I recently read an article that said that creationism in high school is still alive and kickin’. The results of a nationwide study of 1,000 high school teachers found that about 1 of 6 held creationist views, and 1 out of 8 taught their students creationism as a viable alternative to evolution. This is frightening. While I don’t believe that our children’s teachers should be rocket scientists, is at least a rudimentary understanding of the difference between science and religion too much to ask? And why was it even allowed to happen? Should we start teaching students about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny in Science class? How about, less sarcastically, reincarnation? Or Raelian belief systems?
Furthermore, I am pretty disturbed that our constitutional separation of church and state has been compromised so under Bush. This is a clear example of that violation. After all, not all religions share the same belief about the creation of the world, or even about what a god is. And what about those students living in atheist families? Aren’t their families’ choices to not believe in a deity protected under our constitution?
I wonder how many other countries have this issue. We used to have one of the best educational systems going, but the past 8 years has gone a long way towards dismantling that (among other things). What are the implications of having people believe that creationism is a viable scientific explanation of the beginning of our world? I believe the students learning under the past administration will face serious challenges in our fast-globalizing world.
At least this trend against science will end under our new president. Thank Goddess. 
Update: Thanks, Colm!
Holly
heathergfe
ainamontero
sitaradevi
Audrey Cain
Lauren Summerhill
Ninon Baccara
Your question on how many other countries have the issue?
Violá.
By: Colm on January 28, 2009
at 4:02 am
[...] View original post here: Creationism and high school education [...]
By: Creationism and high school education | Shablogs on January 28, 2009
at 4:09 am
I certainly feel optimistic that under Obama our education system has a chance to revive itself and that our students may again eventually find themselves able to compete against students from other countries. From what I have seen so far, Obama has a very realistic sense of where our students are against other countries and what it will take for them to reach the levels of students in places like India and China. Thus it is possible that in the next few years we see a shift in education policy and curriculum and that evolutionary theory will again be the norm in classrooms across the United States.
By: Sitara Devi on January 28, 2009
at 9:01 am
Colm, that was great! Thanks for posting that link. Shocking, really!
Sitara, I am also excited that Obama is science-friendly. I feel like I’ve been living in the dark ages for the past 8 years. I am disgusted it ever got that far!!
Here is the chart Colm linked to.
By: Holly on January 28, 2009
at 6:30 pm
Erosion of the separation of church and state is an extremely dangerous trend. It tends to lead to extreme religious beliefs being enforced through the rule of law and/or rulers who believe their power to be supported by deities and infallible; opposition to be evil.
Looking at it more abstractly, separation of power, with checks and balances is key to balanced government. Be it church and state, military and civil service, police and judiciary, etc.
One of the scariest legacies of the Bush years in my opinion was the erosion of the lines of demarcation amongst the FBI, CIA, and NSA. Historically, for the most part, the FBI could operate only within the US, the CIA only outside the US, the NSA were the really smart people gathering the intelligence but they couldn’t mount operations. The structure provided a balance, and each entity would watch for transgressions of the others. While this may have been largely self interest on the part of these organizations, the effect was built in watchdogs. Under the guise of improving cooperation and efficiency, the Bush administration largely removed these restrictions. Now who’s watching?
As long as everyone is playing nice and following the rules things are fine. But what if self interest takes hold and someone bends or breaks the rules. Who is the watchdog then, how effective will that watchdog be?
Self interest and ambition would never happen here? Wasn’t that the theory in the banking industry?
By: Mike on February 9, 2009
at 8:24 am
I stray from the pack on this one.
To me, the “science” of evolution isn’t actual science, but theory. Science involves hypothesis, experiements and results that are replicable and produce consistent results. Evolution doesn’t fit in here. If it were a “science” then we could produce life from random elements (as is supposed to have happened in evolution). Also, since evolution is supposedly continually happening, there wouldn’t be any ‘missing links’ in the evolutionary chain….. something would always be crawling out of the sea for the first time and something would always be in some intermediate stage of development for us to be able to clearly trace the developmental history of different species instead of hypothesising about what it came from.
I feel both evolution and creationism are theories and if one is taught, so should the other be.
As for seperation of church and state, that’s a completely different discussion and one that’s better based on actual the actual Constitution, statute and Supreme Court case law instead of being based on each individual’s perception of what that phrase means. Otherwise it’s like arguing whether a color is properly called coral, salmon or watermelon.
By: edriennecole on February 9, 2009
at 9:20 am
Mike, you make a great point. I remember being alarmed one evening as I listened to NPR while they discussed the “rearrangement” of the CIA, and thhinking, how convenient for the ruling power, eh? We have a long way to go to fix the wreckage.
