in providing leadership. I would hope that you would support meaningful action rather than useless superstition. It would be great to see you taking responsibility and attempting to help the people of our state.

This is a serious environmental disaster, and Mississippians are looking to you for leadership. Instead of prayer, please consider informing the people of our state that you will do everything in your power to prevent such disasters from recurring. Our precious coastal areas must be protected from reckless and poorly regulated drilling.

Printable Anti-Religious Tracts

2010-06-25T10:57:00.001-05:00

I've never understood the love many evangelical Christians seem to have for Jesus tracts. Maybe it is because I find it very difficult to believe that anyone would be converted by a pamphlet, and maybe it is because littering is one of my pet peeves. In any case, here are some anti-religious pamphlets that you can download as .pdf files, print, and distribute as you like. Just don't litter!

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Bringing Atheist Bus Ads to Mississippi

2010-05-28T06:32:00.001-05:00

Long-time readers may remember that we raised the question of erecting an atheist billboard in two in our state almost a year ago. At the time, the Freedom From Religion Foundation was talking about trying to place a billboard in every state and was looking at Jackson, MS. Although that plan fizzled out (at least for now), it sounds like Annie-Laurie Gaylor (Freedom From Religion Foundation) is interested in bringing the sort of atheist bus campaign we have seen in many other areas to Jackson.

Before moving forward, she has some questions those of you in the Jackson area might be able to help her with. In particular, she's interested in anyone with experience with the mass transit system in Jackson who could comment on whether it seems to get much use, etc.

Steve has been in contact with her, and I assume he'll be willing to relay information to her if we can help collect it.

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How to Contact Your Elected Officials in Mississippi

2010-01-15T11:16:00.001-06:00

After the most recent assault on science education by Mississippi Rep. Gary Chism, it occurred to me that it might be useful to have a brief, step-by-step guide for how to respond to this sort of thing in the future. I am well aware that many of you already know how to do this, but my goal with this post is merely to make it as easy as possible by providing an outline for Mississippi's reality-based community to use.

Here's the scenario: you learn about a bill introduced in our state legislature that represents yet another blow to science education, separation of church and state, etc. The bill must be killed in committee or defeated if brought to a vote. Here is what you can do about it:

Determine whether it is a house bill (HB) or a senate bill (SB) and find the bill's number (e.g., HB 25). This is easy to find because it will usually be included in the story through which you first learned of the bill.

Visit the state legislature's webpage. Under "bill status," click "select a measure" and enter the source and number of the bill into the form. Not only will this page provide a link to the text of the bill, but you'll see three critical pieces of information to note: actions taken on the bill so far, the committee which will be reviewing the bill, and the bill's author.

Now return to the main page and go under either House or Senate depending on where the bill originated and click on Click on "house committees" or "senate committees." This will show you who sits on the committee that will be handling the bill in question (remember you noted this in Step 2).

Now that you have the names of the relevant committee members, you know who to contact. At a minimum, I tend to contact the Chair and any members representing my legislative district. If you aren't sure who represents your district, you can find that information here.

Now that you know who to contact, you need to find out how to contact them. Return to the main page. Under "house" or "senate," depending on which is appropriate, you'll find a list of names to click on. Each link will provide all the contact information you'll need. Email addresses are generally included, so use them.

Let us know who you contacted, what you said, and whether you receive a response. This will help us coordinate our efforts.

Simple and highly effective. You better believe that these individuals hear from the Christian extremists in our state on a regular basis, so it is important that they hear from those of us who are oriented to reality too.

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Sample Email to Grains of Montana

2009-12-18T10:34:00.001-06:00

I mentioned in the recent post asking readers to contact the Grains of Montana and express their displeasure with their practice of offering discounts to patrons with church bulletins that we would try to post some sample letters here as we have done for previous action alerts. In my haste to contact their headquarters, I didn't bother to copy and paste the message I sent. Still, I thought it might be helpful to have a template from which to work so I'm recreating one below.

Electronic messages can be submitted to Grains of Montana through their web form. Mine went something like this:

I recently learned that your franchise in Biloxi, MS, has been offering customers who bring in a church bulletin a 10% discount on their bill. Please be aware that this practice violates Title II of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. It involves discrimination on the basis of religion in that those who are not associated with any organized religion or who attend religious services at which bulletins are not provided do not receive the same benefits.

I assume that you will correct this discriminatory practice. I look forward to visiting your Biloxi location, but I have little interest in patronizing an establishment that engages in religious discrimination.

Thank you.

