AmericanPapist Comments
I'm just curious - education on WHICH topic do you think is "little more than indoctrination" - evolution or creation? The implication that I read from your comment is that you believe that education about evolution is little more than indoctrination, and if so, I would be interested to know what this is based on.
There are many facets to this debate that I hope will be addressed.
There is the scientific debate itself, then the fundamentalist zeal with which the Theory of Evolution is defended and taught, the historic consequences of the Theory, and the possible future consequences both to an individual and to a society. Not to mention the Church's response to each of these aspects of the debate.
Thanks for posting this!
@ndenvirochick:
I can't speak for Tom, but I do know that policies in public schools render eventhe possibility of criticising Darwinism anathema.
But I see your point that teaching any point of view uncritically can be taken as indoctrination.
GW,
I don't know where you live, but here in Kentucky, I have found the opposite to be true. A fair number of high school teachers only "teach" evolution because it is required (if at all), and they do so with rolling eyes and not-well-hidden guffaws, while they make sure to let the students know that they themselves don't "believe" in this "theory" and that they are good, God-fearing Christians.
I teach at the college level, and I teach evolution as part of a unit on science and religion for my science and society class. I absolutely look critically at Darwin's ideas and the subsequent evidence for evolution (which most students don't know that more has happened in this field since Darwin), as well as the evidence brought forward by advocates of creation science and intelligent design. My students (mostly from KY) tell me that it is the first time they've really heard and understood what evolutionary theory is, let alone its strengths and weaknesses. Yes, the Eugenie Scotts and Richard Dawkins of the world, along with some overzealous biology teachers/professors can teach evolution as doctrine, but I do not see that being as pervasive as the opposite. Again, this could just be an artifact of living in KY. That is why I posed the original question.
I'm in South Florida. Here, Darwin is taught pretty dogmatically. even went to a Catholic HS. When the biology teacher presented evolution, she said something like the Church doesn't officially recognize it, but she has to teach it anyway. But, she never presented ANY criticism of Darwin. I never even questioned Darwin until I became a Christian.
It doesn't surprise me that KY would be very different from South Florida, which is often referred to as either the Sixth Burrough of NYC or North Cuba.
For me personally, I haven't really found anyone well versed enough and unbiased enough to discuss Evolution. They're either dogmatic one way or the other. I'm an engineer and I've found some criticisms of evolution, but I myself am not familiar with the latest couter-arguments on behalf of evolution.
I'm thrilled that you seem to be well informed. Would you be open to answering some questions I'm honestly seeking answers to?
GW,
I grew up in the Chicago area, and although I went to public high school, I don't recall ever hearing about evolution, though I stopped after one year of HS biology because I couldn't stomach fetal pig dissection (ugh!). Ironically, my first real exposure to evolution was at college, and associated with my geology classes because of earth history, not biology (that dratted fetal pig again!).
I now teach in a geography/geology department and specialize in science education at the K-12 level, and I have done a lot of supplemental reading on my own and can even recommend some good books on the subject. But I'd also be happy to try to answer any of your questions, though we probably should take our conversation to email rather than cluttering up Tom's blog. My email address shows up for me when I post these comments, can you see it too?
Unfortunately, I cannot see your e-mail. 8-(
I'll set up a temporary gmail account so I don't end up with spam in my personal or work e-mails.
gmail is blocked at work, so I'll have to set that up from home.
Will this work out okay?
GW,
That should work out fine. I will await an email address from which to continue this discussion.
Okay, try this one:
gw.ginald@gmail.com
Cardinal Schonborn will be speaking on his topic, "All Creation Groans: The Debate over Creation and Evolution" as part of the Dominican WYD Gathering on 16 July, 4:00-6:30pm. More details available: http://wydop.blogspot.com
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