Even under the old system when there was a semblance of a balance of powers, the CIA and FBI regularly abused those powers. Now, goddess knows what they’re up to.
By: Holly on February 9, 2009
at 12:48 pm
Hi Holly
A very interesting discussion and subject.
Well my opinion might seem a little radicalis but it all depends on what the different governments want to make out of their citizens and specifically the people who financialy support the governments.
Most governments would opt to create doers instead of thinkers regardless of their profession and their socioeconomic level.
It seems that most political systems appear similar on that aspect.
There is always a concentration of money and power trying to influence where the governments should put their efforts to work.
That is the reason our young women and men go to wars for no particular cause away from their families,participating in killing games despite the so many needs that we have here back home.
It is not easy to send thinkers to wars that is why science ,critical thinking are replaced by dogma.
Governments need people who believe not people who debate and think and test authorities.
The 400 richest Americans made 267 million s dollars on average and paid a ridiculous 17% of that in taxes.That says it all.
By: elesse on February 11, 2009
at 10:59 am
I agree, Elesse. The last 8 years did a lot to thrust us into very similar situations one sees in the “developing” world. The gap between the rich and the poor has gotten bigger, while the middle class has shrunk. Critical thinking is discouraged in favor of dogma. Stupid people don’t ask questions or challenge the status quo. Keep ‘em believing in a god that can be used to justify killing people in other countries.
I was very pessimistic under the last administration, but am feeling pretty optimistic under the new president. Here’s to change!
By: Holly on February 11, 2009
at 1:10 pm
Hi Holly,
This post is addressed to everyone who has taken part. Often, there are things which we are not aware of, which determine the actions of a government, particularly in foreign countries. Please consider the following event, which was to have a profound affect on me – a part of what shaped me into the man I am today.
I ran out of my hotel after hearing an explosion only two blocks away. I ran to the site to see what I could do to help, and I will never, ever forget that day. A kindergarten had been blown up. I found a little five year old boy, whose body from the hips down, was mangled beyond all hope of repair. He was bleeding in so many places, that there was no point in trying to apply any tourniquets. I knew he wouldn’t last long. He was conscious and aware of his situation the whole time. All I could do, was hold this little boy in my arms, try to give him as much comfort as I could, and ensure that he didn’t die alone. His big brown eyes stared into mine the whole time. And although we couldn’t speak a word in each others’ language, I tried to soothe him with my voice, tried to make my voice sound as gentle as I could. I could see in his eyes, that he was trying to comprehend why this had happened to him. I lied to that little boy that day. Even though he couldn’t understand a word I was saying, I lied! I told him that everything was going to be alright, even though I knew that wasn’t true. He only lasted about three minutes but, it was without doubt, the longest three minutes of my life. After he died, I continued to cradle him in my arms. I would not let emergency medical personnel take him from me. I did not know why I could not let him go. Time was all a bit blurry for me but, about 20-25 minutes after I found him, I remember looking up and seeing a lady looking at us with a wide-eyed expression of horror. Her hands covered her mouth. As she started running toward me, I got up, still holding him in my arms. It was then that I realized why I would not let him go. I had been waiting for someone from his family to arrive. You see, I shared in a common grief with his family, and it did not seem right to give him up to anyone but someone who shared in my grief for this innocent little boy, whose only crime had been to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I gave him to his mother, kissed her on the forehead and walked away. It was another ten days before I could return to Canada, and I did not have anyone I could sit down and talk to, about how I was feeling at the time. I had to deal with the problem on my own.
Although this event was classified and I cannot give details about where it happened or exactly when, what I will say, is that I learned that it was a despicable act of state sponsored terrorism by a nearby country. I was 23 years old, and I was forever changed, from that day forward. I give only a small measure of more respect to but a few, and I trust even fewer.
Those days after that incident, were the hardest, most emotional in my life. I do not even remember much of my walk back to my hotel. I do remember getting bleak – angrier with every step. I do remember that when I arrived back at the hotel, everyone quickly got out of my way. I guess I must have been some sight to see. I spent a few days in my hotel room, experiencing a whole range of negative emotions. Anger, hatred, despair, vengeance, deep sorrow and even blackness. Even to this day, I find it hard to adequately describe the emotion I call blackness but, I will try for you. Imagine if you will, experiencing all of the dark emotions I have just mentioned in an endless, swirling, tornado – flitting from one to another endlessly for days. You finally reach a point where the tornado stills, and you find yourself in a place devoid of light or pleasant emotions. There is only a soulless, dark emptiness. I have never cried like that, or, so much, as I did during those days. So, there I was, no tears left, sitting in this darkness, alone and bereft of hope. And the truly frightening thing about it, was that I did not try to run from it – did not try to escape it. Instead, everything that I was, embraced it. Even to this day, thinking about it, a chill runs through my body, when I think that I could have so easily remained in that emotion of darkness forever.
