I subbed for a high school Biology class today. Substitute teaching isn't really "teaching"- rather, "facilitating," usually with worksheets or videos. The latter was true today. So on my fourth screening of "Biological Ecosystems" (don't everyone run out and rent it at once!), I decided to breeze through a biology textbook. What I found was exactly what I expected, but that didn't make it any less disappointing. As a high school student, there is clearly no room for the opinion that God is the origin of all life. How, for example, would you answer the following questions?Textbook: Biology: An Exploration of Life
Authors: McFadden/Keeton
Page 860
Study Question #1: When and how did the earth & it's atmosphere form?
Failing Answer #1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) ...And God said, "Let there be space between the waters, to separate water from water." And so it was. God made this space to separate the waters above from the waters below. And God called the space "sky." (1:6-8)
Study Question #3: How could small organic molecules have polymerized to form macromolecules such as proteins & nucleic acids?
Failing Answer #2: It's scientifically absurd to believe that such simple organisms can grow to greater complexity. This is supported by numerous laws of science.
Study Question #9: Make a timeline showing the major events in the evolution of life, including mass extinctions.
Failing Answer #3:
The beginning: God creates the heavens and the earth.
Day 1: God creates light (and, consequently, darkness.)
Day 2: God creates sky and water
Day 3: God creates land and seas
Day 4: God commands the sun, moon and stars to govern day, night and seasons.
Day 5: God creates fish and birds.
Day 6: God creates animals, as well as Man and Woman.
A very short time after that: Sin and death enter the world.
Flood of Noah: Massive flooding compromises atmospheric conditions, causing much shorter life spans for all living things. Dinosaurs, lizards who have roamed the earth for centuries growing larger and larger, become extinct in massive form. Two lizards are retained aboard the ark.
My question is,
How do you survive the educational system as a creationist?
(If you are reading this post on a blog reader, you may have to go to my blog to see some of these answers. My formatting is being weird today. Sorry!)
11 comments:
I think something you have to remember is that Creationism isn't a scientific theory, and that's why it shouldn't be taught in Biology (i.e., it shouldn't be excluded solely because it's a religious theory). It all comes down to whether Creationism can be scientifically supported or refuted. Scientifically, you can't prove that things happened as the Bible says (e.g., collect data, objectively and scientifically, that prove that a being created all of this); on the other hand, you also cannot scientifically prove that it didn't happen as the Bible said. I like to look at this as explaining why philosophy shouldn't be taught in math class...they're different topics, different ways of approaching "truth," etc. Neither is "right" and neither is "wrong." Just different.
Hey anonymous.
I get your point. but the problem is that macro-evolution is taught as proven truth which it is not either. I can understand your argument for not teaching creationism in biology, but it should be noted that science hasn't figured it all out as fact either.
To answer your question Jamie, from a parental perspective, I figure it will be my job to go over my kids stuff with them and for me to teach them that this is what some people think, but the truth is...
I recently heard the the speed of light is not constant as previously thought. In fact, it is slowing down. This would mean that because the speed of light is related to time, time is not constant either. Upon discovering this, some scientist realized that our past estimations on time periods had to be modified. They played with the numbers and discovered that everything we see could have been created in as little as... you guessed it... six days.
I believe we should act like the great scientists of the past. Believe the Bible and wait for Science to catch up.
That's what I'm teaching my kids!
hmm. I never got asked those questions in highschool. Of course I got taught the big bang theory, but i don't think it was ever put as a question to the fact "How did the universe start itself?"
That's some crazy stuff!
Good point about science, Bobby. A lot of it is not as certain as it is asserted to be.
I was just reading a story yesterday about a guy who built a "temple" to worship science ... in Berkeley, of course.
I don't remember much about Biology from high school. It was zero period and 17 years ago (yes, I am THAT old), and I don't recall much study on the origins of the universe. However, I was stubborn enough that I probably answered all of the questions with the answer that was needed for full credit and also stated that I believed none of the answers to actually be true.
As the mother of a child who will likely attend public school, I know that this is just one of many fundamental differences we will have to face in the future. All I can do is teach my child the truth and help her arrive at responses that convey both respect and intgerity.
Thanks for contributing to this conversation. What I'd like to make clear is that I'm not advocating eliminating evolution from the science books in favor of creationism. Anonymous speaks of approaching "truth", neither is "right", neither is "wrong". However, both theories can't be right- EITHER the world was created by a creator, or it spontaneously evolved. It's pretty black and white in that respect.
My issue is with curricula that presents one of the above theories as FACT. While there is no "scientific evidence" of the creation, we have not found concrete evidence that "scientifically" proves evolution.
I'm tired of evolutionary theory being presented as scientific fact. So my point in this post would be rectified if the questions weren't presented in such a concrete way. I'd be happy if they began with, "According to the theory of evolution..."
