What's Not Wrong With Kansas

Last year the Kansas Board of Education adopted what were essentially anti-evolution standards. Happily, Kansas voters have changed the makeup of the board and it now has at least a slim majority that will not force teachers to pretend the basics of evolution are scientifically controversial.

I guess this is good news, though it's sort of sad when good news means they'll be teaching science in science class again.

PS Jerry Coyne has a piece in The New Republic on Ann Coulter's attack on evolution. While he gets the science right, some of the other arguments are harder to prove.

Coulter thinks evolution leads to immorality. Here I agree with Coyne--this is nonsense, both philosophically and historically.

Coyne also claims that learning about (and believing) evolution does not make you godless. This is true as far as it goes, but does that end the issue? There's at least an argument that evolution is hard or impossible to square with a not insignificant number of people's religious viewpoints. (This doesn't harm the argument for evolution, but it does help explain the controversy.)

Finally, Coyne believes that Coulter is putting us on. He "conclude[s] that the trash-talking blonde bit is just a shtick (admittedly, a clever one) calculated to make her rich and famous." He even doubts she believes what she says. This is going too far. Sure, she may exaggerate for effect, but unless I know otherwise, I'll take her at her word.