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More on creationism vs science

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JenniferEver
The Disney Lady

Member since 5/05

18163 total posts

Name:
Jennifer

More on creationism vs science

I think this is an itneresting essay. Do you think Dr. Abrams should be head of the school board? Why or Why not?

Essay
How to Make Sure Children Are Scientifically Illiterate

By LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS
Published: August 15, 2006
Voters in Kansas ensured this month that noncreationist moderates will once again have a majority (6 to 4) on the state school board, keeping new standards inspired by intelligent design from taking effect.

This is a victory for public education and sends a message nationwide about the public’s ability to see through efforts by groups like the Discovery Institute to misrepresent science in the schools. But for those of us who are interested in improving science education, any celebration should be muted.

This is not the first turnaround in recent Kansas history. In 2000, after a creationist board had removed evolution from the state science curriculum, a public outcry led to wholesale removal of creationist board members up for re-election and a reinstatement of evolution in the curriculum.

In a later election, creationists once again won enough seats to get a 6-to-4 majority. With their changing political tactics, creationists are an excellent example of evolution at work. Creation science evolved into intelligent design, which morphed into “teaching the controversy,” and after its recent court loss in Dover, Pa., and political defeats in Ohio and Kansas, it will no doubt change again. The most recent campaign slogan I have heard is “creative evolution.”

But perhaps more worrisome than a political movement against science is plain old ignorance. The people determining the curriculum of our children in many states remain scientifically illiterate. And Kansas is a good case in point.

The chairman of the school board, Dr. Steve Abrams, a veterinarian, is not merely a strict creationist. He has openly stated that he believes that God created the universe 6,500 years ago, although he was quoted in The New York Times this month as saying that his personal faith “doesn’t have anything to do with science.”

“I can separate them,” he continued, adding, “My personal views of Scripture have no room in the science classroom.”

A key concern should not be whether Dr. Abrams’s religious views have a place in the classroom, but rather how someone whose religious views require a denial of essentially all modern scientific knowledge can be chairman of a state school board.

I have recently been criticized by some for strenuously objecting in print to what I believe are scientifically inappropriate attempts by some scientists to discredit the religious faith of others. However, the age of the earth, and the universe, is no more a matter of religious faith than is the question of whether or not the earth is flat.

It is a matter of overwhelming scientific evidence. To maintain a belief in a 6,000-year-old earth requires a denial of essentially all the results of modern physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology and geology. It is to imply that airplanes and automobiles work by divine magic, rather than by empirically testable laws.

Dr. Abrams has no choice but to separate his views from what is taught in science classes, because what he says he believes is inconsistent with the most fundamental facts the Kansas schools teach children.

Another member of the board, who unfortunately survived a primary challenge, is John Bacon. In spite of his name, Mr. Bacon is no friend of science. In a 1999 debate about the removal of evolution and the Big Bang from science standards, Mr. Bacon said he was baffled about the objections of scientists. “I can’t understand what they’re squealing about,” he is quoted as saying. “I wasn’t here, and neither were they.”

This again represents a remarkable misunderstanding of the nature of the scientific method. Many fields — including evolutionary biology, astronomy and physics — use evidence from the past in formulating hypotheses. But they do not stop there. Science is not storytelling.

These disciplines take hypotheses and subject them to further tests and experiments. This is how we distinguish theories that work, like evolution or gravitation.

As we continue to work to improve the abysmal state of science education in our schools, we will continue to battle those who feel that knowledge is a threat to faith.

But when we win minor skirmishes, as we did in Kansas, we must remember that the issue is far deeper than this. We must hold our elected school officials to certain basic standards of knowledge about the world. The battle is not against faith, but against ignorance.

Lawrence M. Krauss is a professor of physics and astronomy at Case Western Reserve University.

Posted 8/16/06 1:24 PM
 
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LadyMaravilla
Fall Is Here

Member since 5/05

12023 total posts

Name:
Sonia

Re: More on creationism vs science

I believe in Science & I believe in the Bible. As a child I they taught us evolution and I never had a problem with it. I think we should have the right to choose and make our own conclusions.