Anonymous here again. I think many of you have missed a critical point, and it may stem from a lack of scientific "training" as it were. Macroevolution is never taught as "proven" anything. Nothing is proven in biology; rather, data are gathered that either support or refute a theory/hypothesis. If one wants "proof," they should look into fields such as mathematics. Next, yes, evolution is a scientific theory. In science, a theory is defined differently than it is in everyday use: A scientific theory is something that explains a trend for which there is an abundance of supportive evidence and which is generally regarded as fact by scientists in that field. And I agree, Jamie, questions in texts should be posed as you suggested, since answers should be derived from information provided in the biology text. As for the fact that evolution and creationism are mutually exclusive of one another: this might be a problem if you interpret the Bible literally (i.e., a day of creation is literally one of our 24-hour periods). But even then, who is to say that a Creator didn't also create Natural Selection as a means by which life could persist on an ever-changing planet? Just because it isn't mentioned in the Bible doesn't mean it didn't happen (why no mention of the creation of single-celled organisms?), and saying it didn't happen now means you are interpreting what the Bible says (or doesn't say) rather than taking it as the literal word of God. I'll close by pointing out that the Bible contains several inconsistencies, which is probably not news to any of you. How do you select which version of any given story is correct? And what about errors that were made when the Bible was translated throughout the ages? Using a biology example, if a biology textbook on one page said that polar bears are white, while on another page saying they are not white, I would seriously question the validity of other statements of "fact" within the text.
A little late to the party, but putting in my two cents...
"My question is,
How do you survive the educational system as a creationist?"
The answer is, you keep on believing it, but you can't teach it. Creation as described in the Bible is part of capital-r Religion, which in the US public school system cannot be taught as curriculum.
To respect all religions, which is one of the founding principles behind our nation's very existence, the government (in this case represented by the school) cannot elevate one religion higher than another. Other cultures have their own religious creation stories which they believe to be just as valid as the Judeo-Christian explanation. If we say "Creation is the truth, this is what should be taught in our public schools," then we are providing a government endorsement of Christianity at the expense of all other religious beliefs. That's a no-no.
Biology and science textbooks can only teach what anonymous has aluded to: theory backed up by data. If the writer of a specific textbook endorses the theory as a fact... well that's a problem with the author.
Parents, church leaders, and others in a child's life need to realize that it's their duty to present the other side of the debate. Public schools are bound by the Constitution to stay out of religious waters.
There's plenty of room for a high schooler to believe that God is the origin of all life. But that's not what's being tested in public school Biology class.
Anonymous...again, thank you for your viewpoints. It's clear we fundamentally disagree on the validity of the scriptures, and we know this certainly isn't the forum for a theological debate! :)
But I did want to address one particular issue you discussed. While I don't believe in the Creator using evolution as a means of creating life, I don't disagree that Natural Selection exists. Natural Selection happens every day- but natural selection is NOT evolution. Natural selection is changes within species and has nothing to do with the process of one species becoming another- the basis of the theory of evolution.
I think we do agree, however, that textbooks should be explicit in presenting this as one possible origin of life- since none of us, after all, were there. And that was my whole point with this post. :)
Well said, Jamie. As Bobby mentioned, it is macroevolution (all living things from a common ancestor over billions of years) that is the contentious issue, not to be confused with microevolution (natural selection, which we all know takes place). Your point that textbook questions should be prefaced with "according to the theory of evolution" is valid. And as you correctly point out, since origins of the universe and life cannot be proven, and evolutionary "evidence" is constantly changing, it really comes down to a matter of faith, either way. As for me, I'm believing God.
I commend you on your grasp of evolutionary theory - to be fair, most people don't understand it when arguing against it, which can be frustrating (as it would be frustrating to argue theology with someone who knows nothing about it).
As for evolution and natural selection: Natural Selection is one mechanism by which Evolution can occur (mutations, gene flow, genetic drift, and non-random mating being the others), but evolutionary biologists don't claim that evolution is how life was "created." No scientist "knows" how it was created; what they can say is that diversity we see today has resulted from natural selection (along with the above mechanisms) operating over a long period of time, causing speciation, etc. Important note: natural selection acts on individuals, not species; and species evolve, not individuals. And you're incorrect about natural selection not leading to evolution - evolution is simply change in allele frequency over time. If natural selection pushes individuals of a particular species in a certain direction (via a selective pressure), the population has changed (evolved) in some way with respect to allele frequency; if this happens for a long enough period of time, in a consistent direction, speciation can/does occur. And believe it or not, speciation can happen very quickly (within weeks in fruit flies) in artificial settings, so in nature, given enough time, it can occur as well.
I think we certainly can agree to disagree on the topic. Whereas Creationism claims to have all the answers based on a 2000-year-old text, Evolutionists are always looking for answers via the scientific method (thus, things like evolutionary trees are ever-changing). Two very different ways of addressing the same interesting question...
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