Georgia in the national spotlight
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:44 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u ... ion_debate
So now that gay marraige is old and busted, the new hotness apparently is the debate over evolution in schools. It seems like a resurfacing of the Scopes trial 80 years ago except that now we are facing the opposite reaction.
A public school system near atlanta ordered a bunch of science textbooks which happened to discuss the Theory of Evolution. Being the Bible Belt, a consensus agreed to tack on an advisory label on the book that points out that it is indeed a theory and not fact.
Radio shows were bashing the advisory though, saying (just like in the lawsuit) that people are trying to force religion into schools again. I guess I just don't see what makes Evolution less of a religious explanation for the origin of man. It hasn't been proven. Like Creationism, it has several points that make it arguably flawed (missing links, intricate cohesion of different organisms).
I understand that this is a science book for a science class so Creationism has no place in it, while scientific theories are commonplace. Still, the advisory doesn't even mention religion. It promotes open-mindedness. That seems like a good idea for a science book.
It does single out evolution but, given the demographics of the area, I imagine a lot of parents have to explain to their kids why their school tells them one thing and their church tells them another. The advisory makes it easier to say "Look, it even says here that this is just a theory and not fact. People have different ways of explaining things that are unknown."
So now that gay marraige is old and busted, the new hotness apparently is the debate over evolution in schools. It seems like a resurfacing of the Scopes trial 80 years ago except that now we are facing the opposite reaction.
A public school system near atlanta ordered a bunch of science textbooks which happened to discuss the Theory of Evolution. Being the Bible Belt, a consensus agreed to tack on an advisory label on the book that points out that it is indeed a theory and not fact.
I mean wtf is wrong with that? I am not a pious man by any measure and I thought that was a legitimate advisory. It doesn't even mention the alternative of Creationism."This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
Radio shows were bashing the advisory though, saying (just like in the lawsuit) that people are trying to force religion into schools again. I guess I just don't see what makes Evolution less of a religious explanation for the origin of man. It hasn't been proven. Like Creationism, it has several points that make it arguably flawed (missing links, intricate cohesion of different organisms).
I understand that this is a science book for a science class so Creationism has no place in it, while scientific theories are commonplace. Still, the advisory doesn't even mention religion. It promotes open-mindedness. That seems like a good idea for a science book.
It does single out evolution but, given the demographics of the area, I imagine a lot of parents have to explain to their kids why their school tells them one thing and their church tells them another. The advisory makes it easier to say "Look, it even says here that this is just a theory and not fact. People have different ways of explaining things that are unknown."