Lawmakers Told Belief in Flat Earth Has Place
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PHOENIX — Gov. Evan Mecham’s educational lobbyist told lawmakers Wednesday that teachers should not try to dissuade students who want to believe the world is flat.
Former state Rep. Jim Cooper testified before the House Education Committee on a bill that would require schools that teach evolution to present it as a theory, not as a fact.
Cooper said teachers should not disagree with students who want to believe in the biblical theory of creationism instead of evolution as the origin of humans.
Rep. Peter Goudinoff asked Cooper what should happen if a student told his geography teacher that his parents said the world was flat.
“If that student wants to say the world is flat, the teacher doesn’t have the right to try to prove otherwise,” Cooper answered. “The schools don’t have any business telling people what to believe.”
Cooper told the committee he was speaking for himself and was not representing anyone else.
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