Beware the intelligent, educated populace
Teaching Darwin splits Pennsylvania town
The Supreme Court has ruled definitively that Creationism is not to be taught in public schools. Enter “Intelligent Design”, aka Creationism Lite. Proponents of Intelligent Design try to work it into school curriculums by claiming it is science, not religion. Sometimes the truth comes out, as it did recently in Dover, Pennsylvania after the school board ordered teachers to downplay evolution and start teaching intelligent design.
“Darwin’s theory is a theory … not a fact,” the school board declared in their statement to the teachers. “Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin’s view,” said the report.
The command landed in the sprawling, red-brick Dover high school like a bomb. Biology teachers refused to read it, while around 15 students walked out in protest.
The little city erupted in a furor that is still ongoing. A group of parents and teachers sued the school board. The board members resigned. New board members have not bet selected. But from all of this madness comes a little bit of honesty - it’s not about science, it’s about getting God back into the schools.
“Creation is why we are here,” said retired teacher Virginia Doll, defending the introduction of religion into the biology classes.
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“If we continue to indoctrinate our young people with non-religious principles, we’re headed for an internal destruction of this society,” [pastor and parent Ray Mummert, 54] said.
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“We’ve been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture,” he said, adding that the school board’s declaration is just a first step.“It took 30 or 40 years to eliminate God in school, it will take probably 30 or 40 years to get him back. You take a little step first, a little bite, then another little bite and another,” said Steve Farrell, a nursery keeper, who dreams of the return to prayer in class.
Truth. It’s refreshing but quite chilling.
(Tip credit to Graphictruth. Follow that link for an excellent summary of the battle between Darwin and Creationism in our schools.)
Jim:
Could you (or anyone else, for that matter) tell me in what tangible way public schools have improved since religion and God were banished from the classroom some 30 years ago?
Love your blog, BTW. I just think you’re being a bit paranoid. The creationists have much less support than you think.
Schools haven’t improved in any tangible manner in well over 30 years. On the contrary they have been on a downward spiral. That spiral is unrelated to God in the classroom though.
Chuck, please don’t mistake me as going to bat for the ID’ers, but your out-of-hand dismissal of God’s absence from the classroom as a cause of school decline is shaky. Society as a whole was better off when a higher power was recognized publicly. It accustomed people to respecting authority and many teachers I know say that lack of respect is a major problem in schools today. Removing God from the classroom may not be the sole cause of the worsening school situation, but (in my estimation) it is almost certainly *a* cause.
Um, that last post should’ve been addressed to Jim, not me. I guess I’m too self-absorbed.
Looking back on my school years, recall it going from a moment for prayer to a moment of silence. I dont even know if they even have that now. I often fear them taking away the pledge of alligence out because it offends people. They may have already. It is sad knowing that when my daughter goes to school in a couple of years that things may even be worse then.
You know, I wonder why it has never occured to the administrators that, concerning the origin of life, both Intelligent Design and the Theory of Evolution, have the same amount of evidence (i.e. none, it literally is all speculation). So, logically, the teachers (being impartial like they are supposed to be) would teach both theories side by side, present supportive and critical arguments for both, and let the children decide.
Y’know, as for evolution being just a theory, not a “fact”…so is GRAVITY.
Daniel - I’ve never seen any good evidence for Intelligent Design. Could you give me some links?
Daniel — you, and the Dover school board, and many, many others, make a fundamental mistake about evolution. Evolution is *not* about the origins of life (abiogenesis). Evolution is an answer to the question “we have life, why is it so diverse?” Evolution is about the origin of different species which is very different than the origin of life. There is *plenty* of evidence for evolution being the process by which species arise.
I suggest that you check out the Talk Origins archive (www.talkorigins.org) or The Panda’s Thumb (www.pandasthumb.org).
The “just a theory” canard comes from not understanding the difference between a scientist’s theory (which is as close to fact as anyone can come) and a layperson’s theory, which is simply speculation.
As for taking God and prayer out of the schools. He’s still there and you can still pray — you just can’t force everyone to pray or believe in the same God.
The problem, Artk, is that schools have defined religious observation as being equivalent to religious coercion. For example, allowing kids to sing popular Christmas carols is somehow tantamount to praying out loud. Or allowing any type of voluntary student religious activity is the same as preaching it.
I think much of the support for “creationism” or “intelligent design” stems not from a belief that Darwinism is bad, but is a reaction to what the supporters (correctly) perceive is a general anti-religious and particularly anti-Christian bias in the public schools. It’s their attempt to restore fairness to a system that is often quite blatantly unfair.