Posted 8/16/06 1:28 PM
 

Shelly
She's 7!!!

Member since 8/05

14624 total posts

Name:

Re: More on creationism vs science

Posted by LadyLainez

I believe in Science & I believe in the Bible. As a child I they taught us evolution and I never had a problem with it. I think we should have the right to choose and make our own conclusions.



I agree.

Posted 8/16/06 1:29 PM
 

JenniferEver
The Disney Lady

Member since 5/05

18163 total posts

Name:
Jennifer

Re: More on creationism vs science

Posted by Shellyesq

Posted by LadyLainez

I believe in Science & I believe in the Bible. As a child I they taught us evolution and I never had a problem with it. I think we should have the right to choose and make our own conclusions.



I agree.



Does that ean you think both shoud be taught in schools?

And do creationists belong on the school board?

Posted 8/16/06 1:30 PM
 

Bxgell2
Perfection

Member since 5/05

16438 total posts

Name:
Beth

Re: More on creationism vs science

There's no reason why he shouldn't be, as long as he can continue to separate his personal beliefs from what he proposes for school legislation. If we cross that line, where does it end?

Posted 8/16/06 1:33 PM
 

JenniferEver
The Disney Lady

Member since 5/05

18163 total posts

Name:
Jennifer

Re: More on creationism vs science

Posted by Bxgell2

There's no reason why he shouldn't be, as long as he can continue to separate his personal beliefs from what he proposes for school legislation. If we cross that line, where does it end?



I agree. I mean I see what the essayist is saying, but I have a lot of respect for him for being able to separte his beliefs from the wya he runs the school system

Posted 8/16/06 1:34 PM
 

LadyMaravilla
Fall Is Here

Member since 5/05

12023 total posts

Name:
Sonia

Re: More on creationism vs science

Posted by JenniferEver

Posted by Shellyesq

Posted by LadyLainez

I believe in Science & I believe in the Bible. As a child I they taught us evolution and I never had a problem with it. I think we should have the right to choose and make our own conclusions.



I agree.



Does that ean you think both shoud be taught in schools?

And do creationists belong on the school board?



No, I think certain things should be left for parents or the "home" to teach.

Posted 8/16/06 1:34 PM
 

Shelly
She's 7!!!

Member since 8/05

14624 total posts

Name:

Re: More on creationism vs science

I don't think creationism should be taught in schools. There are different religions who don't believe in the Judeo-Christian beliefs. Parents can teach their children that or send them to religious schools.

I think just evolution should be taught in schools.

Posted 8/16/06 1:36 PM
 

LadyMaravilla
Fall Is Here

Member since 5/05

12023 total posts

Name:
Sonia

Re: More on creationism vs science

Posted by Shellyesq

I don't think creationism should be taught in schools. There are different religions who don't believe in the Judeo-Christian beliefs. Parents can teach their children that or send them to religious schools.

I think just evolution should be taught in schools.



I agree. Not all of us believe in the same thing so why impose it on others. That's not fair.

Posted 8/16/06 1:37 PM
 

Hi-Fi55
12 years...wow....

Member since 2/06

2984 total posts

Name:
Dianne

Re: More on creationism vs science

I believe in science and the Bible. No, I do not believe church should be brought into the schools, but that does not mean that someone should be kept off of a school board if he knows how to separate his beliefs from what should be teaching.

Posted 8/16/06 1:37 PM
 

LadyMaravilla
Fall Is Here

Member since 5/05

12023 total posts

Name:
Sonia

Re: More on creationism vs science

Posted by Hi-Fi55

I believe in science and the Bible. No, I do not believe church should be brought into the schools, but that does not mean that someone should be kept off of a school board if he knows how to separate his beliefs from what should be teaching.



Right. I'm on the PTA and because I'm Christian I should not be kept off because of my personal beliefs.

Posted 8/16/06 1:39 PM
 
 

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