Posted on 11/17/2004 7:13:45 PM PST by naturalman1975
Schools should teach the biblical creation story alongside evolutionary theory, Family First chairman Peter Harris said yesterday.
While his fledgling party - arising out of the Assemblies of God church - had no formal policy on school curriculums, Mr Harris said his personal view was that children should be taught both perspectives.
Asked at the National Press Club in Canberra whether he supported both perspectives being taught, he said: "Of course we'd like to see a balanced approach to education, and... all options and all viewpoints, world viewpoints, should be put forward and people should be entitled to make their own decisions," he said.
Mr Harris said his party had raised $1.2 million in donations for the federal election, but had none from the United States, where the religious right has become a political force.
There was diverse support for Mr Harris' views on teaching creationism alongside evolution.
Australian National University anthropologist Alan Thorne said there was nothing wrong with putting both views to students.
"A balanced view is better than an extreme view in education," he said. "From a scientific perspective, it would be very silly indeed to claim God went around poking fossils into rocks, (but) the two can be quite compatible. There's no reasons why they can't address different aspects of our development."
Labor's federal education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said: "All young people should have an understanding of a range of religious beliefs."
But acting Australian Education Union Victorian president Ann Taylor warned schools should distinguish between established scientific fact and philosophical or religious belief.
Dude, I highly suggest that you check your source for the definition of Pagan.
Someone is NOT being honest here......
I have been Wiccan and Christian since I was over the age of 16. I am now about to suffer my 50th birthday. After over 30 years of dedicated religious study, I have learned a few things.
No, I don't realize that Copernicus was burned at the stake for his theory.
The enunciation of the heliocentric theory by Copernicus marked the beginning of the scientific revolution, and of a new view of a greatly enlarged universe. It was a shift away from the comfortable anthropocentrism of the ancient and medieval world. A scientific theory that reflected so profoundly on humanity was not welcomed by the church, and it was only after the publication (1540) of Narratio prima (A First Account), by an enthusiastic supporter named Rheticus, that the aged Copernicus agreed to commit to print the theory already outlined in 1514. An undocumented, but often repeated, story holds that Copernicus received a printed copy of his treatise on his deathbed. He died on May 24, 1543.
http://www.phy.hr/~dpaar/fizicari/xcopern.html
Your proclamation is not recitation of an historical fact.
"Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on Dec 7, 1941" is the "recitation" of an historical fact.
Thanks, I was just about to give you the hint: The name started with a "B"....
Giordano Bruno was NUTS!
Today, he would have been locked up in a mental hospital. Your point was noted, but he is not the best example to use.
Still wrong. Who persecuted Copernicus? And you might think a little bit about what was going on in Christendom around that time. Does the name Martin Luther ring a bell? He died in 1546 three years after Copernicus died. Martin Luther was a German, Copernicus was Polish and the Pope was Catholic.
Why would you not want me to get a more personal understanding of God, in ways that I can understand?
I don’t recall saying that I would not want you to get a more personal understanding of God??? Religion is man made. All you have to have is faith as small as a mustard seed. I would like for you to understand God, but to get to that point you need to go through Jesus Christ. I’m praying that Jesus will find his way to your heart and that to understand God you will seek Jesus Christ.
Do you get some financial or political gain, if you are able to force me to follow your specialized religious teachings?
No, you gain financially by being a follower of Jesus by reading John 3:16. Gain financially?? The streets of heaven are paved with gold and I want as many people as I can foster to be able to experience heaven and the goodness and power of Jesus Christ.
Do you deny that the church resisted the theories of Copernicus due to their understandings of bible verses? Do you think that their position on the matter has changed?
Which god, which scriptures, which interpretation?
He just doesn't know what He is talking about.
Hey, don't talk about Huitzilopochtli that way...
We should listen to the Darwinists instead. They have their own pet theories,
...supported by vast amounts of evidence.
none of which are provable
Nothing in science is "provable". Science doesn't deal in "proofs". It deals in evidence, and provisionally accepting the theory that best fits the evidence. In biology, that theory is evolution.
and are constantly changing.
Only as needed to refine the theory to better fit all the evidence. Would you prefer that it *didn't*? Also, the theory hasn't changed *that* much (nor "constantly"). Many anti-evolutionsts are under the mistaken impression that the theory of evolution "changes" every time it adds new information to its "database". That's not the case. The *theory* usually remains unchanged, even when its store of information needs to be updated.
Just for grins, though, do feel free to describe for us the last time the theory of evolution actually needed to be "changed". You should be able to provide several examples, since you claim that this happens "constantly".
They certainly know what they are talking about.
Based on mountains of evidence, millions of tests, and 140+ years of examination, yes, they do.
Since the Catholic church was in mortal danger, ever effort to suppress it, had to be done.
We all know the rest of the story...
Bruno, Copernicus and Galileo were just innocent people caught in the tide of political change.
Major lesson to learn?
Never get your local religious representatives upset with you!
YOU GOT IT! Is that not what I have been trying to tell you?
Now back to EVOLUTION.....
Literally? And if so, why? Is gold really a good paving material? And if gold is that ubiquitous, doesn't it lose its esthetic value anyway?
Similarly, wouldn't the novelty of having a virgin wear off long before the 72nd? Even if it didn't, would 72 be enough for eternity, since they get "used up" so easily?
"My personal belief is that God used Evolution as His preferred toolbox. I see no conflicts. "
Here's what really gets the creationist's panties in a bunch. They don't believe their God is omnipotent! ! Because an omnipotent God could surely use evolution as a tool if he pleased. Their God can only create things through illogical miracles (if they were rational miracles - like evolution - creationists would no longer consider them to be mystical).
Truthfully, the creationist rage is sooo boring at this point. It matters not one twit whether we evolved from apes or were formed in place, the same moral dilemmas exists either way, the soul still needs to be saved.
I have no problems either way. But the creationists whole believe structure collapses if they have based their whole existence on this minor issue.
There was a scientific theory that existed at the time. It was called the Ptolemaic theory. It was accepted by the scientists of that time. A new theory was proposed by another scientist called Copernicus. During this period the authority of the Pope was challenged. New theory, problems from that area of the world, old theory, accepted by most... What decision do you think the powers that be would make? To give you a hint, Albert Einstein did not readily accept quantum theory.
This is why I mentioned tonight that I was a witch. My ability to use magick is in absolute contradiction of their stated beliefs, but without magick, God could not have create life on this Earth.
Make up your mind!
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