Britain pulls the evolution controversy out of science classes
Transcript of today's show: Sound Off: Science & Faith. Our point/counterpoint regulars Shelley (the voice of science) and Peter (the voice of faith), comment on the story.
British students may soon be debating creationism and intelligent design alongside Darwinism and atheism in their high school religion classes. New government guidelines will pull this topic out of science classes, hoping to avoid the contentious debates that have pitted religion against science in the US. The British school officials endorse neither side of the debate, but they do believe that creationism and intelligent design should be understood and openly discussed by students. [source: Paul Majendie/Reuters]
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The Voice of Faith: Peter Williamson, M.Div., comments:
Half or more Americans -- spanning every religious denomination -- say they do not believe we have descended from apes. Our children want to know where they came from, where the world they live in came from. They ask these questions. Are our children in fact silently crying out for an alternative explanation to their own origin? Do they not deserve to hear other viewpoints and possibilities? Sadly, the scientists who make this protest, and others certainly, are satisfied to offer only one account of the origin of life on earth, and it is neither a compelling nor inspiring one.
The Voice of Science: Shelley Greene, Ph.D., comments:
What a disastrous state of affairs when scientists have to band togther to defend the validity and legitimacy of science itself. Scientific method and understanding have produced most everything we enjoy and take advantage of in the living of our daily lives. I dearly hope this protest sends a signal to school board administrators that Biblical allegory is not equivalent to science and does not belong in our science classrooms.