Just The Wei I Am

Kansas education board downplays evolution

Disclaimer: I'm no expert on the big debate between Creationism (note: not synonymous with Intelligent Design) and Evolution.

But IMHO, the whole debate is based on a false dichotomy, that goes something along the line of "if a higher power created the world, we couldn't have evolved. if we evolved, we must have been born out of the void, and couldn't have involved a higher power." The debate seems to rule out a lot of middle ground that is not explored. There's a link at the bottom of this post about avoiding conflict between science and faith.

And the debate also seem to make people stubborn and close-minded. I might be wrong (am I?) but Darwinism rest upons a flimsy body of evidence, yet there are those who treat it as Truth with a capital T.

"This is a sad day. We're becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that," said board member Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat.

Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, said the decision would encourage school districts in Kansas and elsewhere to make similar moves, distracting and confusing teachers and students.

"It will be marketed by the religious right ... as a huge victory for their side," she said. "We can expect more efforts to get creationism in."

Quotes from the above article. The Kansas Board of Education has voted 6-4 in favor of rewriting the science curriculum along the lines of Intelligent Design rather than tradition Evolution. Intelligent Design (as opposed to Creationism) merely holds that "the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power." There are those who claim that this is simply Creationism in disguise.

Let's look at the three quoted comments of opponents. The first is afraid of becoming a 'laughing stock' because assumably the rest of the world largely subscribes to Evolution, and now they are the odd kid. It seems like vanity where conformity and popularity is what's important. The second is concerned about the curriculum switch becoming distracting and confusing for teachers and students. Perhaps it might be, but then if we discover (or decide in a vote) that the status quo is inadequate, should we not make the effort to change? This concern might be overly pragmatic? The last one just seems like a lot of jealousy.

Yes, I might have been somewhat subjective on this post, but I write from my perspective as a Christian. And not a Creationist. I see the world through what I know about my God, I don't see it through the notes of a debate team. If you are a Evolutionist reading this, well, don't be pissed because of my perspective! Instead I urge you to go explore the body of evidence, and not be blindly staunch.

Here's another article about another American school board getting ousted after they had previously voted for Intelligent Design.

Interesting article where a Catholic cardinal explains that science and faith have no conflict when scientific enquiry is within its limits.

Talking about Science, it sometimes irks when I realise that there are many people who talk about it like it is Truth. It's not surprising, and they can hardly be blamed, when you consider that science is taught in a prescriptive manner in education at every level prior to university. (Everybody knows Newtonian mechanics, but did you know that as a theory, it breaks down in extreme cases? It's not foolproof, but I suppose most people think it is.)

At least in university, some might have the opportunity to attend courses on Scientific Method, Philosophy of Science, etc. Yet the Science-is-above-all mentality is so ingrained that I think some still don't get it after studying such subjects. Wikipedia has an article about Science. Go read it to find out what Science is, and more importantly, realise what it is not.

Ultimately I believe there can't be a conflict between science and faith simply because they belong to different domains. I can compare apples and oranges, but I can't compare mangoes and motorcars. In simple terms, Science is the system which we use to discover more about our physical world and Faith is often a belief in that which is beyond the physical. Seen in this light, I might even venture to say that since faith encompasses both the physical and the not, while science is only about the physical, it must follow that science is a smaller domain within faith. Bitter pill to swallow for some, I suppose, but I believe I wrote sensibly.