Biology teachers should teach biology, and in that context, evolution through decent with modification is the coin of the realm. I don’t want astronomy teachers discussing a retrograde Mars in the Seventh House, professors of aeronautics proclaiming the airplanes are held aloft by angels, or biology teachers who are incapable of presenting the single most unifying concept in the biological sciences. What Berkman and Plutzer are calling for is some standard level of instruction that all biology teachers can adhere to, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. The state of biology education in the nation is abysmal, and weeding out would-be teachers who think that divine intervention is a reasonable response to the complex questions raised in a biology curriculum is a responsible and laudable goal.
They are complaining about the use of the term “Theory of Evolution”. Public schools are not teaching religion, if thats your point, unless its Islam.
The only problem with your argument is that micro-evolution fails to explain macro-evolution. Also many many discoveries since Darwin cause his theory to completely fall apart.
But I’ll give you/evolution the benefit of the doubt if you can please explain in simple terms the following:
Polystrate fossils
Haldane Dilemmna
Rings of Saturn
Thousands upon thousand of still missing transitional fossils (per Darwin’s own words).
How the unique information encoded in the DNA of each unique type of organism originated (DNA is roughly 3 billion quadrenary-coded statements so it should not be that tough - ehh?).
I could go on but that’s enough for now since some claim evolution has been proven...
I sympathize.
If there were complete separation of school and state. If government were completely out of the education business, then you would find a private school that best fit your educational philosophy and others would look for schools that accommodated their worldview.
I find it interesting, though, that those who are missionaries for macro-evolution are usually the biggest defenders of compulsory government schooling and are hyper-controlling when it comes to school choice. They are the people most willing to use the threat of government police action (armed police stand behind every government school law) to force their worldview on others.
Re: The abysmal state of science education
If the state of science education is abysmal in the U.S. ( not just with biology) it is due to our almost criminal neglect of **mathematics**!!
As for macro- evolution:
My husband and I attended Catholic schools in the early 60’s. Macro-evolution was **never** discussed. On the college level, about 15 minutes of lecture time was devoted to the topic and not even one exam question was asked about it. On the graduate school level **NO** ( Zero!) time was given to macro-evolution in either my graduate school program or my husband's.
Gee! How was it possible for my husband to earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry, earn 6 patents for his inventions in his field, publish many articles in the leading journals, and lecture world wide? How was it possible for me to earn a doctorate in one of the most competitive health professions? Imagine that! ....All that with just 15 minutes of macro-evolution! /s
The **truth** is that the **only** people that have any serious need for macro-evolution are those very few ( a handful, really) who are in that specific field of science. So?....Since the need for the topic is so minimal even for those in the biology sciences and health professions, let parents choose a school that best fits their specific religious, political, and cultural worldview.
The **truth** is that the study of macro-evolution has PROFOUND religious, cultural, and political consequences that are NOT neutral! That is why the arguments over evolution are so bitter. If there were complete separation of school and state all the controversy over evolution would evaporate like dew on grass on a hot summer day.
One more thing:
I “believe” in macro-evolution. It does not conflict with my religious worldview and I gave some minimal time to the subject when homeschooling my children.