This page is a guide to ASA's website about Education for Science and Faith.  It's a report about the current state of the website, written for people attending a conference, in April 2004 at Biola University, about "Intelligent Design and the Future of Science."   Craig Rusbult ( bio )

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    The website's homepage describes the variety and pace:
    For each of many topics — "science education" is defined broadly so it includes a wide range of fascinating ideas — you can learn about a variety of views in a MULTIPLE POSITIONS website that gives you a QUICK EDUCATION in two stages: first, introductory pages quickly show you a "big picture" overview, then we'll help you explore whatever you want in more depth.
    The "multiple positions" page says, "Students in my high school learned valuable lessons about understanding and attitudes from one of our favorite teachers,...  We learned that, in order to get an accurate understanding, we should get the best information and arguments that all sides of an issue can claim as support.  We also learned respectful attitudes, because we realized that even when we have valid reasons for preferring one position, people on other sides of an issue may also have good reasons, both intellectual and ethical, for believing as they do."
    The "quick education" page explains the website's goals (analogous to Cliffs Notes) and style:
    This website will help you learn quickly, on two levels: introduction and exploration. ...  The goal of the introductory pages is to give you a condensation containing the distilled essence of important ideas. ...
    We've searched the web, and have selected pages that we think will help you learn quickly and well. ...  Because we're selective, you won't be overwhelmed with too many choices, so you can more easily decide what to do first and what to do next.  But our selectivity is not censorship, and the range of views will be wide. ...  In both phases [introductory and exploratory] we'll let you see the views of people with different perspectives, so you can be well informed while you develop your own perspectives.

    This approach will be especially interesting and educationally useful for Origins Questions, as explained in its homepage:
    Most websites express a single view of origins, but a website of the American Scientific Affiliation should reflect the diversity of views within our organization and in the Christian community.  When it is fully developed, our multiple positions website will be a valuable educational resource for teachers and students, for Christians and non-Christians.
    Instead of claiming to provide The Origins Answer, we'll explore interesting Origins Questions.  Of course, with participation by people who enthusiastically advocate different positions, there will be disagreements.  But we'll try to handle our differences in a productive way, with accurate portrayal of all views, rigorous critical thinking, and respectful attitudes.

    Resource-pages for education are available in some areas, for Public Schools & Home Schools & Worldviews.
    Origins Questions has 3 sub-areas — Views of Creation  Origins Evidence  Origins Education — and 11 links-pages with sections you can see in a sitemap.

    Of my pages about origins one of my favorites is about the Logical Evaluation of Evolution.  Other interesting page are about Critical Thinking about Evolution & Design in Public Schools & Theistic Evolution & Young-Earth Creation & Using the Two Books of God: Scripture and Nature.

    In the page about Theistic Evolution, the introduction explains that "even though I'm not a proponent of totally-natural evolutionary creation, I think it should be carefully considered (scientifically and theologically), and evolutionary creationists should be treated with respect as fellow Christians."  I think that a devout Christian with sound theology can adopt any of the three basic views of creation — evolutionary creation, old-earth creation, young-earth creation — so there is freedom to follow the scientific evidence-and-logic wherever it leads, and this is good for science.

    At the ID conference, for the first education session on Saturday (I was on the panel) the main speaker is John Angus Campbell.  He talked about ideas from his own writings.  John also wrote the introduction and first chapter in Darwinism, Design, and Education (edited by John and Stephen Meyer); to read the introduction, you can buy the book (it's very good) or visit Darwin and Design and click the "Read Excerpts" link.  Basically, I agree with John's views, but I'm concerned because a powerful tool that can be used for good (as John recommends) can also be used for evil, as described in the potential Dangers of Critical Thinking & Worldview Education in Public Schools.

    My Views:  Was nature created with the ability to naturally assemble itself into complex life?  I think there are scientific reasons, when we carefully examine chemical evolution and biological evolution, to say NO, but it is possible.  I think the most plausible theory for "how God did it" is miraculous independent creation of the first life, followed by old-earth creation (with evolutionary development that is natural-appearing yet guided by God, occasionally supplemented by miraculous-appearing genetic modifications) for the production of complex life.