On Fri, 10 Sep 1999 18:37:12 -0700 (MST), Hapi Daiz wrote:
>Here is a little joke I found in my mailbox yesterday.
>
>I wonder how the people who want to teach creationism in the schools
>would like it if taught evolution in Sunday school?
This "little joker" is a little confused and a little ignorant of the facts.
First, creationism can be, and is, taught in schools legally in history
and social studies classes.
Second, if the Kansas issue is being referred to here, neither creationism
is being proposed to be taught in science classes, nor is evolution being
proposed to be not taught in science classes. The Kansas Board of
Educationonly made *macro*-evolution not compulsory to be examined in State
examinations. Teachers in Kansas can still teach macroevolution. And even
then it was not something that was removed. The previous standards
had a lot less about evolution than the new standards.
Third, in my experience here in Australia, evolution is already being taught
(with its philosophical assumptions and weaknesses), as part of the
curriculum of some upper-age Sunday schools and church youth groups.
Fourth, the comparison with State-funded public schools and private Sunday
schools is invalid. Church members, along with all other citizens, are forced to
contribute to State-funded public schools via taxation. They thus jointly
`own' those public schools and they have a right, along with other citizens, to
decide what is taught there. But Sunday Schools are essentially privately
owned organisations, `owned' by the church members, and non-members
do not have a right to decide what is taught there.
Steve
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"I have come to the conclusion that Darwinism is not a testable scientific
theory, but a metaphysical research programme-a possible framework for
testable scientific theories." (Popper K.R., "Unended Quest: An Intellectual
Autobiography", [1974], Open Court: La Salle, Ill., Revised Edition, 1982,
p168)
Stephen E. Jones | sejones@iinet.net.au | http://www.iinet.net.au/~sejones
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