Posted on 04/10/2005 3:53:04 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
Maybe you should stop hanging out with such bigoted scientists. I thought science was about exploration of all possibilities. Scientists have chosen to bury their heads in the sand regarding the possibility of God being the creator. Why do they have such a problem with that? Because it can't be quantified?
It took Darwin an entire book, and that's before the last 150 years of additional scientific work. I can't do it briefly. If you're truly curious, there are numerous books on the subject. You might start here: The Evidence for Human Evolution.
We will, I'm sure, all agree in the process of natural selection and adaptation.
Yes, I'm sure we will.
However ...
Why did I know that was coming?
... many of us have a problem believing humans descended from apes and back to some single-celled something that just randomly appeared somewhere.
That's not quite how the theory goes, but let's continue.
I'm sure you realize many of the fossils found that scientists use to link apes and humans were often a few bones found and much assumed information extrapolated from the find.
No, I didn't realize that.
Scientists certainly feel pressure to arrive at certain conclusions and thus tilt their so-called findings in that direction.
Oh, how terrible!
Honest scientists who consider another way and branded as less expert and are derided by other scientists, which makes more scientists reluctant to explore any other theory. Until science is open to truth, things won't change.
Yeah, it's a rotten deal.
This is a mistake. If you don't show up, the other side in the public's mind wins by default, no matter how meritless their position.
Finally, a voice of reason in all of this. I seldom read much or any of the evolution threads because of the dogmatic insistance from both sides that only their side is the one that should be taught.
The above is simply not true. Whether or not evolution is true has no bearing on whether or not God exists. Yes I know, a few evolutionary biologists like Richard Dawkins think evolution proves atheism, but when they make assertions like that, they're not acting as scientists, but philosophers, and incompetent ones at that.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!
Yes, but it is how politics is conducted, and deciding what to include in the curriculum is a political decision.
In a democracy, unfrotunately, everything is political. Scientists need to learn to play politics too. There's no excuse for sitting this out out.
If Kansas wants to teach creationism, or flat earth, or any other silly thing, that's their business.
It is our business. Kansas kids are your countrymen! That is why scientists have a duty, as good Americans, to fight this nonsense.
Stop right there! Evolution has nothing to do with whether or not God exits. Evolution follows from the evidence whether or not you assume God exists. There are theistic evolutionary biologists as well as atheistic ones.
I'm very devoted to the Constitution. We have (or used to have) a federal system. Education is the states' business. If Kansas wants to go bonkers, it's a terrible thing for the kids there, but it's up to Kansas. If their leaders are all nutballs, that's how it goes.
First of all, we can try to convince their leaders no to go this route by showing up and refuting the cretoids. Second of all, there are limits to Federalism. It is prety well established case law that the 14th Amendment applies the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment to the states. A very strong case can be made that a school board is establishing creationism, which is a religion of sorts.
The Bible teaches us that the sun revolves around the earth. Do you believe that?
Do you believe your genetic ancestors walked upright?
Personally, I would never appear at such a "debate." The creationists are all flim-flam men, and debating with them is a joke. However, if the school officials want to meet with serious scientists to discuss evolution, with no creationists present, that could be a fruitful discussion. Their questions could be answered. And there would be no Kent Hovind (Dr. Dino) types to muck it all up.
The Bible does not teach the sun revolves around the earth. Perhaps you confuse literary expressions as science. The Bible was never intended to be a science book. However, I believe Genesis and that God created the universe and all that it consists of, much of which we have yet to discover or understand. I guess I'll rephrase my question. Do you believe in God as the creator?
Probably because the public school standardized test score averages are dragged down by abysmal inner city schools and immigrant students whose primary language is not English, whereas home-schooled children are almost entirely from an unrepresentative population of comparatively wealthy and established homes.
Well, actually, we live in a lily white county without any inner city population and the public schools education here still lags woefully behind the education that our co-op home-schooled kids are getting.
No matter what religious or secular or socioeconomic or family background kids comes from, they will, on the average, do worse in today's public school system that they would in private school or in homeschool or even in the public schools of the 1950's and 1960's era.
The recent ones, yes. But if you go back far enough (a couple of million years or so) no, of course not.
Thanks - just wanted to understand your position.
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