This past weekend, we attended a performance of Altar Boyz, a humorous and not necessarily mean-spirited look at a Christian boy band. At one point, band member "Mark" begins to discuss the "evolution" of the band, but he is quickly cut off by "Matthew," who snaps: "Don't say 'evolution'!" We laughed, content in our Manhattanite knowledge that surely nobody in his right mind would seriously dismiss the validity of evolution.
Nobody, that is, unless your name is George Bush. Although I will be interested to see the fuller context of the President's remarks, what the AP is quoting is not promising:
President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss "intelligent design" alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life.
During a round-table interview with reporters from five Texas newspapers, Bush declined to go into detail on his personal views of the origin of life. But he said students should learn about both theories, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported. "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought," Bush said. "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes."
"Intelligent design," of course, is the religious right's code word for "creationism."
Now, what troubles The Malcontent most, and the point about which we're hoping for elaboration, is the word "alongside." It is one thing to present theological concepts in religious schools or as part of religious-studies courses. It is another thing entirely to teach them "alongside" time-tested scientific theory.
The problem is that creationism is antithetical to science itself. It is generally accepted that for something to be "scientific," it must adhere to the scientific method, which includes: observation, hypothesis, prediction, experimentation, and analysis (including debate or peer review).
And here is where the debate, as the British might say, goes wonky:
Proponents of "intelligent design," of course, will argue that they are not garden-variety creationists. They will tell you that their "theory," in essence, is an add-on to evolution, to help explain how evolution itself came about. The have even set up fancy websites and "institutes" to peddle their bullshit.
The problem with their ideas, of course, is that the complete lack of scientific evidence for divine forces guiding the evolution of species disquaifies them to be taught "alongside" anything remotely scientific. Again, the antithesis of science.
Creationism/intelligent design relies totally upon faith and/or belief in the supernatural. Suggesting that it be taught in school "alongside" evolution would be no different, for instance, than if I were to argue that we should teach that the Earth came about on the back of a giant turtle.
At one point, centrists like us believed that the Christian right did not hold President Bush in its Rasputin-like thrall. We believed that he truly meant it when he said he supported "sound science," the mantra of his administration, contrary to the critics who have contended otherwise. But more and more, we are beginning to believe that we were wrong.
Stop the turtle: We want to get off!
I think evolution should be taught. I'm not entirely sure of what I truly believe, but I don't think that we should dismiss other "schools of thought" on the subject, or any for that matter, even if someone's religious points of view differ. That's the problem with the religious right. They are afraid to be shown anything that objects or contradicts their beliefs....ugh..they're very annoying...
Posted by: Roy | August 02, 2005 at 09:49 PM
Yeah, but was Altarboyz any good?
Posted by: Josh | August 02, 2005 at 10:44 PM
Very funny; front row seats! We were constantly dodging Boy sweat. (In "Matthew's" case, that was not a bad thing.)
Posted by: The Malcontent | August 02, 2005 at 11:13 PM
If we're going to throw stuff out of the classroom that doesn't have a sound scientific basis but just suits one interest group's ideological agenda, how about getting rid of all that global warming stuff?
Posted by: V the K | August 03, 2005 at 03:17 PM
Ah, but creationism is a fairy tale that doesn't gibe with the union-enviro-Democrat complex.
Posted by: The Malcontent | August 03, 2005 at 05:46 PM