I despise bothsidesism. It is the bane of modern journalism — a form of false equivocation that encourages conflict by giving both sides of any conflict equal weight — even when even when one side deserves it and the other doesn’t.

A bill just filed in the Iowa Legislature weaponizes bothsidesism and uses it as a threat to control what public school teachers can talk about in their classes. House File 2184 would make it a potential crime for teachers to engage in “political or ideological advocacy while carrying out student instruction or otherwise acting within the scope of employment by a school district.”

HF 2184 would give teachers a stark choice: 1) stop teaching “controversial issues” altogether as a threat to their license, or 2) give every controversy the Both Sides treatment.

The bill defines “controversial issue” as any issue that is addressed in an electoral party platform at the local, state, or federal level.

Teachers would have to navigate through the minefield of every topic mentioned in every political platform in the country so that they don’t inadvertently step on a controversial issue.

And if they ever do express an opinion on one of these dicey subjects, they would be forced to give equal weight to both sides, pro and con, so that students could make up their own minds and disagree without penalty.

That sounds innocuous but it is not. It’s a Trojan Horse for anti-science and religious dogma. It would force biology classes to include creationism. If a teacher mentions global warming, denialists would demand equal time. The list of potentially career-ending topics is depressingly long.

I am posting links and emails for the nine Representatives who sponsored this bill below. Remember those names, folks. Get angry. Send emails. Call your Senators and Representatives. We cannot allow this bill to pass. If it does become law, sane people will challenge it in court, but its authors want nothing more than to push it all the way to SCOTUS.They want Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to engrave their Christian privilege in Federal Law on a level they could only dream about until now. Don’t let that happen.

By Robert Cook

Activism Chair