Posted on 03/21/2006 8:10:55 AM PST by PatrickHenry
The spiritual leader of the worlds Anglicans does not believe that creationism -- the Bible-based account of the worlds origins -- should be taught in schools.
"I dont think it should, actually. No, No," said Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, reflecting on the bitter education debate over religion and science that has so divided the United States in particular.
Williams, head of a church which has no problem with the Darwinian theory of evolution, told the Guardian newspaper: "I think creationism is, in a sense, a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory, like other theories."
Asked if he was comfortable with the teaching of creationism in schools, the mild-mannered and usually cautious theologian said: "Not very. Not very."
In the battle to bring God into the classroom, Christian conservative supporters of creationism and intelligent design seek to deny or downgrade the importance of evolution.
Intelligent design proponents say that nature is so complex that it must have been the work of a creator rather than the result of random natural selection as outlined in Charles Darwins theory of evolution.
Williams stance echoes the position of the Roman Catholic Church, the worlds largest single Christian denomination, which has weighed into the debate by praising a U.S. court decision that rejected the intelligent design theory as non-scientific.
Catholicism, which has never rejected evolution, teaches that God created the world and the natural laws by which life developed.
British businessman Peter Vardy has funded schools in northern England that came under attack for teaching creationism in biology classes.
But the creationist movement has certainly not taken hold as strongly in Britain as it has in the United States.
"Religion has become politicized in America. That is not the case here. This is not a major issue," religious commentator and broadcaster Clifford Longley told Reuters.
"There is no intellectual credibility given to creationism in this country. There is no parallel between English evangelicals and American evangelicals.
"When I wrote an article saying there were no creationists in Britain, they both wrote to me."
You may be happy worshipping an evil being that offers infinite rewards / punishements according to a standard that is manifestly arbitrary, determined largely by an accident of birth-culture. I'm not. I don't even believe in God, but if I did believe in one I'd prefer to be worshipping Him for some reason other than fear of the consequences of failing to worship Him. I'd prefer any God I believed in to have higher moral standards than that.
Clearly you've read it, though, so I'm probably not going to say anymore about it. At this point you've taken the time to read the text and you are going to make your own decision about it. My only goal was to get you to consider it, which you have. Everyone has to pick their side at some point.
I've read it, and it appears to be largely incomprehensible rather poorly written nonsense. Such sense as I can extract from it appears to amount to a blanket assertion that if anyone doesn't acknowledge God it is their own fault, regardless of their cultural background. And there appears to be a bizarre conflation of rejection of Christianity with unsavoury sexual practices for which no evidence is offered up.
The reason I posted this thread is not because the opinion of the Archbishop of Canterbury lends any weight to the theory of evolution. The reason it doesn't is because he's not a scientist. (Similarly, the opinions of other clergymen who oppose evolution have no bearing on the theory's scientific value.) However, regardless of other denominations' opinion of the Church of England, his opinion does indicate that for his denomination there is no problem with being a Christian and accepting evolution too.
The issue of creationism isn't a scientific issue at all, it's purely a denominational dispute.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.