I think that these sort of messages tend to be most effective when they are brief enough that the recipient will actually read them. I also believe that it is important to keep the tone civil. After all, this is likely the first time Grains of Montana has been contacted about this issue. I suspect that they adopted this marketing strategy without fully considering the implications.

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Anyone in Jackson Willing to Scout Billboard Locations?

2009-07-01T09:30:00.000-05:00

I think it would be great to have an atheist billboard in Mississippi. It looks like the Freedom From Religion Foundation is interested in placing a billboard in every state and is especially interested in state capitals. According to their web page on the subject, this is what they need from us:

1. When you're out and about, take note of promising billboard sites and locations. Contact the billboard company (whose name is on the bottom of the board) to ask about availability and costs. Most companies will shoot you an email with a photograph, estimated daily traffic figures, and monthly costs. This information can be forwarded to Annie Laurie Gaylor.

If the board you're interested in isn't available, ask the company for suggestions of promising sites. FFRF relies on a local contact to scope out billboard locations and confirm they are in a good spot, that trees, etc., aren't obscuring their view, etc.

Once a location is agreed on, FFRF asks for a nonprofit rate (sometimes extended), and signs the contract directly.

What's a good site? As a nonprofit, FFRF has managed to find moderately priced billboards, but some have been less expensive in rural areas and a few flashy boards in urban areas far more expensive. A smaller "poster" billboard by the side of a downtown building in a nice area may actually be better than a high-priced billboard on a freeway. It's a bonus if the billboard location permits easy access for photographs by media (and souvenir photographs by members!).

Accessibility and visibility of a billboard site is probably more important than traffic estimates for FFRF purposes. Thousands may zoom past a billboard on the highway without heeding our sign. But a smaller billboard in a pleasant, well-known urban location (particularly by state capitols or courthouses, landmarks or tourist sites) may attract more media attention.

2. You may donate toward the billboard campaign. Some of the billboards placed in the past year by FFRF have been suggested and paid for entirely or partly by generous local members. Others have been paid for via the Billboard Fund, a pool of contributions collected for this purpose. (Just earmark your check or Paypal contribution for the "Billboard Fund.") All donations to the Foundation are deductible for income-tax purposes.

What do you think? Anyone in the Jackson area willing to do some scouting?

Promoting Atheism in Mississippi

2009-06-19T07:59:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Friendly Atheist recently addressed an article by Crystal Dervetski of the Minnesota Atheists on the subject of promoting atheism. I found myself wondering how some of the suggestions might or might not apply here in Mississippi. I tend to think that the intensity of public hostility toward atheist might vary somewhat between Minnesota and Mississippi, but I have not spend enough time in Minnesota to do more than speculate.

Crystal's first tip certainly seems to apply:

First, be positive! There’s nothing worse than a negative atheist, mostly because that is exactly the atheist stereotype: doom and gloom, mean-spirited, angry with the world. So don’t be!

I'd argue that atheists should be angry about anti-atheist bigotry, threats to church-state separation, and the like. Of course, the trick is turning that anger into effective activism and not merely sinking into passive bitterness.

Be open-minded and willing. You won’t ever learn new things or meet new people without, at least at times, just going for it.

Absolutely! By remaining open to new experiences, we open ourselves up to all sorts of positive experiences. Of course, I'd suggest doing this because it will make us more effective and not because I am worried about confirming some sort of "lonely atheist" stereotype.

It seems to me that one of the best initial steps one can take to promote atheism in a place like Mississippi is simply to recognize that other atheists are here. I know it often feels like you are alone, but there are others with the same thoughts about gods who may feel just as alone. The bulk of Crystal's article deals with starting local atheist groups, and she has some good suggestions.

Undoubtedly, there are obstacles to forming local atheist groups. There may even be some that pose greater barriers in Mississippi compared with Minnesota. Still, the few atheist groups in our state prove that it is not impossible.

Scientific Organization to Boycott Louisiana

2009-02-14T10:34:00.005-06:00

I've just learned from a reader that the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology is boycotting the state of Louisiana and refusing to hold events in New Orleans in order to protest SB 561, Louisiana's Scientific Education Act. Good for them!

You can read their letter to Gov. Jindal here.

How to Defend Science Education in Your State

2009-01-23T05:58:00.000-06:00

Image via WikipediaScience education continues to come under attack in many states by creationists and their misinformed allies. Those of us in the reality-based community must remain committed to defending reason and promoting quality education in all fields. Fortunately, grassroots activism can be effective in reaching our elected officials and influencing public attitudes. Drawing on the recent example of Mississippi's HB 25, a measure that would require the board of education to affix anti-evolution disclaimers to science textbooks, I would like to provide this brief how-to guide for promoting activist efforts in the face of ignorance.

