Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (146473)	11/10/2005 12:43:39 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793964

Does the teaching of Intelligent Design belong in public schools? I would say no. But another question is who makes the decision, why do they get to make the decision, and on what basis does the decision get made. Tim

To: Neeka who wrote (146473)	11/10/2005 1:09:02 PM
From: D. Long	Respond to of 793964

Is the complaint specific to the teaching of ID in Science Class or are those opposed to that concept really saying they don't want ID taught in school at all? No, the complaint is teaching it in science class. It can be taught, and belongs IMO, in a religion class. The whole purpose of ID is to attack the scientific theory of evolution because it offends some people's religious beliefs in creationism. Science classes are the only place ID supporters care for it to be taught, because it is tailor made to put creationism in science classes. Derek

To: Neeka who wrote (146473)	11/10/2005 1:31:53 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793964

The argument that ID should or should not be taught in Science Class is so narrow. It is narrow, indeed. I assume that the advocates of Christianity/creationism were tired of being rebuffed so they tried to frame it in a way that would pass muster by the courts and the church/state folks. They opted to frame it as science so they could slip it into the science curriculum, which is not a altogether bad idea, really. The problem is, though, that it also gave the opponents a really good angle, which is to enlist not only the church/state folks but the sound education folks against it. The advocates set it up narrowly to sneak into an opportune crack. Unfortunately for them, the opponents also found that crack opportune. I think the question should be broadened. Does the teaching of ID belong in school? If so, in which class should it be taught? If not, why? If you think about it, ID is a totally contrived pseudo-scientific hypothesis developed entirely for the purpose of filling the crack. Were it not for the church/state problem, there would have been no ID "theory" developed. It's really a proxy. I wouldn't put proxies of any sort in the curriculum. Teach the real thing or drop it. If you're going to teach kids the biblical view of creation, then teach a Bible class, IMO. I see less risk in that than in corrupting science. If you have to shoehorn ID in somewhere, social studies or philosophy or comparative religion would do. Seems to me that there's a simple and obvious solution to this--teach science in science class in public schools and teach the Bible in Sunday school. That's the way it used to be when and where I was growing up and I had no trouble at all independently reconciling my church teachings and evolution into something IDish, no trouble at all. It's so obvious that no one had to teach it to me. But for some reason that I really don't comprehend, that doesn't work for the creationism folks. So perhaps your question would be better directed to one of them. I do understand the problem the young-earth fundamentalists have with the teaching of evolution, but ID doesn't really cater to them, either. ID doesn't pretend that the earth is young. There's one idea I can think of--maybe we could make science or some part of science an elective subject so fundamentalist kids wouldn't have to be exposed to evolution in the schools. Or maybe those Christians who can reconcile evolution and the Bible, which is most of them, could be enlisted to teach ID to the fundamentalists in their Sunday schools. If we could get their view of the Bible updated to old-earth, that's another way to get past the problem.