But, I did not. For suddenly, as clear as if he were standing beside me, I could hear my Dad say, “Some things in life will even test you beyond what you think you are capable of enduring, but can survive anything. Never give up.” That made me think of the love my Mom and Dad shared, and how I wanted to experience that kind of love myself. And the darkness began to fade away – gradually being replaced by light.
My point in relating this event to you, is that this is the real world we live in. We are not always privy to what goes on – what our government’s reasons are for what they do. Sometimes, they cannot always tell us the real reason for their decisions, as the truth can do more harm than good. I know that can sound incredibly naive and I assure you that I am far from naive. Over the years, I have been a specialist consultant on terrorism to most western democratic countries.
So, I have placed this post, as a means to present to you, another viewpoint to consider.
By: Stephen on December 24, 2010
at 3:49 am
What a horrific story! I am so sorry to know you had to endure the agony of that experience all alone. I wish someone you knew had been there to hold you. And I am also glad that you- a loving person were there to hold that little boy on his way to eternity. This story will haunt me. I can’t even begin to imagine having been there.
I hate nontransparency in government. The world is as messed up as it is because of all this secrecy- by our own “democratic” governments as well as “terrorists” and “rogue” governments. Secrets built upon secrets and upon assumptions of others’ intentions (often very wrong). “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.” And “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” (Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi)
I fear I have become dreadfully jaded when it comes to governments. People run governments, and all of us come with our own agendas, inconsistencies, and narrow world views. I know how lazy many of my fellow students were at university, and those are some of the same folks in high places in governments these days.
Naive is to believe governments -those people we all went to school with- somehow have our best interest at heart. Perhaps this was the case for some when they entered government jobs, but I am more of the belief that once people enter, they realize that “changing the world for good” is a feat they could never hope to accomplish in their lifetime, and thus they choose instead to look out for their own best interest. Those who do try to persevere meet undesirable fates- physically and politically. Or else they are successfully brainwashed into believing they are actually doing good when they produce bad policies that serve the selfish interests of others in high places. [watch this space for a future blog post on this subject]
I am afraid that this:
“We are not always privy to what goes on – what our government’s reasons are for what they do. Sometimes, they cannot always tell us the real reason for their decisions, as the truth can do more harm than good.”
sounds too much like, “Don’t worry your pretty little head about a thing. Let the men in government take care of it. They know best.”
I know that’s not necessarily what you’re saying, but it still rubs me the wrong way.
By: Holly on December 26, 2010
at 11:49 pm
My dear Holly!
It was not my intention to insult you or anyone else on this blog! I would never say “Don’t worry your pretty little head…” to any woman, let alone a woman whose intellect I so greatly respect!
The purpose of that part of my post, was to suggest to people, that sometimes, if people knew the whole truth, they would be so frightened, that they would panic. If for example, people knew how many times since 9/11, that terrorists were stopped from a successful attack at the last possible moment, the general populace would be living in an all encompassing fear. The sheer numbers of people who would be cowering in their homes in fear, instead of working or going out and shopping, would tear apart the fabric of society as we know it. The economies of countries are reliant upon money being earned and spent – ergo, our governments are reliant upon that as well. This is the thinking of many governments. I have been present when such discussions took place and decisions were made, for good or ill.
Believe me, I have little faith in governments myself. After all, one cannot even serve one term in office, without lying to the public at least once. One of the greatest dichotomies that exist today, is to have members of a Christian Political Party be elected to office as members of parliament. That has happened in New Zealand. How can a Christian member of parliament, hold to his/her Christian beliefs, yet lie to the public as a politician? – as has occurred in New Zealand. How can they seek a second term in office and do it with ‘hand on heart’, yet still claim to be a Christian?
When I offered that perspective for people to consider, I was not condoning or condemning the actions of governments – I was merely offering an alternative perspective for discussion with no judging on my part, as all good teachers should do – as is my nature.
Personally, I feel that governments should have more faith in their people. Humans are surprisingly resilient and determined. Governments however, do not share that view, and so their actions often leave us outraged.
I sincerely hope that this ‘clears the air’ so to speak. Once again, I offer my humble apology for the misunderstanding my words have caused.
By: armane123 on December 27, 2010
at 3:08 am