After learning of HB 25, we at Mississippi Atheists wrote a post to bring the issue to the attention of our readers and simultaneously informed members of the Mississippi Atheists group at Atheist Nexus. Through these actions, we estimate that roughly 100 people, mostly residents of our state, learned about the bill, what it would do to science education, and most importantly, what they could do about it.

Next, a couple of our authors used Meetup.com groups to spread the word among a wider circle of Mississippians. This sparked word-of-mouth communication in virtually every corner of our state. As word spread locally, a handful of bloggers outside our state picked up the story and informed their readers. This is a critical benefit of the blogosphere: compelling stories spread like wildfire.

Our focus at this point was in encouraging two specific actions: (1) writing letters to elected officials on the legislative committees considering the bill, and (2) writing letters to the editors of local newspapers to influence public opinion. Follow-up posts were designed to give readers multiple examples of both.

We also contacted the National Center for Science Education and Freedom From Religion Foundation to make sure they knew what was happening in our state. American Atheists even issued an action alert.

By this point, several letters had been sent to state representatives, and at least a couple letters to the editor had been published in nearly every paper in the state. The outpouring of support and willingness to engage in effective activism was truly astounding. We then received word that our efforts were having an impact and that the bill was expected to die in committee.

The status of HB 25 in Mississippi is uncertain, but we expect the bill will not make it out of committee. Best of all, I think we will be better prepared to tackle the next assault on science education that comes our way.

Here are some recommendations for organizing similar activist efforts to defend reality-based education in your state:

Increase awareness. Use blog and forum posts to raise awareness among likely stakeholders. In these posts, be sure to address both what is at stake and what readers can do about it. Provide links for more information, and offer specific suggestions about who to contact, etc. Use relevant Meetup.com groups to inform others in your state. E-mail the story to some of the big blogs for whom such a story might be relevant.
Promote action. As you are working to increase awareness, you want to simultaneously offer specific suggestions for what readers can do. Recognize that many of those learning about the issue may not have participated in previous activist efforts like this. Write follow-up posts in which you give specific examples of letters to elected officials, letters to the editor of local newspapers, etc.
Enlist support from the heavy-hitters. For activism around science education, contact the National Center for Science Education. For issues that also raise church-state issues, consider the Freedom From Religion Foundation, American Atheists, or Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The idea is to make sure some of the advocacy groups that have attorneys at their disposal know what is going on.
Share any responses. Nothing reinforces activists quite like hearing that they are making a difference. Be sure to share any responses received from the decision-makers being contacted.
Be patient but persistent. Even after being told that a letter I wrote to the editor of my local newspaper would be printed, it did not appear for more than a week. Not every letter will be published, and not every elected official will respond. Stick with it.

Everyone is capable of this sort of activism. While it can be time-consuming, it is for the benefit of our society and is certainly worthwhile.

Status of Mississippi HB 25

2009-01-20T06:19:00.000-06:00

Image via WikipediaIt looks like there have been no updates to the status of House Bill 25 since we posted that it has been referred to the Education and Judiciary A committees. Despite unofficial reports from the Education Committee chair, Rep. Brown, that the bill would die in committee, we have heard nothing official. I suppose that means that the we should keep up the pressure until we have confirmation that the bill has in fact died. It would be good to have at least a couple letters in the Clarion-Ledger. Does anybody know whether they have already printed letters on HB 25? I know we've had a couple letters printed in the Sun Herald and a couple in the Hattiesburg American.

Opposing HB 25: Letter in the Hattiesburg American

2009-01-16T13:00:00.000-06:00

As outrage over HB 25 continues to spread across Mississippi, we have another letter. This one comes from the Hattiesburg American as was written by Julie Shedd. Not only can you recommend this letter by visiting the paper's website, but you can also contribute to what I suspect will be a lively discussion in the comments. I've included the full letter below.

An open letter to Mississippi lawmakers

By Julie Shedd • January 15, 2009

Respectfully, sirs and madams: Are you trying to make Mississippi the state with the least well-educated and most helpless population in this country?

Last week we learned that due to disastrous and disproven abstinence-only education, we have the nation's highest rate of teenage pregnancy. Now we have House Bill 25, which aims to place stickers on science textbooks questioning the validity of evolutionary theory.

Current challenges to evolutionary theory are not based on science. They are based on religious beliefs and the ideas of so-called "think tanks" such as the Discovery Institute, which studies the pseudoscience of "intelligent design." Therefore, they have no place in science classrooms, let along our public school system.