First. “Intelligent Design” is religion. It should not be taught in science class. I don’t care if it is taught in a comparative religions class or even social studies of some sort. But it is not Science. How do we know that?
Very simple: is Intelligent design based upon observed data or is the data observed to support the theory of intelligent design? That should be pretty clear. Ask yourself — if observation of nature or an experiment showed your theory of intelligent design was wrong would you reject it? Of course not! You believe in it first and look only for supporting data.
Supporting a religion is different from practicing a religion. But they are related. Would you be offended if a satan worshiper offered prayers (or whatever they do) over the intercom at school if it was their “turn” in the rotation of what religion gets to lead the prayer to open school? What about Islam? What about Judaism? What about Catholicism? Where do you draw the line. The line between practicing religion and official endorsement of a religion is mighty thin. Better we don’t practice any religious practices in school than allow every crackpot religion to be heard.
barry
Allanque, gravity seems easily provable. Evolution is not. I have never seen it. I can drop an apple and watch it fall, but I can’t see any examples where one life form has become another. Simply because all life uses a similar method doesn’t prove evolution.
If you mate ‘close’ yet different animals, they produce sterile offspring. How does evolution explain that?
Consider cabbage aka Cole. ONE plant, Brassica oleracea, produces many forms (cabbage, kale, collards, turnips, rutabaga, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower).
Is this evolution, or merely the grand display of diversity that is already inherent in our genes?
I saw an episode of NOVA once that talked about our DNA being like 23 long filing cabinets filled with millions of 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper, fully printed on. Most of what is written in the DNA is actually not in use. So, in theory, we have a tremendous potential for ‘evolution’ without our DNA even changing.
Jim,
We’ve already had this discussion in person a buncha times and you and I sit on different sides of this fence, so I won’t bother to opine here.
But… could you have picked a lamer article? Seriously? …”said Steve Farrell, a nursery keeper, who dreams of the return to prayer in class.”
Whoever wrote that article was looking for people to support his point that the ‘other side’ is fanatical.
Not only that… this particluar issue is a firebomb. Good luck.
Scott, Evolution has an incredible degree of evidence in its favor. In fact, some scientists studying the effects of long-term weather changes (drought, etc) on finches claim to have actually seen it in process. To answer your question, one definition of a species is that it produces sterile offspring of its own species. When two closely related creatures produce sterile offspring, this defines them as members of different species.
Proof, however, of the evolution of all life from a randomly-generated single-celled organism is very thin; this idea is largely speculation. However, that is what laypeople often associate with Evolution, and that therefore is what they try to downplay as “just a theory.”
The problem is misunderstanding. How can we hope for an educated religious community if we force religion out of schools? Also, how can we hope for an enlightened scientific community if they refuse to consider religious philosophy?
I do not ask that Creationism be taught in science class. I do, however, ask that science teachers make it clear that science does not preclude the presence of a divine Creator. After all, why can’t God be the driving force behind evolution? That is the Intelligent Design that Christians should be supporting for schools.
The first step to solving this debate is alleviating misunderstanding.
For those of you whwo want proof of evolution I suggest looking no further than your nearest influenza virus.
There seems to be a lot of evolving going on in the flu arena.
As long as there are exams, there will be prayer in the schools
You know how the Earth revolves around the Sun? That’s a theory too.
Those atheist judges who want to keep God out of the schools are trampling on the culture of life. If they ate their Culture of Life Cereal every morning, then they would know how to respect life. Hot Tub Tom DeLay will lead this revolt against the judges and bring back Creationism so that every American can be a medieval-minded un-intelligent doofus.
You have a cool blog by the way. Peace.
Remember, God is a theory, not a fact!
@ Jack - I like that one - The Heliocentric Theory.
Didn’t Galileo get himself into a bunch of trouble with the Church for furthing Copernicus’ views on that “theory”? That has to be one of those made up things if the Church doesn’t approve
@ Joe - The Pledge of Allegiance is not madatory in school - students do not have to participate in its recitation. Think about that - US Citizens are not FORCED to swear an oath. That is why people fight and die for this country - no FORCED oaths, declarations, pledges of allegiance. Folks love this country b/c of what it truly is, not what someone forces them to believe.
Gee, how about the time that Tamaqua Area’s School Board President tried to quietly replace all the current Science textbooks with ones that taught Creationism (Intelligent Design) ONLY.
Our children are already the laughing stock of the educational world… do we really need to make it worse by teaching them that the only way we could have gotten here is if some giant guy in the sky put us here?
I, personally, do not believe in ID or Creationism, but I do not have a problem with it being taught as another “theory”, but to entirely replace evolution in a SCIENCE class? This is so anti-science, it is incredible!