Yesterday I gently asked Pat Robertson to resign from the prophet gig. His poorly thought out musings on how disaster might strike Dover, Pennsylvania was regrettable. Now Pat has become the rallying point for those who are looking to make Intelligent Design a right wing Christian Trojan horse to sneak “religion” into the schools.  

I have read the works of authors on both sides of the argument. Let me just say that these people have really big brains. William Dembski is a leading proponent of the Intelligent Design movement. He notes that “Intelligence leaves behind a characteristic signature”. May I suggest that the level of discourse recently has left a characteristic signature and it is not intelligence.

How about this lovely little shot from a writer I often enjoy and generally respect. Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald wrote, “At the same time voters in Dover were standing up for common sense the Kansas Board of Education was voting to adopt standards undermining the teaching of Darwin’s theory. This is the latest step in the state’s long, hard-fought campaign to turn out stupid kids.”

Just for fun I commenced to Googlin’ to see how Kansas is faring in it’s quest for stupidity. I found an interesting website that ranked the smartest states. Here is the website description.

This fourth Smartest State designation is awarded based on 21 factors chosen from Morgan Quitno’s annual reference book, Education State Rankings, 2005-2006.  Featuring four new factors, this year’s award de-emphasizes spending for public schools and instead measures states based on student achievement, positive outcomes and personal attention from teachers.

Based on the information from this book the backward folks from Kansas were the 13th ranked state in the union for overall test scores, achievement, and accomplishment. This is not theory. These are observable, quantifiable scores and are not based on a thinly veiled agenda to insert one’s personal beliefs into a local educational system. Oops. Sorry. I forgot which debate we were having.

So the obvious question to me was how much better is the enlightened views of Florida than the unrelenting backward thinking Kansans? The Sunshine State staggered in at number 37.

I respect you Mr.Pitts. But this was an ugly stereotype of a state and people that are trying to educate their children based on the values of their community. Stereotypes are never helpful. By your standards I have campaigned to turn out stupid kids in my home. So far we have two undergraduate degrees from Baylor University. A masters from Vanderbilt. On the horizon is a masters program for middle son and a doctorate for eldest. Sorry I couldn’t contribute to society.

Solomon spent a great deal of time writing about wisdom. His conclusion was simple.

For the LORD gives wisdom,
       and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  Prov 2 NIV

May I suggest that there is a big difference between wisdom and knowledge.