Devolution

 A man, learning that astronomers had just announced that a huge asteroid would soon destroy the earth, promptly moved his family to Alabama.  "What's the point of this, if the earth will soon end?", asked his wife.  "Because everyone knows Alabama is always years behind the rest of the world," he replied.

This article, posted yesterday, illustrates how doggedly Alabama resists advancement.  The Alabama Board of Education announced they will continue to cling to their ridiculous disclaimer that is a forced addition to statewide science textbooks.  It misinforms children that natural selection and Darwinian evolution are "only a theory" and are a "controversial" one, at that.  The disclaimer was inserted into school science texts beginning in 1995, and with small changes remains there to this day.  Never mind that legitimate scientists are in near-unanimous support of the principle of evolution to explain the development of life on this planet.  "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution", wrote famed Columbia University biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky.  The controversy exists only in the mind of biblically informed creationists, like the current Speaker of the US House of Representatives, who insist that bronze age fables explain the nature of life on earth better than the modern scientific method.  In this case, the Alabama BOE continues to deliberately misinform and mis-educate the students in its charge, as well as to violate the nation's laws and numerous high court precedents.  An Alabama science educator, Dr. Amanda Glaze wrote in 2016 that the textbook disclaimer only damages Alabama students. 

It is Alabama's students who are the victims here. Students who have little chance to attain a proper understanding of evolution are at risk of not attaining a basic level of scientific literacy. And because understanding evolution is practically important, in such fields as medicine, biotechnology, and agriculture, they are also at risk in their future careers.  

Glaze recognized, years ago, that the misguided policies of theocratic politicians are a perpetual drag on Alabama and on larger society.  Only when the public finally manages to throw off the theocratic anchor holding it back can real human progress occur.