Remember during the 2011 Texas Legislature when state Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, proposed legislation that essentially validates academic fraud, then did himself no favors by defending the bill in an interview with Mother Jones? That was fun.
And now, Round 2: Zedler is back, filing the exact same creationism bill ahead of the 2013 legislative session that begins next month.
The bill bars universities from taking action — called “discrimination” by Zedler — if a faculty member or student promotes ideas not supported by science. So if, for example, a professor at the University of Texas insists science shows that the earth is flat, that prof should be held in the same regard by the university as another professor whose research is, well, a bit more up-to-date.
Both TFN and our good friends at the National Center for Science Education are tracking this legislation. We’re also looking out for any new Zedler interviews.
The 2011 bill, incidentally, went nowhere.
Ugh…
God bless, Texas.
At some point the legislators need to laugh people like Zedler off the floor. Complete waste of time when there’s real work to do in Texas.
What’s next, prayers for rain instead of water conservation projects? Oh, that’s right, old news.
If memory serves, that little “discrimination” bill was mentioned in an issue of Texas Monthly a few summer back — the one w/ lawmakers posed in police lineup on the cover. As chortle & guffaw inducing as this, it’s not funny. No excuse for wasting taxpayers money and legislators time w/ this nonsense.