堪萨斯州教育政策调整引发科学与人文争议.pdfVIP

MyfirstthoughtuponhearingthattheKansasstateeducationboardhadremovedevolution

fromitsmandatorycurriculumwas:Goahead!Belikethat!Handicapyourkidsforlife.Letthe

“secularhumanists”haveallthegoodcollegesandgetallthegoodjobs.Iknowthiswasan

unworthythought—Darwin’sdemotionwasapoliticalmaneuverbyChristianconservative

politicians,notagrassrootseffortbyKansasparents,muchstheirunfortunatechildren—

butthereyouare.Asarootscosmopolitan,Igettiredofbeingexpectedtopayhomageto

“theheartland”asthemoralcenteroftheuniverse.

Andcreationism,honestly!In1999!Allsummer,seriousnewspapershavefeltitnecessaryto

publishcasuisticalOp-Edsbyapologistsfor“creationscience”—andtheOldTestamentisthe

onlybiologytextbookyoureallyneed,thesecleverfellowsforgottoadd.What’sgoingon?As

StephenJayGouldpointedoutinTime,innootherWesterncountryistheteachingof

evolutionregardedascontroversial.Throughouttheworld,onewayoranother,mostChristian

denominationshavemanagedtoreconcilebeliefinGodwithbeliefinthemechanismsof

naturalselection.AFrenchorGermanorScandinavianpoliticianwhocalledforstudentsto

entertainasareasonabledeductionfromexistingevidencethepropositionthatEarthisat

most10,000yearsoldwouldbebundledofftoamentalhospital.

Creationscienceisreligion,nomatterwhattheapologistssay;let’sstartfromthere.Noone

lookingatthephysicalrecordwoulddeterminethatdinosaursandhumanscoexisted,that

fossilsrepresentthecreaturesdrownedinNoah’sfloodandsoon.Theonlywaythosenotions

wouldevenoccurtoyouisifyouconsideredtheBibleanunerringhistoricaldocument—but

whywouldyouthinkthatunsyouacceptedtheBibleasdivinerevelationof