I could go on an infuriated rant, but instead, I'll take apart some of the stickers' claims.

"The word 'theory' has many meanings, including: systematically organized knowledge; abstract reasoning; a speculative idea or plan; or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations."

Here we have the first refuge of the ignorant-of-evolutionary-science. In science, "theory" has only one meaning. It denotes a hypothesis which has been tested so often and in such varied ways that it can be relied upon.

Yes, the theory can change if new scientific observations are made. That's the beauty of science. This does not mean that every challenge to a theory can be taken seriously.

"This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things."

This theory is not controversial; at least, not among those who have a working knowledge of the theory. And if the phrase "some scientists" refers to "the vast majority of reputable, knowledgeable scientists," then sure, "some scientists" are behind it.

"No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered a theory."

Incorrect. Mere statements about life's origins should be considered ideas, or at best, hypotheses. As stated above, theories have been tested.

"Evolution refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced living things. There are many topics with unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbook, including: the sudden appearance of the major groups of animals in the fossil record (known as the Cambrian Explosion); the lack of new major groups of other living things appearing in the fossil record; the lack of transitional forms of major groups of plants and animals in the fossil record; and the complete and complex set of instructions for building a living body possessed by all living things."

Scientific theories are often not complete explanations of everything that ever happened. Yes, there are unanswered questions. There are billions of years of history behind us, after all. At least two of these claims, however, have been reliably disproven.

First of all, the common creationist/"intelligent design" claim that we have no transitional forms. We have thousands of them. Ever hear of Archaeopteryx? Visit a museum. Secondly, the issue of a set of instructions: There is none. Why would there be? Living beings are not transistor radios or IKEA bookshelves; they do not come with instructions.

"Study hard and keep an open mind."

That's not easy to do when you're closing it for me.

People who take issue with evolution usually do not have a complete knowledge of how evolution works. (A good layman's overview can be found at http://www.toarchive.org/faqs/evolution-fact.html.)

Mississippi's children will carry this incomplete knowledge with them if this sort of thing is what we teach them. Without understanding evolutionary theory and other scientific concepts, we are set up to remain not only the poorest and most pregnant state, but also the least-educated.

People: Please follow the lead of other states in this matter and do not support this bill. Debate it if you must (preferably in church, which is where the anti-evolution debate belongs), but please, allow your children to learn.

Opposing HB 25: Another Letter in the Sun Herald

2009-01-16T05:40:00.001-06:00

Image via WikipediaThe Sun Herald printed another letter to the editor regarding HB 25, the anti-evolution bill that would require erroneous disclaimers on textbooks in which evolution was mentioned. Even if HB 25 ends up dying in committee, it is great to see that the people of Mississippi are being exposed to accurate information about evolution. I have included the full text of the letter from Clay LaHatte below.

Evolutionary theory does not address ‘life’s origins’

Regarding Mississippi House Bill 25, on placing a message that “evolution is a theory” in school textbooks: We have been through this before (Georgia), and such a measure will eventually be struck down. Please, let us put a stop to this now, and not waste additional taxpayer dollars on a fruitless, and entirely religious-based cause.

Indeed, there is a theory that attempts to explain the facts regarding species evolution. However, evolutionary theory in no way attempts to explain origins of life, as is mentioned in HB 25. That mention is a clear mistake, or misrepresentation. In other words, it is wrong. Evolutionary theory does not address “life’s origins.” Evolutionary theory informs us as to how species change over time, and how new species emerge through that change. The ultimate origin of life is not a part of evolutionary theory.

Did you know … gravity is also a theory, yet we don’t see groups “warning” people about that one (however, for an example of how silly this kind of thinking can be, see “Intelligent Falling”). Also, education makes use of a theory (Instructional Theory). Probability is also a theory. Etcetera. So, to be fair, students must also be “cautioned” about all of these theories that are associated with teaching and with what is being taught. To single out evolution is a clear attempt to insert religious thinking and biases into classrooms, and such an attempt will and should fail.

Religion is a private matter, and is not in any way a part of scientific learning.

Please, let us not waste any more of my and your tax dollars on this issue. Please, let us not make Mississippi look more foolish than it already does.

