TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Actor Ben Stein, who played a boring teacher in the film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," wants to let real Florida teachers challenge evolution in science classes.
Stein, also a quiz-show host and former speechwriter for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, promoted what sponsors are calling academic-freedom legislation along with his newest movie March 12 at a Capitol news conference. The legislation would bar any action against a teacher who "objectively presents scientific information" critical of "biological or chemical evolution."
"I'm not lobbying, I'm just here for my star power," Stein cracked in his famously droll manner.
Opponents say the legislation in the House and Senate is just a veiled attempt to inject religious beliefs about the creation of life into science lessons, but Stein and other supporters denied that. He said the point was to encourage broad inquiry into the topic, something the theory of evolution's originator, Charles Darwin, would have supported.
"Let us all debate, let us think," Stein said.
Stein also promoted his documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." It asserts that scientists are afraid to challenge the theory of evolution because they fear they will be ostracized or lose their jobs.
Lawmakers were invited to attend a private screening of the movie, but members of the public and press were not allowed unless reporters signed waivers promising not to write about what they saw.
The legislation being pushed in both chambers is in response to new Florida science standards adopted last month that for the first time use the word "evolution" instead of such phrases as "biological change over time." They also require that evolution be taught in more detail.
State American Civil Liberties Union executive director Howard Simon said he didn't have a problem with teachers talking about such non-scientific theories as intelligent design, which holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an "intelligent cause," in classes on comparative religion or politics. But he said those theories should not be taught in science class.
Stein and John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Action, insisted the legislation would not permit teaching intelligent design or creationism-related theories because the bill applies only to criticism of evolution based on scientific information, not the introduction of other theories.
It's unclear who would decide what information is scientific, though Stein suggested it ought to be left up to teachers.
The ACLU's Simon also questioned information in the bill that said neither teachers nor students are protected by existing law from discipline for disputing evolution. He said there's no evidence anyone has been disciplined for that reason, and if anyone was, the ACLU would defend teachers and students under a higher law — the First Amendment.
The House sponsor, Rep. D. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, said the intent of the bill is to deter "harassment, undue penalties and any other type of ostracism."
Reporters were shown a trailer for Stein's new film that flashed pictures of Adolf Hitler and a Nazi death camp amid accusations evolutionists were censoring scientists who disagreed with them.
"This is a one-sided piece of propaganda," said Joe Wolf, president of Florida Citizens for Science, a nonprofit group that has supported the new science standards. He said that evolution is as widely accepted as the law of gravity in the scientific world.
Some lawmakers criticized the private screening for violating the spirit, although not the letter, of open-government rules that require the public allowed to be present when lawmakers take action. Lawmakers weren't conducting any public business, however.
House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach said he would not attend. "I think it's ironic that they expelled the media and the public from a film called 'Expelled,'" he said.
Neither of the bills (S.B. 2692, H.B. 1483) has had a committee hearing.