CHESTER COUNTY RANTS

Scientists today announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor. The find reveals that our forebears underwent a previously unknown stage of evolution more than a million years before Lucy, the iconic early human ancestor specimen that walked the Earth 3.2 million years ago. The fossil puts to rest the notion, popular since Darwin’s time, that a chimpanzee-like missing link—resembling something between humans and today’s apes—would eventually be found at the root of the human family tree. Indeed, the new evidence suggests that the study of chimpanzee anatomy and behavior—long used to infer the nature of the earliest human ancestors—is largely irrelevant to understanding our beginnings.

 

So why is this important? Because right wing school board candidate, John Wingerter, believes that our children should be taught creationism in the classroom. Here is the definition of creationism – Creationism refers to the religious belief^[1] that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in some form by a supernatural being or beings. Guess where John Wingerter got this idea to teach this in the classroom? You have guessed correctly if you said Gwenne Alexander, the head of Chester County Action. In fact, her and John work together at Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in West Chester run by right wing minister James Hanak. This nonsense of the teaching of creationism has cost the Dover school district, in Dover, Pa over $1,000,000 dollars in legal fees paid by the tax payers. If Wingerter is elected he will push to have his religion to be taught in West Chester Area Schools. Can you afford $1,000,000 in new taxes to pay for this right wing zealot’s view?

 

Here is what John Wingerter said during the League of Women’s Voter Debate back on May 3rd, 2009 when asked if creationism should be taught in the classroom: