Happy Darwin Day
If you ever forget why you should be scared of Huckabee (though somehow I doubt too many readers of this blog support him), let's look at the wonderful folks in Florida who want to balance the teaching of evolution in schools with non-scientific explanations.
For example, let's take Putnam County school superintendent David Buckles, who favors an "open dialogue" regarding the beginning of life. (For some reason anti-evolutionists are obsessed with the beginning of life, even though it's not really what evolution is about, and isn't even generally taught in high school biology.) Buckles asks "Did life begin in ice? Or was it the Genesis version? Or intelligent design? We want the pros and cons of all of it." So there you have it, ice, Genesis or ID. See how simple it is? First you give the kids one of those science books that uses the widely accepted explantion of life beginning in ice, then the Bible, then one of those creationist science books that favors Genesis. Now that's good education.
posted by LAGuy @ 2:06 PM
5 Comments:
Maybe we should revise the textbook to list four different versions, including both the creation account in Genesis 1:1-2:3, and the alternative creation account in Genesis 2:4-2:25.
Meanwhile, celebrate Darwin Day by purchasing Darwin!, one of the best progressive rock albums ever! Recorded in 1972 by the Italian prog rock group Banco del Mutuo Soccorso.
Paraphrasing a blogger on WSJ's Washington Wire today- What does evolution have to do with being President of the United States? (insert your own punch line) But Really what does it?- after all Ronald Reagan believed in astrology and the factual accuracy of Hollywood war movies, and he brought down communism, dammit. I'm sure we could come up with other world leaders with kooky beliefs. While this is no defense of ignorance or mythology, conventional wisdom and accepted beliefs can be a bigger problem.
("You've never seen the lies that you believe..." Elvis Costello "New Lace Sleeves")
If someone were discussing teaching astrology alongside astronomy is schoolrooms, then it would be a pretty big issue.
lets not forget reagan's voodoo economics not to mention the wisdom of trading arms to jihadis for hostages
I would consider voting for a creationist for president, if he explicitly said "My beliefs are based on my faith, but I recognize that these faith-based beliefs have no place in public schools."
The creationists that I can't stand are the "Creation Scientists", who claim that not only is the world 6000 years old, but that objective scientific study supports this claim, and the scientific establishment is somehow corrupt.
HOWEVER, I think that the usual debate about "creationism in public schools" is massively off-track. Everyone seems to argue about whether "creation" should be taught in science class or religion class. NEITHER! It belongs in philosophy class. Does a world require a creator? If the odds of life evolving are super-tiny, does that tell us anything about whether there is a God who created the world? These are philosophical questions which have been discussed by Aristotle, Maimonides, Aquinas, and Avicenna without their arguments being dependend on their religious faith.
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