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To me, there are 3 reasons why intelligent design creationism should
not be taught in public school science classes:
1. Intelligent design creationism is completely devoid of scientific
content; it would be silly to include it. This fact bears repeating a
thousand times. Adding non-science "social" issues will cause
Amercians to become even _less_ scientifically literate. Yes, that's
possible.
2. Intelligent design creationism is not part of national science
standards, any state standards, or on the SAT II biology test. This
is a practical reason, but standards-based lessson choice tends to
guide curriculum content for other topics.
3. Intelligent design creationism was dreamed up as a religious tool
and continues to be used as a religious tool, so bringing it up
during a science class is opening the door to a discussion of
religion and, specifically, whether a god exists. As soon as this
discussion begins, the focus _will_ devolve into a discussion that
focuses too much on a judeo-christian entity, thus making non-jews
and non-christians uncomfortable. There are so many permutations of
how the discussion will progress, but all of them will end, quickly,
with the focus on one _particular_ religious viewpoint, depending on
which religion is popular in any particular school district. When
one particular religious view is given a positive (or a negative)
spin by the teacher or by the students, then the teacher has
allowed/invited the establishment clause to be violated. Teachers
should not be placed in this position. And science teachers (and all
teachers!) are probably not equipped to lead a free-for-all
discussion on the merits of various creators.
Aside from what should be taught in science classes, I hope the
President's thoughts on the topic will speak to the need for better
-- and more explicit -- evolution exhibits in informal science
centers! Good exhibits that emphasize the central role of evolution
are inherently interesting, and also help visiting teachers who are
trying, under trying circumstances, to teach the centrality of
evolution to their students. Science centers can be an important ally
of the global struggle against religious extremism...right here at
home.
And if you need a humorous perspective on the topic:
http://www.acad.sunytccc.edu/instruct/sbrown/pic/miracle.jpg
Cheers,
Colin Purrington
--
Department of Biology, Swarthmore College
500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081
tel. (610) 328-8621; fax (610) 328-8663
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/index.html
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