Anti-Evolution Bill Fails In Close Vote In Arkansas House.

A bill that would have effectively banned the teaching of evolution fell just six votes short of passage March 23 in the Arkansas House.

The measure, couched as a ban on "errors," would have denied state and local funds to any public school district, zoo or museum that presented textbook material about evolution, radio-carbon dating or fossils. Any existing books that contain this information would have to be marked "false evidence" or "theory" in the margins.

The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs approved the measure March 21, with only one dissent. During a contentious hearing, Rep. Denny Altes (R-Ft. Smith) responded to a charge that the bill was designed to promote religion by exclaiming, "Do you believe you were descended from a monkey? If we teach kids that they were descended from monkeys, don't you think they'll act like monkeys?"

(The theory of evolution does not teach that humans descended from apes, but rather that apes and humans share a common ancestor.)

The House tally was 45-36 in favor of the measure, with 12 legislators voting "present." Although the bill received a simple majority, 51 votes are required to pass most forms of legislation in the House. During the floor debate, supporters insisted that the proposal was merely designed to keep errors out of textbooks, but opponents countered that it was an effort to bring creationism in through the back door.

"Slanting something toward creationism when the bill does not address that I don't think is fair," said Rep. Jim Holt (R-Springdale), the measure's sponsor. "What this bill does is, it makes textbook publishers accountable for the fraudulent, misleading information they're putting ... in textbooks."

Rep. Jay Bradford (D-White Hall), noting that previous efforts to introduce creationism into public schools have been struck down by the courts "countless times," remarked, "This steps right into the same trap."

In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a religiously motivated Arkansas law that banned the teaching of evolution in public schools. In 1987, the justices struck down a Louisiana law that required equal treatment between evolution and creationism in public schools. A similar Arkansas statute was declared unconstitutional by a lower federal court in 1982.

After the Arkansas bill failed, Northwest Arkansas Times columnist Don Michael reported that chief sponsor Holt relied on self-styled "expert" Kent Hovind to help draft the measure. Hovind, who runs a "creation science" group in Pensacola, Fla., reportedly has no credentials in science but does have graduate degrees in "Christian education" from Patriot University, an institution Michael described as a place that "more resembles a split-level home than a place of higher learning." Hovind's main claim to fame is that he wrote several anti-evolution comic books for notorious fundamentalist tract publisher Jack Chick.

Hovind also runs a website called www.drdino.com, which Michael visited. The columnist noted that the site argues that dinosaurs may still be alive today and even claims to have photos, although as Michael mentioned, "Most of these prehistoric creatures resemble a cross between Pete's Dragon and a sock puppet, a testament to the science-fiction B-films of yesteryear."

Hovind's website also contains information on why the income tax is illegal and why no one should have a social security number. It speculates that the legendary "bigfoot" creature allegedly sighted in the Pacific Northwest might be a cursed human "similar to what happened to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:33" although Hovind admits "those theories are unverified so far."

As Church & State went to press, a move was under way in the Arkansas legislature to resurrect the anti-evolution bill.