Education: Religion’s Greatest Nemesis
“He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind” – Proverbs 11:29
This is the central Biblical quote to the movie, Inherit the Wind, a 1960s movie about the greatest trial (the Scopes Monkey trial) in the ongoing debate in evolutionism vs creationism.
The whole trial stemmed from a simple clause in Tennessee state law that explicitly banned the teaching of evolution because of the link that school of thought supposedly had with Atheism.
… that it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.
This passage comes from the Butler Act, which forbade the teaching of any evolutionary theory in public schools in the state of Tennessee.
Despite having made incredible technological leaps and bounds since 1925, we have not been able to make the same great leap of faith when it comes to letting go of creationism, despite that it’s been deemed to be total bunk by the scientific community. While some have made the admission, like the Catholic Church, that there is validity to the theory of evolution and that creationism is just a simple fable, others have outright denied it, like many zealous fundamentalist Christians. The creationists have many forms, or incarnations. The most prominent and known group is the ‘Young Earth Creationists‘, who believe the earth is no older than the Testament itself, which is the word of ‘God’.
Even now, America, and even Canada is in the throes of the eternal debate on the morality of teaching just Evolution over Creationism, and even it’s cleverly disguised counterpart, Intelligent Design (herein now referred to as ‘ID’).
Teachers live in an era where there is a litigious culture that allows for the smallest infraction to have legal recourse. Religious parents feel that they know better, even when they are blindingly wrong’ they have allowed their addiction and over-dependence on religion jeopardize their child(ren)’s future simply because Evolution contradicts the teachings of their religion.
We’ve all, or should have heard the term “reasonable accommodation” when referring to how we make changes to our own rules and attitude in order to make it easier for new and minority cultures to fit into the frame work of our societies, so they aren’t left on the fringes and in “cultural ghettos”. This term is even extended to religious groups, including Christians, who, like others like to feel like the victim so they can impart an force their views on to people who would otherwise disagree and contest those views.
These views primarily focus, in the academic environment, the coercion; mandatory participation with the Lord’s Prayer, which has been removed from schools, but still a flashpoint for some (though I sincerely believe that it is being subtly forced upon us through the use of a “moment of silence” following the national anthem that is played at the start of the school day preceding the morning announcements). The second is the removal of Creationism from school curriculum in favour of Evolution (Darwinism).
However, it is making a slow but steady comeback thanks to backward, uneducated and ignorant thinking (or rather, lack thereof). Because many people still see it as immoral and affront to their imaginary bearded friend in the sky, despite that it has been proven that evolution is possible, even if it takes time, and occurs either on a small scale (micro-evolution) or on a large scale (macro-evolution). Evolution does, nevertheless, leave many, many questions unanswered as science cannot yet answer them because funding is held back because people are inherently afraid of what science will discover. The are comfortable embracing rudimentary thinking in that there is a being greater than all of us that accounts for the unknown all around us.
Brian Alters, director of the Evolution Education Research Centre at McGill University, says the problem stems from a general de-emphasizing of evolution in our classrooms – from curriculum that barely mentions it, to teachers who avoid a topic they fear will be controversial with students or parents.
“If you know you are going to get a lot of flak, there are ways to dance around it,” says Alters, in Toronto recently to speak on the issue.
Alters says informal research by his centre has found that about one-third of teachers report pressure from parents to teach creationism or intelligent design, the theory that God directs the development of life, in the class as an alternative to evolution.
Most respond by teaching neither evolution nor creationism, leaving students with the impression that the two are of equal merit, he says. Others tiptoe around the issue, acknowledging that people of some faiths believe in creationism.
Either way, he says, scientific education in our schools is undermined.
We should be concerned that we let religion play such a resonating role in the world. It holds back what we know and prevents free thought and facilitates the justification for sheep-like mentality, where we all follow the Sheppard to the end of time simply because he believes he’s the eyes and ears of God.
What could history’s greatest minds have achieved if religion didn’t play a great and significant role in society? Would we be more than we are now? Maybe we’d be pure energy now and able to achieve Godhood if religion didn’t shame us into acting submissive before some imaginary jackass in a 6,000 year old book.
Creationism debate continues to evolve
Stumble It!
