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To: PatrickHenry
But only evolution gets hammered. Why? You know why. Evolution seems to contradict a hyper-literal reading of Genesis.

And certain partisans, a minority on both sides, take their cues from that.

Both minorities want to draw pet theological or scientific conclusions about that seeming contradiction between evolutionary theory and literal Genesis, and both are cagey and disingenuous about doing so.

Besides, astronomy, geology, and other sciences also have problems if we try to reconcile them with Genesis. The schools have to decide if they're teaching science or if they're not.

The schools have to decide a lot more than that. Science is for science class.

The reason the other sciences don't have the same conflicts is because they don't speak to human origins, and therefore don't carry baggage with them that has necessary implications on the nature of human souls, as biology and evolution do.

You can't teach evolution in a distorted secular vacuum, and maintain that the debate is solely about science.

It's not just the curriculum, it's the context.


47 posted on 10/18/2003 10:32:18 AM PDT by Sabertooth (No Drivers' Licences for Illegal Aliens. Petition SB60. http://www.saveourlicense.com/n_home.htm)
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To: Sabertooth
Both minorities want to draw pet theological or scientific conclusions about that seeming contradiction between evolutionary theory and literal Genesis, and both are cagey and disingenuous about doing so.

I've been doing this for a while now, and the only theological conclusion I've ever seen that flows directly from an understanding of the theory of evolution is that a hyper-literal reading of scripture, mostly Genesis, is going to be contradicted by the observable facts. Similarly, geology (the age and shape of the earth) and astronomy (the solar system). No one is cagy about it.

As I said, they're either teaching science or they're not. That's the deal. Most churches can handle these issues quite easily, by assuming -- correctly in my opinion -- that some parts of scripture are intended to be metaphorical. They thus preserve their faith intact, with without trying to shut down the entire enterprise of science. A couple of denominations can't seem to do this.

48 posted on 10/18/2003 10:47:41 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
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