Scientists: Creationist President Would Doom U.S.

[Reiko]

Intelligent design should be taught in a philosophy class.

[Perfection]

Intelligent Design shouldn't be taught, period. It's jsut Creationism reworded.

[Blake]

Evolution is a part of knowledge.

Intelligent Design is a part of dontknowledge.

"We don't know how this works. So we've come up with a fanciful explanation which sounds good!"

It's rather pointless to exhaustively speculate on what we don't know. It's okay to point out what we don't know - but it should be left at "we don't know". Don't fill the gaps with fanciful explanations.

[Whaleboy]

I was addressing Whaleboy and his "1+1= MC^2," not you. Sorry if there was a mix-up.

If you don't know the difference between mathematics and the sciences, and the different assumptions that go into each... as well as the different methods... then yes, you don't know what you are talking about.

WTF Whaleboy. JM is right, you don't know what you're talking about...

Christ you people really are painfully anal aren't you? The original point was that it is frustrating when people, in great numbers with political backing, deny a theory that has achieved the same degree of acceptance (i.e. 1+1=2 as a reductio ad absurdum) as heliocentrism, the laws of thermodynamics and that the Earth is round. That frustration is compounded when their motivations are drawn from a series of texts composed between two and three thousand years ago .

[Elok]

Originally posted by Whaleboy
Christ you people really are painfully anal aren't you? The original point was that it is frustrating when people, in great numbers with political backing, deny a theory that has achieved the same degree of acceptance (i.e. 1+1=2 as a reductio ad absurdum) as geocentrism, the laws of thermodynamics and that the Earth is round. That frustration is compounded when their motivations are drawn from a series of texts composed between two and three thousand years ago .

[Heraclitus]

I agree with Elok. I mean the Earth is hollow! Therefore the sun is clearly at the center of the universe.

[Whoha]

Also, the Earth is flat, and being accelerated upwards at a rate of 9.8 m/s^2. The gravity just makes it look round.

[Proteus_MST]

Which of course the US government is aware of.
After all that is the reason why they faked the moon landings in the 60s, to make people believe that earth is round.

[Gatekeeper]

Re: Re: Scientists: Creationist President Would Doom U.S.

Originally posted by Sarxis
I am fairly certain it isn't right for ANYONE to force their views on another. But in secular classrooms, this happens more often than not with the teaching of evolution.

The science classroom is a natural haven for teaching evolution, just as Sunday school is a natural location in which to teach others about Jesus.

America has been doing fine up until now with a mostly Christian background, why would this change all of a sudden? If anything, there should be a honest undertaking of both good scientists and studied theologians to come to the truth, and not banter about what they 'think' is the truth.

Churches usually have their bedrock "truths" that are blazingly obvious to their believers, but the scientific process is always changing and evolving (no pun intended) as new information comes to light.

So, for a scientist and a theologian to sit down and have a discussion regarding the fundamentals of what the truth is, might be a bit difficult to achieve. Even how evolution is taught has changed over the years as new knowledge comes to light; the last time I checked, the Bible and Koran hadn't altered what they consider to be their fundamental truths, and aren't likely to (I'm not ruling it out entirely, since Vatican II did happen, as one example of change being possible within a church).

... It seems to me the more the nation falls away from its "religious-roots", the more it falls into moral decay.

Really? Gosh, I remember when my primary school principal used to get on the schoolwide microphone every morning and read a devotion/saying/prayer. That stopped when I was in middle school and, insofar as I can tell, the students' morals didn't suddenly go down the chute.

Also, from what I can tell, Europe seems to be doing pretty good, society-wise, when it comes to morals, and a good many people there are secular in nature.

... And whether evolution or creationism is taught, or not taught in schools, how exactly does that effect the overall education of a student?

I'd think that knowing something about how evolution works would be an asset to an aspiring doctor, at the very least. After all, for example, viruses are constantly evolving. Having the mindset to deal with that fact goes far in, say, devising an effective treatment for whatever woes they might cause.

I'm curious, though: If every single hardcore science subject was taught in the public schools, it'd be OK with you so long as what was being studied *didn't* try to plumb the depths of where humanity or other organisms came from?

I think you are overreacting to an issue that, if I had to guess, you have no tolerance for. And it is your intolerance that reveals just what state your heart is in.

Well, actually, I don't like the idea of science classes being infiltrated by pseudo-science such as ID and outright creationism. No apologies for that. Nor would I be pleased if some crusading scientist really did try to force science into a Sunday school class discussion. After all, two wrongs certainly don't make a right.

Regarding the state of my heart, I kindly suggest that you look within yourself first the next time you're tempted to analyze another's motives.

Gatekeeper

[Gatekeeper]

Re: Re: Scientists: Creationist President Would Doom U.S.

Originally posted by Reiko
No because churches and sunday school are not public institutions funded by tax dollars, public schools are. Further more there is no law that compels people to attend church services or sunday classes where as children under a certain age have to attend public school unless their parents can afford private school or if it is legal in their area to home school.

I'm a taxpayer. Does that mean if I don't want my child to learn about, oh, the civil rights movement, I can go to my public school board and get them to accede to my wishes? After all, some of my hard-earned dollars are going to fund their school. And, no, I can't afford private schooling or to homeschool.

My point being, if every taxpayer had the power to micromanage where every cent of his or her dollars went, and did just that, I think we'd see society teetering on the edge of the abyss.

This is probably a case where the good of the many outweigh the good of the few.

Gatekeeper

[Whaleboy]

Originally posted by Elok

A pox on thee!

[Whoha]

Originally posted by Proteus_MST
Which of course the US government is aware of.
After all that is the reason why they faked the moon landings in the 60s, to make people believe that earth is round.

Yea and they even got that wrong. The moon is clearly round from what we can see, since it only has 1/6th the gravity it can't distort light as much. But from the "pictures" and "video" they sent back you'd think it was flat.

[Geronimo]

Re: Re: Re: Scientists: Creationist President Would Doom U.S.

Originally posted by Gatekeeper


I'm a taxpayer. Does that mean if I don't want my child to learn about, oh, the civil rights movement, I can go to my public school board and get them to accede to my wishes? After all, some of my hard-earned dollars are going to fund their school. And, no, I can't afford private schooling or to homeschool.

My point being, if every taxpayer had the power to micromanage where every cent of his or her dollars went, and did just that, I think we'd see society teetering on the edge of the abyss.

This is probably a case where the good of the many outweigh the good of the few.

Gatekeeper

QFT

Anyway it's not like the parents can't fill their kids heads with whatever notions on their own time. If they can't even convince their own kids to accept their creationist notions because of what those kids learn at school maybe that's a hint they need to critically re-examine those notions.

[Whaleboy]

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Reiko
Intelligent design should be taught in a philosophy class.

That's kind of silly. It's purpose is to be a scientific theory, and one to try to get people not to believe in evolution. I can't see it anywhere. It should have no future.