{"id":11159,"date":"2012-12-06T00:01:13","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T05:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=11159"},"modified":"2012-12-06T00:01:13","modified_gmt":"2012-12-06T05:01:13","slug":"truth-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html","title":{"rendered":"Truth in Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse<\/a> is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana.<\/p>\n

Having been unsuccessful, he is trying something else<\/a>, which ironically highlights the challenges for science educators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He says<\/a> of his newly proposed \u201cTruth in Education<\/a>\u201d legislation,\u00a0\u201cIf you\u2019re teaching something, then a student could question that and say, you know, \u2018How do you know that\u2019s true?\u2019 And so the teacher would have to come up with different sources, \u2018This is why I think this is true.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That is what any good educator in any field already does<\/a>, except that they won\u2019t merely offer \u201cdifferent sources\u201d of just any quality, but actual scientific research.<\/p>\n

Kruse clearly holds the misguided view that evolution lacks such evidence, despite the wealth of scientific research supporting it, and conversely, that young-earth creationism has such evidence, despite not having any actual scientific evidence or research supporting it.<\/p>\n

This highlights the challenge educators in many fields face, and that humanity faces, is that there are many viewpoints which are not supported by evidence or which are even at odds with evidence, but for which people have nonetheless made a case which manages to deceive some people into thinking that the situation is exactly the opposite of what it really is.<\/p>\n

And so Sen. Kruse<\/a> illustrates the problem. Students can ask questions, and teachers and parents and a variety of other individuals can offer answers. Unless there is actual rigorous quality control regarding the answers given, then charlatans<\/a>\u00a0will quickly offer \u201csources\u201d which pretend to be evidence, but is merely a pack of lies.<\/p>\n

Until one has studied a subject sufficiently to be able to genuinely grasp the methods, evidence, and arguments, then one is not going to be poised to evaluate claims made concerning that field. And so it is crucial that students be educated first about what science is, how it works, what the evidence is, and how conclusions are drawn. If they have that solid grounding, they won\u2019t be duped by false claims the way Sen. Kruse apparently has \u2013 unless, of course, the parents themselves have missed out on a good science education, and are seeking to\u00a0inoculate<\/a>\u00a0their children against being educated.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana. Having been unsuccessful, he is trying something else, which ironically highlights the challenges for science educators. He says of his newly proposed \u201cTruth in Education\u201d legislation,\u00a0\u201cIf you\u2019re teaching something, then a student could question that and say, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,85,108],"tags":[2272,2598,3217,5125,6131,6383,6457,7917,7964,10886,11061,14016],"class_list":["post-11159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evolution-science","category-science","category-young-earth-creationism","tag-creationism","tag-dennis-kruse","tag-evolution-science","tag-indiana","tag-ken-ham","tag-law","tag-legislation","tag-national-center-for-science-education","tag-ncse","tag-science","tag-senator","tag-young-earth-creationism"],"yoast_head":"\nTruth in Education<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana. Having been unsuccessful, he is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Truth in Education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana. Having been unsuccessful, he is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-06T05:01:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/dennis-kruse-240x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html\",\"name\":\"Truth in Education\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-06T05:01:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-06T05:01:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana. Having been unsuccessful, he is\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Truth in Education\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Truth in Education","description":"Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana. Having been unsuccessful, he is","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Truth in Education","og_description":"Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana. Having been unsuccessful, he is","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2012-12-06T05:01:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/dennis-kruse-240x300.jpg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html","name":"Truth in Education","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-12-06T05:01:13+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-06T05:01:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"Indiana State Senator Dennis Kruse is the man behind several past attempts to pass creationist legislation in Indiana. Having been unsuccessful, he is","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/truth-in-education.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Truth in Education"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}