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conuly
Link stolen from everyone.
The pastoral fields and white frame houses appear at peace, but this Pennsylvania farm town is deeply at war over teaching Darwin or Christian creationism in its schools.
*strikes Pennsylvania off of the list of states worth living in*
Since last year the school board voted to have high school biology teachers raise doubts about Darwin's 145-year-old theory and suggest an alternative Christian explanation for life. The city has since been deeply riven over the issue of separation of church and state.
What deeply riven? It's like this. YOU DO NOT WANT THE CHURCH MEDDLING IN THE STATE. YOU DO NOT WANT THE STATE MEDDLING IN THE CHURCH. You *really* do not want religion to be some sort of "majority rules" thing (unlike the government) because the last thing you want is for your religion to become the minority and end up persecuted for it.
In January the school board ordered teachers to tell students that Darwinism is not proved, and to teach as well an alternate theory, "intelligent design," which posits that a grand creator, God, is responsible for the development of living organisms.
1. Proven
2. Nothing in science is proven. That's the point of science.
3. If you have to posit things which can't be shown by the evidence, it's not science.
"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 strength of the scientific method is that there are no facts. Bad school board! Bad!
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.
Good teachers. Good students. You get a cookie.
"Creation is why we are here," said retired teacher Virginia Doll, defending the introduction of religion into the biology classes.
Um, I suppose...?
"We have a rather religious town, the God we serve is important in everything we do," she said.
You can say the same thing for Iranians, or the Taliban. And, in fact, I will.
On the other side was clergyman Warren Esbach. "I'm opposed to any group who wants to establish a theocracy. I come from a church who fled Germany in the 18th century for religious freedom," Esbach said.
Exactly. *hands out more cookies*
"If we continue to indoctrinate our young people with non-religious principles, we're headed for an internal destruction of this society," he said.
They've been saying that since Copernicus. Ooh...
"Evolution is just a theory and there are other theories," Mummert explained, smiling through his beard.
Do you know what the word theory means, sir? Sir?
There is such a complexity in life, and science wants to hang its hat on a belief that life somehow started -- they say there is no creator, no order ... I believe there is a creator," he said.
*yawns* I hate to do this, but...
So what created the creator?
Now, seriously. Scientifically, the existence of a deity can neither be proven nor disproven, so you're bearing false witness against science.
"Christians are a lot more bold under Bush's leadership, he speaks what a lot of us believe," said Mummert.
*is now very scared*
"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.
*cracks up laughing*
Oh, man. You have to read that again!
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.
Oh crap. Maybe there's inhabitable planets in other solar systems I can move to....
So, idea. Who wants to work with me to remove the teachings of that heretic Copernicus from our public schools? I mean, the Bible clearly states that the sun goes around the earth, right? As do the stars, of course. And we can see this every day, just by looking up!
The pastoral fields and white frame houses appear at peace, but this Pennsylvania farm town is deeply at war over teaching Darwin or Christian creationism in its schools.
*strikes Pennsylvania off of the list of states worth living in*
Since last year the school board voted to have high school biology teachers raise doubts about Darwin's 145-year-old theory and suggest an alternative Christian explanation for life. The city has since been deeply riven over the issue of separation of church and state.
What deeply riven? It's like this. YOU DO NOT WANT THE CHURCH MEDDLING IN THE STATE. YOU DO NOT WANT THE STATE MEDDLING IN THE CHURCH. You *really* do not want religion to be some sort of "majority rules" thing (unlike the government) because the last thing you want is for your religion to become the minority and end up persecuted for it.
In January the school board ordered teachers to tell students that Darwinism is not proved, and to teach as well an alternate theory, "intelligent design," which posits that a grand creator, God, is responsible for the development of living organisms.
1. Proven
2. Nothing in science is proven. That's the point of science.
3. If you have to posit things which can't be shown by the evidence, it's not science.
"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 strength of the scientific method is that there are no facts. Bad school board! Bad!
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.
Good teachers. Good students. You get a cookie.
"Creation is why we are here," said retired teacher Virginia Doll, defending the introduction of religion into the biology classes.
Um, I suppose...?
"We have a rather religious town, the God we serve is important in everything we do," she said.
You can say the same thing for Iranians, or the Taliban. And, in fact, I will.
On the other side was clergyman Warren Esbach. "I'm opposed to any group who wants to establish a theocracy. I come from a church who fled Germany in the 18th century for religious freedom," Esbach said.
Exactly. *hands out more cookies*
"If we continue to indoctrinate our young people with non-religious principles, we're headed for an internal destruction of this society," he said.
