Efforts of the National Center for Stupid Explanations (NCSE)
On April 16, 2008 in Atheism, In the News
Well, those idiots over at the NCSE in Berkeley are at it again. Seems like they’re pretty upset over all the attention Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is getting. If I’m not mistaken, their mascot Eugenie Scott was actually interviewed in the video showing how foolish her views are.
So what was Plan B for the NCSE? Make a ridiculous video, put it on the internets, and let the kiddies eat it up.
So I was on Digg yesterday and I came across a new video submission that was getting pretty popular pretty quickly, “Science Teacher Fired for Not Teaching Creationism.” I thought this title sounded awfully bizarre, considering the fact that NO TEACHER IN AMERICA is legally required to teach Creation. I mean, this isn’t 1925 is it? People get fired for refusing to teach Evolution today, not Creation.
So I watched the video. It singles a woman by the name of Chris Castillo-Comer, the ex Director of Science in Texas. She apparently feels like she was fired for “not remaining neutral over creationism.” So obviously she feels as though she’s been martyred for her commitment to Lord Darwin!
This still didn’t seem right to me, something else had to be at play in this. Once the video was over, It all made sense. The closing credits awarded all attention to the National Center for Science and Education - a small store-front building in Berkeley. Little presence, big name. By the way, my new name is King Jonathan the Greatness of All That Is Mighty and Awesome.
So I started doing a little more digging, and I finally came across the actual memorandum Comer’s Boss wrote requesting her termination. The memorandum, oddly enough, was hosted on NCSE’s server.
The memorandum states, “I [Monica Martinez through Sharon Jackson] propose to terminate the employment of Chris Castillo-Comer due to misconduct and insubordination. Ms. Comer has engaged in a series of incidents evidencing a serious lack of good judgment and failure to follow agency policies and supervisory directives.”
Whoa, wait a second, a “series of incidents” doesn’t seem to line-up with “Sniff, Sniff, I was fired, Sniff, for not loving Creationism.”
The Memorandum goes on to say, “As the Director of Science, Ms. Comer should understand that it is her job to explain law and rule regarding the science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), but not cross the line into providing guidance or opinions about instructional methodology or any other matters about which we have no statutory authority.”
So this lady is in trouble for violating her contractual job description. Her job is to make sure TEKS adheres to what they are legally supposed to adhere to, but not to jump aside and promote/demote any type of ideology unless it conflicts with the relevant laws.
No we’re getting somewhere.
Continuing, “It is essential that Ms. Comer support the integrity of the upcoming TEKS development and revision process and ensure that it does not appear in any way that she is advocating for any given position or stance. Ms. Comer should be well aware of her role in the TEKS revision process and the need to maintain neutrality based on the guidance provided by agency management and division procedures as well as numerous meetings and discussions on this topic.”
So her job is to make sure the TEKS development adheres to the laws of Texas, and not her own personal agenda. Appears also that she had plenty of warning also about what she is to do, and not to do according to many meetings and discussions - she can’t plead ignorance…unless she’s just really ignorant.
If you read the Memorandum, you’ll see that it basically boils down to this. Comer isn’t allowed to do anything in her professional capacity that is:
A) Illegal, or contrary to her job description
B) Done without the prior approval of her agency/employer.
As I write this there are currently around 1,300 comments. And practically all of them resemble “bah, stupid creationists dummies! Science is fact and religion sucks.” Not a single one of these guys wanted to investigate a little further, or else they would have seen that the NCSE is full of crap, and this Ms. Comer is an idiot with an agenda.
What the heck is wrong with the world today? Why don’t people question their own beliefs, and investigate claims made by others? I mean, come on. Even if you’re a Christian, Muslim, or Jew investigate your own beliefs! If you’re an atheist or evolutionist, investigate your own beliefs!
I submit the solution to all of the world’s problems: seek truth, question everything, and don’t be lazy. If this model was enforced by every thinking mind on Earth, we would have far less comments on this digg-submission, and practically all would say “She was fired for insubordination and illegal activity. Not for ‘not teaching Creationism’.”
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