NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2018/07/13
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2018-07-13 12:26.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Harun Yahya is in legal trouble in Turkey again. And news of a fossil-fuel-foundation-funded teaching guide in Texas is raising eyebrows.
HARUN YAHYA IN HOT WATER Adnan Oktar, the controversial Islamic creationist who publishes under the name Harun Yahya, was arrested by Turkish police on July 11, 2018, according to the Hurriyet Daily News (July 11, 2018). Through the Scientific Research Foundation (Bilim Arastirma Vakfi, or BAV), Oktar and his followers produce a steady stream of publications and audiovisual material aimed at dismissing evolution as baseless and pernicious. The Hurriyet Daily News explained, "According to the detention warrant, Oktar and his followers are accused of forming a criminal organization, sexual abuse of children, sexual assault, child kidnapping, sexual harassment, blackmailing, false imprisonment, political and military espionage, fraud by exploiting religious feelings, money laundering, violation of privacy, forgery of official documents, opposition to anti-terror law, coercion, use of violence, slander, alienating citizens from mandatory military service, insulting, false incrimination, perjury, aggravated fraud, smuggling, tax evasion, bribery, torture, illegal recording of personal data, violating the law on the protection of family and women, and violating a citizen’s rights to get education and participate in politics." It is not Oktar's first brush with the law. In 2008, as NCSE previously reported, he was convicted of "creating an illegal organization for personal gain" and sentenced to three years in prison, although his conviction was overturned on appeal in 2010. Signs that Oktar and his organization are out of favor with the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were evident earlier in 2018, when, as Newsweek (February 1, 2018) reported, the Directorate for Religious Affairs "slammed" Oktar. For the article in the Hurriyet Daily News, visit: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-televangelist-adnan-oktar-blames-british-deep-state-over-detention-on-several-charges-134430 For the article in Newsweek, visit: http://www.newsweek.com/islamic-sex-cult-leaders-turkey-797749 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events abroad, visit: https://ncse.com/news/international FOSSIL FUEL SHENANIGANS IN TEXAS "Concerned that environmental groups were winning the hearts and minds of Texas schoolchildren -- filling their heads with statements of the ills of fossil fuels -- a politically connected Texas natural gas industry advocacy group devised a plan to fight back," reported the Austin American-Statesman (July 6, 2018). State representative Jason Isaac (R-District 45), a founding member of the Texas Natural Gas Foundation who spearheaded the effort, told the newspaper that he was provoked by middle school material brought home by his son that described fossil fuels as causing global warming: "You're striking fear in children that oil and gas and coal are bad." The Texas Natural Gas Foundation worked with the State Energy Conservation Office and the University of Texas to develop a teaching guide on energy issues. But experts asked by the American-Statesman to evaluate the completed guide described it as providing incomplete or even intentionally misleading information. The head of the University of Texas's Environmental Science Institute commented that the guide claims that "devastation of our social and economic systems will result from switching away from the use of nonrenewables." He added, "That's not a very forward-looking way to work the problem of our energy future." The project was funded by a federal grant, not by the fossil fuel industry or the Texas Natural Gas Foundation, and a staffer at the University of Texas who helped to oversee the project contended that there was no "pressure to misrepresent the science or the social aspects of the energy situation." But two board members of the Texas Natural Gas Foundation briefed the writers of the guide about energy resources at a January 2016 meeting, where, according to the American-Statesman, "[n]o environmental groups or other experts were on the agenda to speak," and later invited them to attend a presentation on the moral case for fossil fuels. Twenty Texan middle school science teachers were trained with the guide in 2016. The Texas Natural Gas Foundation reportedly is soliciting funds to train 275 additional teachers, perhaps in the summer of 2019, and hopes for the material to be adopted and customized for use outside Texas. For the article in the Austin American-Statesman, visit: https://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/how-natural-gas-group-pushed-for-new-energy-curriculum-texas/O1BM8tXDTR1y02atwBhC1H/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Texas, visit: https://ncse.com/news/texas Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- https://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com https://ncse.com Check out NCSE's blog: https://ncse.com/blog Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: https://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse https://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd https://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! https://ncse.com/join
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