“Children
should be taught about creationism in science lessons to avoid alienating those
of strong faith, according to new research.
A study by
academics at the University of York claims creationism should be tackled by
science teachers in order to engage their religious pupils.”
Oh dear, here
we go again. That’s from today’s Times
I wholly
agree that young people studying the sciences should learn about Creationism,
but it has nothing do with ‘faith’. Scientists of any age need to be able to
distinguish between good science and science-hocum, into which latter category
the cult of Creationism falls neatly and wholly.
Creationism,
New Creationism, or Intelligent Design, is the second attempt by a group of
Christian fundamentalists in the US to argue for the existence of a Creator God
by denouncing Darwinian evolutionary theory and pointing to apparent scientific
‘truths’ in their garish, populist literature – the absence of a fossil record
in Pre-Cambrian rocks, or the impossibility that evolution alone could account
for the existence of the flagellar motor. The problem with the quasi-science of
Creationists is simply that it’s bad science, and it needs good science, and
good scientists, to knock this non-science on the head once and for all and stop it polluting young minds.
So by all means
put this stuff on the science syllabus in schools and universities, but don’t
pretend that it has anything to do with faith.
Oh, and make sure that the
reading list includes this:
Young, Mark,
and Edis, Taner (eds). Why intelligent design fails: a scientific critique of
the new creationism. Rutgers University Press, 2004.
It’s a
collection of essays by leading scientists in their fields, but the editors’
introduction alone is worth the cost of the book. It’s 10 years old now, but the Discovery
Institute, home of Intelligent Design, is still turning out its garish propaganda
When I
checked a couple of months ago it was £68, so I borrowed a copy, but it now has
to go back to the issuing library. I’ve just ordered a second-hand copy from
the US via Amazon - £12, incl p&p.
There should
be a copy in every science classroom in the country. Scrap that other cultish
non-science, Brain Gym, and put the money to better use.
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