Post by AuntieSocial on Nov 18, 2003 23:49:31 GMT -5
MINNESOTA SCIENCE STANDARDS: Man denies note to panel is threatening
Click here to read the article on the original site
BY JOHN WELBES
Published: November 15, 2003
Publication: Pioneer Press
Members of Minnesota's science standards committee knew their work would include some debate on the questions of evolution vs. creationism.
Still, some were taken aback to hear a grim biblical reminder of what awaits them if they don't provide schoolchildren with both sides of the argument.
Bryce Gaudian, who heads a creationist group in southern Minnesota, recently sent a packet of materials to the 40 members of the committee that's deciding the new academic science standards, which will guide instruction in Minnesota public school classrooms for years to come.
Each member received a packet from Gaudian containing two letters, three books, three videos, two pamphlets and 23 articles. Each member also received a couple of e-mails from Gaudian.
"All I really should have needed to send each of you would have been the book of Genesis," he wrote in one of the e-mails, "where the great truth of 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth' " is found.
Later in that e-mail, the line that upset some committee members appeared.
Gaudian wrote that if members were willing to include only evolution in the science standards, "then I must reiterate to you all once again Scripture's stern warning of grave peril for your offense: 'But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea; woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! (Matthew 18:6-7).'"
Russanne Low, one of the committee members, was taken aback by the threatening language and wrote a letter to Cheri Pierson Yecke, the state's education commissioner.
"The packet of stuff (that Gaudian sent) is harmless, it's the usual inaccurate descriptions of scientific thought," Low said Friday. But when the e-mail with the biblical verse arrived it was hard to determine the exact meaning behind it, and "when we got this we were all pretty nervous."
When Gaudian initially contacted the Department of Education to get the addresses of the members of the science standards committee, he was urged to send the material to the department and let staff mail it out, said Bill Walsh, a department spokesman.
But Gaudian said it was a lot of material and that it would cost the state a lot of money to send out. He said Friday that the retail value of all the material he sent out was almost $6,000.
The state did give him the addresses, which are public data under Minnesota law. The Education Department also gave members a heads-up on what was headed their way. Some members chose to have the packet sent to an alternate address, Walsh said.
This week Yecke sent an e-mail to Gaudian and the science standards' committee members, calling his e-mail "inappropriate." She applauded him for the courage of his convictions, but wrote that the biblical language he used "is not in keeping with the civil tone that permeated all aspects of the debate during our many public hearings."
Gaudian, contacted Friday at his home near Albert Lea, said he was disappointed by Yecke's response.
"It's not a threat from me. It's just God's word that I'm sharing with them," Gaudian said. "I'm not just blowing smoke or dreaming up things to scare people."
He also said he's heard back from about seven committee members, thanking him for the material and saying they'd watch the videos and read the articles. "Hopefully the fruit from that will be a positive thing," he said.
Of the 40 members on the science standards committee, perhaps four to six complained about Gaudian's message, Walsh said.
Participating in the public policy arena, he said, commonly brings people in contact with others who have strong opinions.
"This is a volunteer committee. They're not used to public policy development. This is what legislators deal with," Walsh said. When the committee meets for the last time today, security personnel will be present, he said.
Low, who directs a program at the University of Minnesota that makes faculty resources available to K-12 teachers, said creationism isn't in the standards as they're drafted right now.
The "gray zone," she said, is intelligent design, a theory that argues that the complexity of life on Earth indicates some form of divine intervention. The science committee hasn't picked up that language, either, although it has been discussed.
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Click here to read the article on the original site
BY JOHN WELBES
Published: November 15, 2003
Publication: Pioneer Press
Members of Minnesota's science standards committee knew their work would include some debate on the questions of evolution vs. creationism.
Still, some were taken aback to hear a grim biblical reminder of what awaits them if they don't provide schoolchildren with both sides of the argument.
Bryce Gaudian, who heads a creationist group in southern Minnesota, recently sent a packet of materials to the 40 members of the committee that's deciding the new academic science standards, which will guide instruction in Minnesota public school classrooms for years to come.
Each member received a packet from Gaudian containing two letters, three books, three videos, two pamphlets and 23 articles. Each member also received a couple of e-mails from Gaudian.
"All I really should have needed to send each of you would have been the book of Genesis," he wrote in one of the e-mails, "where the great truth of 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth' " is found.
Later in that e-mail, the line that upset some committee members appeared.
Gaudian wrote that if members were willing to include only evolution in the science standards, "then I must reiterate to you all once again Scripture's stern warning of grave peril for your offense: 'But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea; woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! (Matthew 18:6-7).'"
Russanne Low, one of the committee members, was taken aback by the threatening language and wrote a letter to Cheri Pierson Yecke, the state's education commissioner.
"The packet of stuff (that Gaudian sent) is harmless, it's the usual inaccurate descriptions of scientific thought," Low said Friday. But when the e-mail with the biblical verse arrived it was hard to determine the exact meaning behind it, and "when we got this we were all pretty nervous."
When Gaudian initially contacted the Department of Education to get the addresses of the members of the science standards committee, he was urged to send the material to the department and let staff mail it out, said Bill Walsh, a department spokesman.
But Gaudian said it was a lot of material and that it would cost the state a lot of money to send out. He said Friday that the retail value of all the material he sent out was almost $6,000.
The state did give him the addresses, which are public data under Minnesota law. The Education Department also gave members a heads-up on what was headed their way. Some members chose to have the packet sent to an alternate address, Walsh said.
This week Yecke sent an e-mail to Gaudian and the science standards' committee members, calling his e-mail "inappropriate." She applauded him for the courage of his convictions, but wrote that the biblical language he used "is not in keeping with the civil tone that permeated all aspects of the debate during our many public hearings."
Gaudian, contacted Friday at his home near Albert Lea, said he was disappointed by Yecke's response.
"It's not a threat from me. It's just God's word that I'm sharing with them," Gaudian said. "I'm not just blowing smoke or dreaming up things to scare people."
He also said he's heard back from about seven committee members, thanking him for the material and saying they'd watch the videos and read the articles. "Hopefully the fruit from that will be a positive thing," he said.
Of the 40 members on the science standards committee, perhaps four to six complained about Gaudian's message, Walsh said.
Participating in the public policy arena, he said, commonly brings people in contact with others who have strong opinions.
"This is a volunteer committee. They're not used to public policy development. This is what legislators deal with," Walsh said. When the committee meets for the last time today, security personnel will be present, he said.
Low, who directs a program at the University of Minnesota that makes faculty resources available to K-12 teachers, said creationism isn't in the standards as they're drafted right now.
The "gray zone," she said, is intelligent design, a theory that argues that the complexity of life on Earth indicates some form of divine intervention. The science committee hasn't picked up that language, either, although it has been discussed.
Maverick: Added to the news page. Message icon updated.
