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Should Creationism be given EQUAL TIME?

Peter Grimm

Peter Grimm

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I went to high school in Sweden, a very secular society that is maybe 3% Christian.

It is also very liberal, the tax rate for example is like 60% and almost all social services are provided like universal healthcare etc.


Even in Sweden, in Biology class, Creationism was given equal time and treatment to Evolution. We even learned about Panspermia (that life may have originated on other planets and was brought here). Many theories.

The point was not to endorse religion, but to educate us in a number of viewpoints. The viewpoints are out there, so why not learn them?

My question is... the USA is much more religious than Sweden.... so why is it so taboo to speak of religion or even mention it in US schools??
 
Peter Grimm said:
I went to high school in Sweden, a very secular society that is maybe 3% Christian.

It is also very liberal, the tax rate for example is like 60% and almost all social services are provided like universal healthcare etc.


Even in Sweden, in Biology class, Creationism was given equal time and treatment to Evolution. We even learned about Panspermia (that life may have originated on other planets and was brought here). Many theories.

The point was not to endorse religion, but to educate us in a number of viewpoints. The viewpoints are out there, so why not learn them?

My question is... the USA is much more religious than Sweden.... so why is it so taboo to speak of religion or even mention it in US schools??
Click to expand...

i cannot possibly understand why creationsim was taught in a biology class.

religion is not taboo, and of course it can be and IS mentioned, in its proper context.
 
Why shouldn't it be? That's what many people believe... that God created the world, so why shouldn't we teach every viewpoint? Education should be holistic, I don't see the need to cover up what millions believe simply because it doesn't match your particular viewpoint.

Teach everything.

liblady said:
i cannot possibly understand why creationsim was taught in a biology class.

religion is not taboo, and of course it can be and IS mentioned, in its proper context.
Click to expand...
 
Peter Grimm said:
Why shouldn't it be? That's what many people believe... that God created the world, so why shouldn't we teach every viewpoint? Education should be holistic, I don't see the need to cover up what millions believe simply because it doesn't match your particular viewpoint.

Teach everything.
Click to expand...

show me where the science comes in, and it would be fine. creationsim is a religious tenet, and cannot be proved. in our country, as you well know, we have a separation of church and state. religious matters are taught at CHURCH or in the home, period. are you saying we should teach the tenets of every religion in SCHOOL?
 
Peter Grimm said:
I went to high school in Sweden, a very secular society that is maybe 3% Christian.

It is also very liberal, the tax rate for example is like 60% and almost all social services are provided like universal healthcare etc.


Even in Sweden, in Biology class, Creationism was given equal time and treatment to Evolution. We even learned about Panspermia (that life may have originated on other planets and was brought here). Many theories.

The point was not to endorse religion, but to educate us in a number of viewpoints. The viewpoints are out there, so why not learn them?

My question is... the USA is much more religious than Sweden.... so why is it so taboo to speak of religion or even mention it in US schools??
Click to expand...

It's not taboo. Ever been in a history class? Religion has its place.

But creationism doesn't belong in the science classroom. I mean, honestly, what is there about creationism to teach? We all know what it is and what it means and what it says.
 
You obviously don't believe that, and that's fine. But millions of people do believe in one god or another. Why shouldn't that viewpoint be heard, especially when discussing the origin of life?

Don't you find it ironic that a country like Sweden, which is overwhelmingly agnostic, they are much more open about allowing different viewpoints to be heard in the school?

It seems like that is the point of education. To teach many sides of things, not just the side that you believe in.


Thunder said:
yeah???

what are the scientific facts supporting the silly idea that the Universe & all life on Earth was created in seven periods of 24 hours, by a Hebrew-speaking God?
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Peter Grimm said:
You obviously don't believe that, and that's fine. But millions of people do believe in one god or another. Why shouldn't that viewpoint be heard, especially when discussing the origin of life?

Don't you find it ironic that a country like Sweden, which is overwhelmingly agnostic, they are much more open about allowing different viewpoints to be heard in the school?

It seems like that is the point of education. To teach many sides of things, not just the side that you believe in.
Click to expand...

Isn't it heard in church? Why is that not enough for you? Unless you want to suggest that preachers should start to spend half of their time teaching evolution...
 
