Posted on 03/30/2009 8:31:35 PM PDT by GodGunsGuts
Using Religion to Suppress Debate on Evolution
By John G. West Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute
Evolution was back in the headlines this week as the Texas State Board of Education voted 13-2 to require students to "analyze and evaluate" major evolutionary concepts such as common ancestry, natural selection, and mutations, as well as adopting a critical thinking standard calling on students to "critique" and examine "all sides of scientific evidence."
The vote was a loss for defenders of evolution who had pushed the Board to strip the "analyze and evaluate" language from the evolution standards and gut the overall critical thinking standard.
Evolutionists typically cast themselves as the champions of secular reason against superstition, but in Texas they tried to inject religion into the debate at every turn.
Indeed, this past week it seemed that they couldn't stop talking about religion. They boasted about their credentials as Sunday School teachers and church elders. They quoted the Bible and appealed to theology...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.washingtonpost.com ...
Perhaps that explains why Newt has become such a sellout.
Some of the stuff I see reminds me of Eugenie Scott’s efforts.
Actually, if memory serves, she was intimately involved in the campaign to intimidate the Texas Board of Education into censoring the scientific evidence critical of evolution.
A very fair article, much appreciated. While not an endorsement of creation science, the author accurately notes that there are some legitimate questions being raised about evolution and acknowledges that there is an unscholarly disdain for well credentialed scientists who are asking the questions.
“DANG! It’s time for me to go to bed and the fun’s not started yet!” [excerpt]Ooops!
Sounds like they got to him eventually. Sad.
This is the way science should be taught. If there are legitimate scientific alternatives to a theory, present them. Note, though, that the requirement is specifically to present alternative scientific evidence. Sorry, but Genesis-based creationism arguments are still verboten.
“The basic tenets of true religion appear to be inprinted upon most of us biologically which is the only reason that Islammic societies and “secular humanist” societies like Britain and Canada function at all. A psychopath like Dahmer is basically somebody on whom that imprint did not take. For those guys, it has to be written down somewhere, and it has to be written down accurately; the bible does that. Telling somebody like Dahmer that we all evolved from “lucky dust” is a formula for getting people killed.”
Is that part of the alternative scientific theory that you’d like to see presented in Texas schools?
“...woe be to those that expose the weakness of evolution theory.”
Not at all—the theory of evolution has changed considerably since it was first put forth. CD probably would not recognize it today.
Your beef is that there is resistance to replacing scientific theory with faith. There is no science in creationism, yet evolution and Christianity are perfectly compatible.
Fortunately, creationism is out of the classroom. It’s hard to believe that we’re still living the Scopes trial.
Why don't you post the New Scientist cover as proof?
“Board members also deleted a reference to the scientific consensus that the universe is nearly 14 billion years old. The board’s chairman has said he believes God created the universe fewer than 10,000 years ago.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123819751472561761.html
Idiots and morons. The people of Texas had better look to make some changes. I am astonished.
For those interested in GGG’s inextricable ties to the Islamic-Creationist hogwash perpetrated by Harun Yahya, see:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2218326/posts?page=40#40
Of course it is. Then add a couple of weeks discussing what filthy heretics the kids' Catholic, Mormon, and Jewish neighbors are, and a week exploring the Islamic-Creationist "truth" that 9/11 was perpetrated by evolutionary biologists disguised as Muslims, and you have a complete "creation science" curriculum.
It doesn’t get much worse that what the Romans used to do to people who made them mad.
“WORSE THAN CRUCIFICTION?”
Your assumption about my “beef” is incorrect. My problem is that the theory of evolution is TAUGHT as fact and that it is not challenged with critical thought or contrary facts presented in the classroom.
“My problem is that the theory of evolution is TAUGHT as fact and that it is not challenged with critical thought or contrary facts presented in the classroom.”
OK—so far, so good. What contrary facts would you present to challenge evolution?
What other facts should be taught?
1) the reliance on the fosil record which has no transitional forms
2) the fact that there is no evidence to support variation leading to transformation
3) the fact that fosils are dated by their rock strata and rock is dated by their contained fosiles (circular logic)
4) the fact that recent DNA studies confirm that the “tree of life” does and could not exist
5) the fact that the fosil record / strata according to he tree of life is not correctly aligned in the vast majority of locations.
6) the fact that there are several instances where there are fosilized tree remains through many layers of sedimentry rock
7) the fact that there is no explanation for the origin of life
8) that according to the fosil record, insects grew wings and lost them several times
9) Anchient DNA shows that modern humans did NOT evolve from Nedanderthals
10) the fact that carbon dating has show that the same animal is several MILLIONS of years difference between different parts of it’s body.
I could go on but I think that is enough to make my point. And that is ... these examples of challenges to the theory are not being presented in school.
Where did you get that? C-14 has a half-life that makes it useless for determining the age of anything beyond 60-80,000 years.
Carbon dating is not accurate PERIOD that is the point and that is not what is being taught in schools.
The body of a seal that had been dead for 30 years was carbon dated, and the results stated that the seal had died 4,600 years ago! (”The Illustrated Origins Answer Book” by Paul Taylor)
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