Creationism, particularly of the young Earth variety, is bullshit. Most intelligent people, religious or not, know this. However, a frightening number of schools are trying to push this crap on kids and teach it as fact in public schools, despite the fact that there is supposed to be a firm separation between church and state, with no religious beliefs peddled in classrooms. Louisiana is one such state that engages is this lawless practice, and its Governor, Bobby Jindal (R), champions it. However, it is about to cost the state big.

Louisiana has a horribly misleading law in place called the Louisiana Science Education Act, which, essentially, says to teach creationism as science. Jindal said recently:

Let’s teach them about intelligent design … What are we scared of?





Well, anyone with a brain is afraid of people teaching fairy tales to kids in science classrooms disguised as fact, and dumbing down the future of America in order to push a religious agenda. Further, the state’s economy and reputation are suffering as a result of this nonsense. It also hurts the students and their futures, according to leaders in the field. Claude Bouchard, who was once the executive director of the Pennington Research Center, says of the law:

[Students] will continue to believe that the laws of chemistry, physics and biology are optional when addressing the big issues of our time. Unfortunately, this is also not without economic consequences. If you are an employer in a high-tech industry, in the biotechnology sector or in a business that depends heavily on science, would you prefer to hire a graduate from a state where the legislature has in a sense declared that the laws of chemistry, physics or biology can be suspended at times or someone from a state with a rigorous science curriculum for its sons and daughters?

Peter Kulakowsky, who is a biotech entrepreneur in the state, opines:

As the director of a biological laboratory in Louisiana, I need enlightened staff. Distracting the state’s students in their formative training [through the Louisiana Science Education Act] only cripples them.

Aside from the above opinions on the creationism law, the effects of said law have been swift and immediate, nevermind the future of the students educated in that state. Kevin Carman, former Graduate Dean of Science at Louisiana State University, testified before the state legislature that he had lost top staff members in the science field who cited the Louisiana Science Education Act as the reason. Further, New Orleans lost a major science convention from the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology over the law, costing the city an estimated $2.9M. The Society also launched a boycott of Louisiana, costing the state even more money.

Governor Jindal, if all of these things don’t help you remove your blinders on this issue, I do not know what will. Let me put it to you plainly: creationism has no place in public schools. You cannot peddle beliefs that cannot be proven as fact just because you want to. If you want your kids to learn bullshit, take them to Sunday school, and allow other parents to let their children have a real education. After all, that is what your constituents pay taxes for, right?