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Discovery Institute Endorses Texas Freedom Network’s Call for Sound Science and Teaching Evolution

AUSTIN, TX — Discovery Institute leaders today said they will sign the Texas Freedom Network’s “Stand up for science” petition which states, “I support sound science and the teaching of evolution.”

“We’ve been standing up for sound science for a long time,” said Institute President Bruce Chapman. “We’ve been calling for biology textbooks to stand up and expand their teaching of evolution. But we’ve been all alone because in the past radical Darwinist groups like Texas Freedom Network have tried to limit the full teaching of evolution.”

“We wholeheartedly endorse good, accurate science and the complete teaching of evolution in accord with Texas law, which says students should learn all the scientific evidence that both supports and shows the weaknesses of existing scientific theories,” said John West, associate director of Discovery’s Center for Science & Culture.

West added: “If Texas Freedom Network really stands behind the full teaching of evolution, we invite them to sign our open letter to the Texas State Board of Education.”

The open letter was released today by Discovery Institute and states: “We support the requirement in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills [TEKS] that students learn how to ‘analyze, review, and critique scientific explanations, including hypotheses and theories, as to their strengths and weaknesses using scientific evidence and information,’ and we urge that this requirement be applied to how biology textbooks used in state schools present the subjects of chemical and biological evolution.” It was signed by two dozen university professors from Texas.

“All Discovery Institute has ever advocated is that textbooks should fix embarrassing factual errors and tell students about the scientific weaknesses of neo-Darwinism as well as its strengths,” said West. “This is fully in accord with Texas law, which says students should know the scientific evidence that both supports and shows the weaknesses of existing scientific theories.”

Discovery Institute

Discovery Institute promotes thoughtful analysis and effective action on local, regional, national and international issues. The Institute is home to an inter-disciplinary community of scholars and policy advocates dedicated to the reinvigoration of traditional Western principles and institutions and the worldview from which they issued.