Thursday, October 19, 2006
Smart Endorsement
In a triumph of dedication to good education over immediate political gain, Republican Martha Wise is backing Democrat John Bender in the race to replace her on the Ohio state school board. I’ve spent five years of my life keeping intelligent design, or what you might call teaching religion, out of science classes. [Bender's] the only one [out of four candidates] who agrees with me.That might not be so notable, given that the board election is supposed to be nonpartisan, except for the fact that Wise is herself running for a seat in the state senate.
My party leadership will be upset with me. But I feel it’s the right thing to do.Just to give an idea of what the local attitudes might be, Kathleen McGervey, an engineer and former religion teacher who is running against Bender, gave the usual blather about there "still a lot of questions about evolution that need to be answered and students should be encouraged to question it." More stunningly, she said she wasn’t surprised by the endorsement because Bender and Wise both agree that because ID is religion it should stay out of science classes. According to McGervey, "They both hold an extreme position."
Too bad we don't have more Wise politicians.
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