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C0nc0rdance from ytube does a good job of showing that we should not abandon the reasoned evidence based approach to medicine because of the amoral behaviour of some pharmaceutical companies.
Well, Bill 44 has been passed into law.
What is Bill 44? Bill 44 is the ‘parental rights’ legislation that stipulates that parents have the right to pull their children out of contentious classroom situations. Topics such as Human Sexuality, Religion and Evolution have been mentioned as possible situations.
Bill 44 or “The Right to Remain Ignorant” bill has been postponed in its implementation. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports that the culture minister Lindsay Blackett has delayed the legislation for some more fine tuning to allow the schools to as he puts it: “Our intention is certainly not to get school boards before the Human Rights Commission.”
Intentionally or not this legislation allows teachers to be brought before a HRC tribunal when discussion such controversial topics such as evolution and sexual education are included in a lesson without parental approval.
This is a gross neglect of public education in Alberta. I’ve already written about Bill 44 here when this particular travesty of Bill came out. I am hoping that the Alberta Government have realized the magnitude of the stupid (stupid burning so bright that it made it a mark on PZ Myers’s blog Pharyngula) that is in this bill and working to neuter it as quickly as possible.
Given the lovely conservative nature of the politics in this province, I highly doubt any significant revisions will be made.
I recently finished a course in the sociology of the family. One of the dominant themes of the course was the gendered assumptions our society is based on. Like the Matrix, until you are shown what it is, you really do not understand it. One of the conditions of the paper was that I had to use a pop culture piece to illustrate how heteronormativity works in our culture. I chose the cartoon ‘Family Guy’ because it is a very offensive show and I was sure I would find heteronormative gold when I analyzed a couple of episodes. Sadly, I was correct…
** Note, this essay and other essays on the site are for educational purposes only. Plagiarism is the most serious of academic offenses. This blog is not going anywhere so cite a reference if you use my work. Plus, if you can google this essay, so can your prof. **
One cannot teach biology without teaching evolution. It would be like trying to teach physical education, with no running allowed. Our enlightened government though is going to put that assertion to the test. This bill was put forward with the publically stated intention of enshrining the protection same sex couples. In reality, Bill 44 gives parents the option to remove their children from any course material that contains sexual or religious content. Furthermore, teachers must notify parents in writing when such a contentious issue will be discussed in class. (Thankfully the amended bill allows for unplanned anecdotal mentions of religion and sexuality).
What is wrong with Bill 44 is the unconscious reinforcement of the heterogendered ideal.
Homosexuality is just as normal as heterosexual behaviour in nature. It just seems that the alleged creator (see also the magic sky fairy) of the entire UNIVERSE has real problems with whom and how we have intimate relationships with. It says so in the same book that slavery is great and contends unabashedly that pi is 3. (Three cheers for biblical accuracy and morality!) If you wish to arm your children with 2000 year old “wisdom” please, be my guest (feel free to not believe in germ theory as well). Just do not expect your delusions to be catered to in the public secular school system. There are many religious schooling options available to addle your children with mystical buffoonery.
There is not a ‘happy medium’ when in comes to the evolution/creation debate. We must not equivocate when it comes to rational thought versus religious codswallop. If we are to teach fact, then we must teach evolution. If we want to teach myth then we can look to religion. The two topics have nothing to do with each other and vary on the key point that one is based on testable, proven fact; the other on the stories that semi-literate shepherds cooked up in the hot sun of the Middle East 2000 years ago.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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