A New Mexico lawmaker has introduced a bill in the state legislature that would protect teachers who bring mythology into the science curriculum.

House Bill 302, as it’s called, states that public school teachers who want to teach “scientific weaknesses” about “controversial scientific topics” including evolution, climate change, human cloning and — ambiguously — “other scientific topics” may do so without fear of reprimand. The legislation was introduced to the New Mexico House of Representatives on Feb. 1 by Republican Rep. Thomas A. Anderson.

Supporters of science education say this and other bills are designed to spook teachers who want to teach legitimate science and protect other teachers who may already be customizing their curricula with anti-science lesson plans.

So I’m guessing that “controversial scientific topics” would include the process of turning sticks into snakes, water into wine, and other fairy tales and unanswered questions (like the ones posed by Bill O’Reilly). Of course they’re going to leave out some scientific truths such as the power of the One Ring or the ability to travel to distant lands via the wardrobe in the Spare Oom.

It’s ironic that this is happening in New Mexico, which has a rich history of Native American faiths and practices that pre-date the arrival of the Christian missionaries by centuries.

Via LGF.