Clay LaHatte

Vicksburg

Opposing HB 25: Letter to the Editor of the Sun Herald

2009-01-15T11:30:00.002-06:00

Image via WikipediaWhile we remain optimistic that HB 25 might be dead in committee, I want to continue sharing some of the outstanding activist efforts we are seeing across Mississippi in response to this anti-evolution bill. Our own Mims had a letter to the editor published in the Sun Herald yesterday. If there is one thing of which we can be confident, it is that creationist efforts will continue in our state for the foreseeable future. For that reason, I am going to reproduce Mims' letter below for our future reference once the newspaper no longer links to it.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Jan. 14

I recently read HB 25, which was introduced in the Mississippi House last week for consideration in this session. This bill requires a sticker be placed on every text in Mississippi schools that deals with the theory of evolution. The text of this sticker is extremely misleading and inaccurate.

Here are just a few of the inaccuracies:

n “This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things.”

Evolutionary theory is about the development of life from its simple beginnings. It does not attempt to explain the origins of life in the first place.

This is not to say that scientists aren’t working on a natural explanation for how life began on earth, and getting closer all the time.

Evolutionary theory is not controversial in the scientific community. Scientists overwhelmingly support this theory. The controversy is cultural, not scientific.

n “There are many topics with unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbook, including: the sudden appearance of the major groups of animals in the fossil record (known as the Cambrian Explosion); the lack of new major groups of other living things appearing in the fossil record; the lack of transitional forms of major groups of plants and animals in the fossil record; and the complete and complex set of instructions for building a living body possessed by all living things.”

I am stunned that these topics are not discussed in our textbooks. They should be. The Cambrian Explosion is explainable in evolutionary theory. New fossil evidence and advances in molecular biology are giving us a better picture of this era all the time, including the fact that it wasn’t really so sudden.

We have many well-documented transitional species. To claim otherwise is just factually wrong. We do have complete and complex sets of instructions for building a living body, including our own. This is the field of genetics, or more specifically, genomics. Have the authors of this sticker never heard of the Human Genome Project?

Even if they haven’t, our children surely should by the time they leave high school. In fact, they should know enough about science to point out all the inaccuracies contained in this sticker by the time they leave our secondary schools.

n “Study hard and keep an open mind.”

This, at least, I can agree with. I would add, to paraphrase Bertrand Russell, “but not so open your brain falls out.”

Mims H. Carter

Pass Christian

Oppose HB 25: Writing Letters to the Editor

2009-01-13T05:57:00.000-06:00

Image via WikipediaAnother useful tactic in opposing House Bill 25 involves writing letters to the editors of our local newspapers. This has real potential to inform and influence public opinion. If you have not done this before or it has been awhile since your last letter, here are some tips:

Keep it brief. My local paper allows only 275 words.
Focus on facts and avoid criticizing opinions.
Do not attempt to make more than a couple points per letter.
Avoid anger or sarcasm.
Don't give up. It may take several tries before a large newspaper publishes a letter. Hang in there and keep sending them.

For more suggestions, see the NCSE's Ten Tips for Writing a Letter to the Editor

Oppose HB 25: Another Sample Letter to State Representatives

2009-01-10T07:30:00.000-06:00

Image via WikipediaI sent the letter below - actually, I sent it via e-mail - to the state representative for my district. Since my representative is not on the Education Committee, I also sent a modified version to the chair and co-chair of the committee. Instead of asking them to vote against it, I tailored the letter a bit to inform them of the inaccuracy of the language in the bill. If you have not yet written to your representative in the state legislature, maybe this letter will give you some ideas.

Dear Representative Fillingane:

I am writing to urge you to oppose House Bill 25, introduced by Representative Chism and referred to the Education Committee. HB 25 requires that all textbooks containing material on evolution used in Mississippi schools include a disclaimer describing evolution as “a controversial theory” and “the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced living things.”

As a scientist, I must point out that evolution is not at all controversial within the scientific community. Rather, it is accepted as the foundation of the modern biological sciences. This is why 17 organizations, Including the National Academy of Sciences and National Science Teachers Association, recently called on the scientific community to become more involved in promoting evolution as an essential part of sound science education. See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080102083754.htm

Moreover, the description of evolution contained in this bill is simply inaccurate. Natural selection, the process driving evolutionary development, is anything but random. HB 25 asks that science textbooks used in our schools present erroneous information to students.

Our children deserve a quality education based on the best available scientific data rather than manufactured controversy and superstition. We face dire economic times, and we must prepare our students to compete in an increasingly complex world. See http://www.ascribe.org//cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20070215.134058&time=1445PST&year=2007&public=1

In case it is helpful, here is some good information on evolution and the many misconceptions about it from reputable sources:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13620?DCMP=NLC
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_faq
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=15-answers-to-creationist

Sincerely,

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