The war between evolution and creationism is raging in Atlanta after a high school biology teacher showed a PowerPoint Presentation to students linking evolution to Satan.
The story was first reported in The Southerner, the Henry W. Grady High School newspaper, by two students.
The latest chapter in the debate over how to teach the origins of human life is unfolding closer to home than many in the Grady community would have ever expected.
A PowerPoint shown to a freshman biology class featured a cartoon depicting dueling castles, one labeled “Creation (Christ)” and the other labeled “Evolution (Satan).” Balloons attached to the evolution castle were labeled euthanasia, homosexuality, pornography, divorce, racism and abortion.
It was uploaded by Mary E. King, a project manager at APS. […] Phone calls and emails to King have not been returned. Tommy Molden, science coordinator for APS, also did not respond to requests for comment.
The Southerner goes on to report that the PowerPoint was “assigned for the students to view on the website Blackboard as a part of Anquinette Jones’ freshman biology class. Jones declined comment, saying that the PowerPoint originated with APS [Atlanta Public Schools]. “
Of particular note is the source of the cartoon, a 1987 book by Ken Ham entitled: “The Lie: Evolution.” You might recall that Ham is the young earth creationist and Christian apologist who debated Bill Nye back in February. Ham has also come under fire this year for his project to build a replica of Noah’s ark in Williamtown, Kentucky, a town of roughly four thousand people at an estimated cost of about $73 million dollars funded through donations and a municipal bond.
SOURCE: Comment on The Skeptics’ Guide To The Universe. http://bit.ly/1qCHafZ
The Christian News Network reports that “Ham has repeatedly used the castle diagram over the years to represent the war of worldviews between evolution and biblical creation. In a 2009 article, Ham said the illustrations of the two castles ‘summarize the message of Answers in Genesis.’”
These diagrams were first produced around thirty years ago as I endeavored to illustrate, in diagram form, the concept of the foundational nature of the battle between Christianity and secular humanism.”
An additional slide in the presentation appears to encourage students not to believe in evolution: “Evolution is part of high school biology curriculum,” the PowerPoint slide reads. “You are entitled to challenge everything and encouraged to believe whatever you would like.”
A reader reported the incident to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week, writing:
I just can’t believe that this didn’t hit the media in a bigger way. I’m pretty horrified by the idea that my children heading off to Grady might experience this. I think it needs to be addressed by the larger community.”
Maureen Downey of the Journal-Constitution went on to report that:
The Grady High student newspaper, the Southerner, did an excellent job reporting on the cartoon and the fallout. Grady High student journalists Josh Weinstock and Archie Kinnane invested a lot of time into their careful reporting. I’m disappointed Atlanta Public Schools did not respond when approached by the Southerner reporters in May. Someone from the district should have explained to the Southerner and the greater Grady High community why this cartoon was in an APS file-sharing database for teachers.”
However, last Wednesday APS spokeswoman Jill Strickland Luse sent a response to the Journal-Constitution which read:
It appears that this science lesson plan was not properly vetted prior to being uploaded to the district’s SharePoint website last summer. When the district learned of the PowerPoint presentation and worksheet that is in question, the lesson and supporting documents were reviewed, and they were immediately removed. The district is currently reviewing the vetting process for all lesson plans prior to uploading them for instruction. In addition, the curriculum coordinators will review lesson plans with teachers as part of their pre-planning session later this month.”
Below are some excerpts from the article by Weinstock and Kinnane regarding reaction to the presentation, followed by a close-up of the cartoon.
Several students and parents were offended by the implications of the cartoon, including freshman Seraphina Cooley, who is in Jones’ class.
“[I] have gay parents, and [the cartoon] said that evolution caused homosexuality and it implied that to be negative, so I was pretty offended by it,” Cooley said.
[…]
Freshman Griffin Ricker, who is also in Jones’ class, said Jones got angry with the class when she found out students had notified the administration.
“She had a 10-minute rant,” Ricker said. “She yelled and said, ‘This is on the APS website, and it was certified.’”
Freshman Lily Soto, who switched from Jones’ biology class after the first semester, said Jones had refused to teach evolution when the class approached the portion of the cirriculum. [sic]
“She always had random comments about [creationism],” Soto said. “If someone would ask if we were going to learn evolution, she was like, ‘No, I don’t teach that.’”
Robin Rosen, parent of a freshman, took her child out of Jones’ class after the first semester. She said she wouldn’t have talked to The Southerner if her child were still in Jones’ class, for fear of retaliation.
“I was offended, but more shocked and disturbed that a teacher in [APS] could get away with putting that in a classroom,” Rosen said. “Offended is probably the wrong word at this point; it is very troubling to me that a teacher who is in a position of influence over children in a public school can put something up [like the cartoon].”
Fellow science teacher Nikolai Curtis said the PowerPoint was, in his opinion, inappropriate to show while teaching evolution.
“[It] dealt specifically with the religious controversy associated with it, and one of the major rules of teaching evolution is that it is science, and it is based in fact, based in evidence,” Curtis said.
[…]
Sophomore Isabel Olson, who took biology from Jones last year, said that this cartoon was not the first instance of creationism being discussed in class. She said that one time, a classmate asked how cells were created.“Ms. Jones’ answer was [something like], ‘It’s divine, God created us.’” Olson said.
Olson also said Jones had the students debate creationism versus evolution.
“One day we had to go home and prepare a short debate to do for the next class about creationism versus evolution,” Olson said, “We had to prepare the pros and cons of creationism and evolution and present the ideas.”
Olson said she went to talk to administrators about the religious aspect of Jones’ teaching, but they didn’t take any action.
Georgia Department of Education director of communications Matt Cardoza confirmed that creationism is not included in the state curriculum standards for biology. In fact, he said Supreme Court case Edwards v. Aguillard established that a state cannot require the teaching of creationism.
Close-up of the balloons.
Below is the actual PowerPoint slide from the presentation. Be sure to note the enlarged font to emphasize the text regarding creationism. Can you say subliminal advertising?
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