The Scottish legend of the Loch Ness Monster is suggested as truth in a
biology book that a private Christian school in Louisiana is using in
its curriculum.
But that’s only part of the outrage from critics: Students who are eligible for taxpayer-funded vouchers will be allowed to attend Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake for the 2012-13 school year, according to reports.
The startling claim about Nessie’s authenticity is made to bolster creationism within the textbook, the Scotsman newspaper reported Monday. The Loch Ness Monster is described as a type of dinosaur, and if dinosaurs and man co-exist, then presumably there would be holes in the scientific argument for evolution.
The textbook, produced by Accelerated Christian Education, features a passage about the Loch Ness Monster in the Biology 1099 edition, Scotland’s The Herald reported.
“Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence,” the textbook reads, according to the newspaper.
“Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”
Bruce Wilson, who blogs about religion and right-wing politics, estimates 200,000 students who receive publicly-funded vouchers are learning from such a curriculum. Louisiana’s voucher program will allow poor and middle-class children to attend private schools.
“I don’t believe they should be publicly funded, I don’t believe the schools who use these texts should be publicly funded,” Wilson told The Herald.
Marie Carrier, principal of Eternity Christian Academy, said her students are learning at their own pace. The school reportedly has 38 children in grades 1 to 8.
One of the beginning workbooks explains “what God made” on each day that the world was created, according to Reuters.
“We try to stay away from all those things that might confuse our children,” Carrier told Reuters.
She’s interested in gaining 135 voucher students for the next school year.
Some Christian schools eligible for vouchers are also reportedly teaching “Bible-based math,” which doesn’t include modern theories.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, advocated for the voucher plan, telling Reuters, “We are letting parents decide what’s best for their children, not government.”
But those who study Nessie aren’t convinced teaching about the animal as reality makes sense. Its strange tale became widely reported in 1933, when a man took a picture of a mysterious, thick-bodied creature rising from a lake in the Scottish Highlands.
“We do get regular sonar contacts which are pretty much unexplainable,” Tony Drummond, a Loch Ness tour guide, told The Herald about ongoing research. “More ... has to be done, but it’s not way along the realms of possibility.”
He added that passing on the folklore as real is “ridiculous propaganda.”
But that’s only part of the outrage from critics: Students who are eligible for taxpayer-funded vouchers will be allowed to attend Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake for the 2012-13 school year, according to reports.
The startling claim about Nessie’s authenticity is made to bolster creationism within the textbook, the Scotsman newspaper reported Monday. The Loch Ness Monster is described as a type of dinosaur, and if dinosaurs and man co-exist, then presumably there would be holes in the scientific argument for evolution.
The textbook, produced by Accelerated Christian Education, features a passage about the Loch Ness Monster in the Biology 1099 edition, Scotland’s The Herald reported.
“Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence,” the textbook reads, according to the newspaper.
“Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”
Bruce Wilson, who blogs about religion and right-wing politics, estimates 200,000 students who receive publicly-funded vouchers are learning from such a curriculum. Louisiana’s voucher program will allow poor and middle-class children to attend private schools.
“I don’t believe they should be publicly funded, I don’t believe the schools who use these texts should be publicly funded,” Wilson told The Herald.
Marie Carrier, principal of Eternity Christian Academy, said her students are learning at their own pace. The school reportedly has 38 children in grades 1 to 8.
One of the beginning workbooks explains “what God made” on each day that the world was created, according to Reuters.
“We try to stay away from all those things that might confuse our children,” Carrier told Reuters.
She’s interested in gaining 135 voucher students for the next school year.
Some Christian schools eligible for vouchers are also reportedly teaching “Bible-based math,” which doesn’t include modern theories.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, advocated for the voucher plan, telling Reuters, “We are letting parents decide what’s best for their children, not government.”
But those who study Nessie aren’t convinced teaching about the animal as reality makes sense. Its strange tale became widely reported in 1933, when a man took a picture of a mysterious, thick-bodied creature rising from a lake in the Scottish Highlands.
“We do get regular sonar contacts which are pretty much unexplainable,” Tony Drummond, a Loch Ness tour guide, told The Herald about ongoing research. “More ... has to be done, but it’s not way along the realms of possibility.”
He added that passing on the folklore as real is “ridiculous propaganda.”
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