Monday, July 18, 2011

Science/Evolution/Creationism in Public Schools

We need to take a hard look at this trend toward teaching Creationism/Intelligent Design in a mainstream public school science/Biology class? I think it should not be taught there and should only be in private church schools if they choose. It violates church and state laws because every religion has it's own unique creation story/myth and we cannot impose religious beliefs/ideology in a public classroom on children of different faiths like some of the conservative State Board members are attempting to do. The university science faculties are fighting it tooth and nail to protect science literacy in Texas!.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20110717-texas-board-of-education-to-debate-evolution-again-as-science-materials-reviewed.ece

I agree there is a creator, the original scientist, I just don't think he created billions of enzymes, complex molecules and organisms at first but rather he simply started the process by designing a few simple molecules and put them into his grand experiment and let it play out and evolve over billions of years to keep himself entertained how it would play out - so simple, logical and so elegant, much more than creating it all at once which seems very unlikely/impossible and way too overwhelming even for the creator to do in a short time considering the vast variety of plants animals, bacteria and the first near life forms/macromolecules the nasty little viruses who are continually evolving as we speak. Granted he may have guided/tweaked the process occasionally like in a huge game of chance in order to create his masterpiece, Man. Could be his masterpiece is a simple insect like a tropical butterfly or perhaps a Siberain Tiger, two much more beautiful elegant animals. He may tweaked us as part of the experiment just to see how long it would take us before we destroy our planet and then start the process all over again, which actually happened when the dinosaurs were wiped out and 90% of all species 70 million years ago when a huge meteorite slammed into the Yucatan and created a nuclear type midnight for years.
This is why some of we mainstream religious scientifically literate people call ourselves theistic evolutionists. ALL mainstream faculties at major universities like TAMU, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, UT support some model of evolution, so why is it so difficult for intelligent people to to accept? Go ask any geologist and paleontologist at A&M, UT or Rice and see what they say. You don't have to do that because you know what they will say!

Since we as educators are involved in the Science/Evolution vs Creationism ongoing debate, a new book summary of the problem, Scientists Confront Creationism- Intelligent Design and Beyond, is a must read so you can see the latest scientific arguments.
This will become a very important issue in the next election, especially if the Tea Party gains control of the Republican Party and nominates a fundamentalist like Sara Palin or Michelle Bachmann. If that happens I will become an independent or Libertarian and vote for the Libertarian candidate or not vote at all. I believe most of the voting GOP is more intelligent/well educated and will nominate Romney who is more moderate and can beat Obama, which Palin, Bachmann and other far right Christian fundamentalist Tea Party candidates cannot do because of so many well educated independents and Republicans. All the mainstream press has do is interview them and ask a few mainstream science or socially charged questions and that will be the end of them like it did for Sara Palin last time concerning the idiotic "dinosaurs walked with men 4,000 years ago" statement!
The future of legitimate science Education in American public schools could be at stake and we as science educators must take up the banner and encourage everyone to make an informed decision rather than an emotional one exclusively based on religious convictions. The entire mainstream scientific community agrees that life on Planet Earth is a slow process over billions of years not thousands. All one has to do is imagine Dinosaurs and Man living together 4,000 years ago as Sara Palin believes, and it all become self evident. The Noah's Ark story is another obvious contradiction in reality if taken literally. If the private church related schools teach this they have that right to do so, but they will be doing their students a disservice when they apply to colleges and to graduate/Medical School because they will be at a large disadvantage by not being completely scientifically literate.