Florida's New Board of Education Chairman is an Evolution Denier, and lies about it

[muriel_volestrangler]

because he claims he's not inserting his personal faith into the state system, but years ago he admitted he was:

Florida’s State Board of Education recently announced a new chairman: Andy Tuck.
...
But when he was on that local school board in 2008, he http://www2.highlandstoday.com:80/content/2008/jan/25/board-opposes-evolution-being-taught-fact/" target="_blank">opposed the teaching of evolution as a “fact” in the state’s new science standards.

School Board Vice Chairman Andy Tuck said Thursday, “as a person of faith, I strongly oppose any study of evolution as fact at all. I’m purely in favor of it staying a theory and only a theory.

“I won’t support any evolution being taught as fact at all in any of our schools.”

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/08/03/floridas-new-board-of-education-chairman-is-an-evolution-denier/

But now he's got a higher state profile, he tries to deny it:

Then in 2014 Tuck was appointed the state board of education. Reporters recalled his earlier stance on evolution and so decided to follow up with him now that he was at the state level. This is what he said:

“I’m not an evangelical right-winger,” he told me. “I’m not trying to get religion in schools.”

[…]

Tuck said his problem is that scientists can’t say for certain how the universe began.

“I guess the thing I struggle with is you’re teaching evolution to fifth-graders and you get done and one says, ‘Where did it start?’” he said. “And you say what?”

http://www.flascience.org/?p=3494

[Major Nikon]

1. "Only a theory"

Kinda scary when morons who are in positions of power and believe mythology is factual and downgrade widely accepted science. They aren’t happy until children are made to be just as stupid as they are.

[ladjf]

5. I doubt that Tuck is dumb enough to believe the junk he spouts. nt

[Mariana]

7. I see no reason to doubt the sincerity of his faith.

His isn't exactly a fringe position. Denial of evolutionary theory is fairly mainstream among Protestant Christians in the US.

[ladjf]

8. I would say that his position on Evolution is totally a "fringe position" among

scientists trained in the related fields.

"Nearly all (around 97%) of the scientific community accepts evolution as the dominant scientific theory of biological diversity.[1][2] Scientific associations have strongly rebutted and refuted the challenges to evolution proposed by intelligent design proponents.[3]z'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_of_support_for_evolution

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. I always want to point out to those who

say evolution is only a theory, that gravity likewise is only a theory. But it's probably not a good idea to step out of a window on a high floor, thinking that you'll float safely to the ground.

In science, something formally called a theory means it's very well accepted as fact.

Non scientists often use the word theory when what they really mean is hypothesis, which is a guess, sometimes informed sometimes not, about something. So it's the Theory of Evolution, not the Hypothesis of Evolution. And the Theory of Gravity, not the Hypothesis of Gravity. Heck, we also call modern understanding of most disease the Germ Theory of Disease. Again, not the Germ Hypothesis of Disease.

[Major Nikon]

3. Not exactly

Scientists don't accept theory as fact. A theory is a model which describes the physical universe and it has been shown through empirical methods to be accurate, but hasn't been proved or may not even be provable.

A hypothesis is an educated guess concerning a matter that is falsifiable and can be evaluated through empirical methods for a subject that is not covered by existing scientific theories or laws. It generally accompanies sound reasoning as to why it may be true.

Creationism isn't a theory or hypothesis and never will be. It is mythology. So when dipshits want creationism taught as a competing school of thought alongside evolution in a science class, not only is this nonsensical but it literally makes people more ignorant about what science is and isn't.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Well, it's called "The Theory of Evolution."

When scientists use the world theory that way, they mean accepted fact. Oh, they are still willing to be open to it being falsified, but feel pretty confident it won't be.

See also Theory of Gravity and the Germ Theory of Disease.

But yes, you are absolutely right about Creationism being mythology.

[ladjf]

6. I think it would have been clearer to use the wording

"process of evolution" because the processes of evolution are all around, therefore easy prove their validity.
There are examples of those validating processes everywhere.