They've been saying that since Copernicus. Ooh...
"Evolution is just a theory and there are other theories," Mummert explained, smiling through his beard.
Do you know what the word theory means, sir? Sir?
There is such a complexity in life, and science wants to hang its hat on a belief that life somehow started -- they say there is no creator, no order ... I believe there is a creator," he said.
*yawns* I hate to do this, but...
So what created the creator?
Now, seriously. Scientifically, the existence of a deity can neither be proven nor disproven, so you're bearing false witness against science.
"Christians are a lot more bold under Bush's leadership, he speaks what a lot of us believe," said Mummert.
*is now very scared*
"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.
*cracks up laughing*
Oh, man. You have to read that again!
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.
Oh crap. Maybe there's inhabitable planets in other solar systems I can move to....
So, idea. Who wants to work with me to remove the teachings of that heretic Copernicus from our public schools? I mean, the Bible clearly states that the sun goes around the earth, right? As do the stars, of course. And we can see this every day, just by looking up!
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 01:12 am (UTC)Humans evolved from the same common ancestor as apes, which evolved from the same common ancestor as all primates, which evolved from the same common ancestor as all mammals, which evolved from the same common ancestor as all vertebrates, which evolved from the same common ancestor as all animals, which evolved from the same common ancestor as all life on earth.
No creature suddenly stopped being a chimp (which are a type of ape) and started being a human. Instead, we share a common ancestor.
Consider language. Between German and Dutch, there are any number of mutually intelligent dialects. There is no way, linguistically speaking, to draw the line between "a dialect of German" and "a dialect of Dutch" on the border between Germany and the Netherlands. Yet standard German and standard Dutch are clearly very distinct languages, and not mutually intelligible.
The same thing goes for evolution in a living sense as well. One single-celled organism mutated ever-so-slightly and became the ancestor of all multi-celled organisms. With random mutations and natural selection working hand in hand, all sorts of things evolved - but you can never see a clear line between any species and its ancestor because evolution is, by definition, slow. In another who-knows-how-many generations, humans will have evolved into something completely not recognizable to us today. But it won't be "today all babies born are human, tomorrow they're human+1", it'll be "today the last person to carry this trait died" and so on. Slowly, gradually, like watching grass grow.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 01:36 am (UTC)But maybe it was taught as theory at your school.
Everything I remember basically comes to, "We did this, then that, and then whatever."
There isn't any, "Scientists believe that this happened and then this happened, and this is called the Theory of Evolution."
It is taught as fact. Expecting the majority of high school students to recognise, understand and realise the actual meaning of the word "theory" when they most likely don't even want to be there is amazingly dumb of supposedly intelligent people.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 01:42 am (UTC)2. It is not taught as a fact. The mere fact that it is refered to as the theory of evolution in every textbook I've encountered will suffice to show otherwise. And, considering that they do not cover theories very well, and most people are of the ignorant idea that theories are the same as hypotheses or mere ideas, it is even less likely that any high school student will mistake this for "being taught as fact".
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 02:44 am (UTC)2. I think differently. That's cool. But the way I see it being taught is as fact. There are no qualifying statements about theories or whatever. I'm actually making a silly point in the end really anyway. My dad, who used to teach high school science, did actually make the point that it's a theory and then explain just what a theory is so there was no confusion. But then, my dad and I think alike when it comes to this, so maybe that explains some of it.
Good thing I'm not a teacher! =)
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 08:58 am (UTC)as far as basic science is concerned, evolution is pretty much a 'fact' - at least insofar as the idea underpins other ideas. as you say elsewhere, trying to explain 'theory'|'fact' distinction without : confusing or losing half (or more) of your class is not easy. [i know. i've tried.]
in practical terms, evolution is the scientific explanation/model for how all these critters and what not came to be crawling all over the planet. christian bibles offer alternative explanations (several, and they're inconsistant - which is why most christian sects stick to the opening of genesis)
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 01:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 02:45 am (UTC)I'm abrasive and can always find a way to rub people up the wrong way.
It's a ... gift ... =\
no subject
Date: 2005-03-29 08:48 am (UTC)we like nice, elegant answers.
as beliefs go, it's not the same as a religious belief. we can point to evidence out in the world around us to support our belief. and unlike religious belief, scientists actively try to challenge their beliefs. that distinction is even harder to get across than the distinction between a fact and a hypothesis.
and given how many christian scientists seem to be having difficulty understanding it, its no surprise your science/biology teacher glossed over it.
besides, most of what you learn in school is crap. but convenient crap that helps you understand the new crap heaped on you in the next year.