Ah, yes, a nice little hot button issue to start the week. With the selection of Governor Sarah Palin as McCain’s veep, America now gets to find out a little bit about this almost unknown Alaskan and her tremendously conservative values. The specific issue I intend to address today (I have a knack for addressing issues like this, huh?) is her view on creationism, and its place in schools.
Now, I was under the impression that in a science class, you were to study science. By science I mean theories that have been tested and scrutinized by the scientific method, and have been accepted as Scientific Theory. That being said, nothing in science is ever technically “proven,” they remain open to rediscovery and re debate. Evolution could likely be disproved as a viable scientific theory if another valid argument that had empirical evidence to back it up was offered. But from what I have seen, creationism has offered no such evidence. Creationism cannot be tested by the scientific theory, as so far as I know there is no test to see if God did indeed create the heavens and the Earth. We should no more teach the notion that God created all than we should teach that Erichtonious of Athens was created by Hephaestus ejaculating on the Earth. (Keep in mind I was referring to that being taught in a science context, not a history one.) So until creationism can offer up some good scientific reason why it should be included in a biology class, I am not convinced it belongs there. However, I do have an idea on how you could still teach creationism and keep biology and the sciences intact.
Create high school and middle school level Theology classes which will teach all forms of creationism, encompassing all religious points of view on the subject, among others. Here the subject can be addressed in a non-controversial environment, where students personal opinion on whether they believe in an all mighty God or an all mighty explosion can be left aside. It is in a Theology class that we can all learn, but walk away and make our own decisions. This, so far as I can determine, is the best compromise between the two factions.
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