Second letter to Kansas State Board Members

Dear Kansas State Board Members 2,

I wrote you recently concerning your agenda item to legitimize "intelligent design" in the curriculum as a scientific theory. My email message was called de-emphasizing evolution.

One of my concerns in that email was the real danger every Kansan and every American faces when we fail to teach all students the power of evolution. Any dilution of the message regarding the workings of natural selection leads to great societal dangers like antibiotic resistance.

We are on the verge of returning to a time when bacterial infections will again be more feared than any other form of disease including cancer. Pre-antibiotic era infections could kill perfectly healthy people in a few hours to a few days. The deaths were horrible--their bodies eaten (digested by bacteria) while they were still alive. No treatments could stop the bacteria. Failure of fellow citizens especially are elected representatives to understand evolution has directly contributed to the rapid increase in bacterial resistance to all common antibiotics.

Evolutionary theory has NOT been taught systemically in this country for over thirty years due to the intimidation of middle and high school science teachers by crusading little god Christians.*

One of the last lines of defense against resistant bacteria is the quinolone group of antibiotics like Cipro. The poultry farmers want to continue to use quinolones to treat their chickens. Why? Because the big ag corporations have bred so many strains of resistant bacteria in their factory poultry farms by routinely using feed laced with "growth promoters" (antibiotics) that those same antibiotics no longer work to cure sick chickens.

Now they demand to use one of human doctor’s last lines of defense in the treatment of sick people, quinolones, to treat chickens!

Bought and paid for Congressman are actually supporting this dangerous idea. See the following article.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042901349.html

Those Congressmen weren't taught the incredible power of evolution in school. They do not understand the danger they are putting themselves, their children and us in by siding with poultry corporation bean counters against the best interests of the health of humans of this country.

Please do not de-emphasize the teaching of evolution in Kansas.

The fallacy that Intelligent Design is a scientific theory is shown to be just that because ID never could predict antibiotic resistance. It has no powerful mechanism to explain change in populations of living things. Only evolution does. Natural selection is that force. It was discovered by Darwin and Wallace. It is the most powerful force in all living systems--plant, animal, or microbe. Your children and citizens need to know about it.

Sincerely,
Peter Welch—retired science teacher and born again Christian who has been a long time Sunday School teacher, Christian Scout leader, and Church Board member

*Christian members of the Board, please do not be insulted by the term “little god” Christians. I am referring to the loud and frightened Christians who demand that the earth is only 6 to 10 thousand years old. Their young earth means a young and exceedingly tiny universe. The true age of the universe is something more than 13 billion years.

That means if the true universe size (13 billion light years) of the universe could be shrunk down to the size of the earth, their little tiny 6 thousand year old universe would be about the size of marble. The god they worship is a tiny little god trapped in a marble sized universe—hence little god Christians.

You may also have noticed that these same frightened Christians are forever whipping up dissention in our local congregations but when it comes to teaching Sunday School or church work day, they are never to be seen. They are always so busy complaining about the minister, the youth pastor, the air condition/heating, or planning some grand crusade that they never have time to help with the business of running the church.