Yes, why not? That's what school is. A place to learn.

liblady said:
show me where the science comes in, and it would be fine. creationsim is a religious tenet, and cannot be proved. in our country, as you well know, we have a separation of church and state. religious matters are taught at CHURCH or in the home, period. are you saying we should teach the tenets of every religion in SCHOOL?
Click to expand...
 
Not everybody goes to church, and besides there is more than one religion you know. It might be good for kids to learn what other people believe in. You guys isolate yourselves and that is probably why you bomb countries like Iraq.... because your culture does not understand what Islam is, only that it is the "bad guy."

whysoserious said:
Isn't it heard in church? Why is that not enough for you? Unless you want to suggest that preachers should start to spend half of their time teaching evolution...
Click to expand...
 
Peter Grimm said:
You obviously don't believe that, and that's fine. But millions of people do believe in one god or another. Why shouldn't that viewpoint be heard, especially when discussing the origin of life?

Don't you find it ironic that a country like Sweden, which is overwhelmingly agnostic, they are much more open about allowing different viewpoints to be heard in the school?

It seems like that is the point of education. To teach many sides of things, not just the side that you believe in.
Click to expand...

Creationism should be taught in schools - it gives kids something to laugh at and say "People used to (and some still do) believe this crap??" :lol:

Creationism isn't science and, even if it were, it wouldn't be a good hypothesis as it doesn't lead to any new predictions. "'god' did it." That's it. There is no reason to explore any more.

If we are teaching creationism in science classes, let's also teach:

1. Babies come from storks as a competing theory
2. The world may (or may not) be flat
3. The Sun revolves around us
4. Leaches and "bleeding" are competing medical cures for everything
 
Peter Grimm said:
Yes, why not? That's what school is. A place to learn.
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Here's my schtick. I have no problem with creationism being taught in schools. It's about as valid a subject as, say, classical Greek myth, which is also taught in schools. It'd be fine with teaching about creationism in a theology class, or the tenets of Christianity and Islam in a history class.

But creationism doesn't belong in the science classroom, period.
 
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Peter Grimm said:
Not everybody goes to church, and besides there is more than one religion you know. It might be good for kids to learn what other people believe in. You guys isolate yourselves and that is probably why you bomb countries like Iraq.... because your culture does not understand what Islam is, only that it is the "bad guy."
Click to expand...

Teaching about religion could be useful - in the form of a class about religion. Sure, you want to teach about the different religions and the origins, history, and nuances of their cultures and that makes sense. But that's not creationism and it has no place in Biology class. It should be its own class if anything.
 
In European education, typically what you learn in Biology spills over to other courses, etc... we don't have this idea that every subject is isolated from every other subject like you seem to have.

StillBallin75 said:
It's not taboo. Ever been in a history class? Religion has its place.

But creationism doesn't belong in the science classroom. I mean, honestly, what is there about creationism to teach? We all know what it is and what it means and what it says.
Click to expand...
 
Peter Grimm said:
In European education, typically what you learn in Biology spills over to other courses, etc... we don't have this idea that every subject is isolated from every other subject like you seem to have.
Click to expand...

That's fine, as long as you're not giving the children the impression that creationism is based on any sort of objective scientific evidence.
 
We learned about religions in Religion class (where we learned what each major religion believes), in History class (where we learned how religion has played a role in world history), and in Biology class (where it got equal time in the discussion on the origin of life.)

whysoserious said:
Teaching about religion could be useful - in the form of a class about religion. Sure, you want to teach about the different religions and the origins, history, and nuances of their cultures and that makes sense. But that's not creationism and it has no place in Biology class. It should be its own class if anything.
Click to expand...
 
Peter Grimm said:
We learned about religions in Religion class (where we learned what each major religion believes), in History class (where we learned how religion has played a role in world history), and in Biology class (where it got equal time in the discussion on the origin of life.)
Click to expand...

Again, let's teach that "babies come from storks" is a competing theory for the origin of life, too. Why not?
 
Creationism isn't science, it shouldn't be even discussed in a science class, much like Harry Potter shouldn't be discussed in a science class.
 
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