Creationism, and Elvis is alive and living on Mars

“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.

And as for Faith – why should anybody think that there is a conflict between knowledge, understanding, and faith?