Re: Ohio Votes 13-5 to Adopt Lesson Plan Critical of Evolution

> This *does* concern me. In fact, what I never hear discussed is the
> problem of an ontological naturalist (ON) teacher who believes that
> evolution implies atheism making that claim to his/her students.
> Actually, the teacher doesn't have to be a card-carrying ON to
> promulate
> this false association, merely one who is ignorant of the separation of
> theology and science. It's been my experience that this lack of
> understanding of the separation of theology/science is not uncommon in
> secondary ed. majors.
>
> How can we prevent that fallacy (evolution iff atheism) from being
> pushed
> in the classroom?

I fear that an urban myth is growing up about how public science
teachers are openly or indirectly promoting the idea that evolution
implies atheism. I have had a lot of contact with science teachers and
science educators and I have absolutely never encountered that
perspective (not to say that it does not exist). What I have
encountered is teachers who want students to learn and understand
science and are incredibly frustrated with the barriers to science
learning that the "warfare" view erects. I have just returned from
giving a presentation at CalState-Fullerton and met with the science
education faculty there. A very high proportion of the incoming
student teachers are conservative Christians and have themselves grown
up with a conflict view. The science educators and I were on the same
page in desperately wanting to find ways to show these teachers and the
children they will teach, that science and religious faith are not in
conflict. Unfortunately, it is the anti-evolutionists themselves who
are one of the main factors in perpetuating this false conflict. Phil
Johnson's disparagement of theistic evolution is a case in point.

Keith

Keith B. Miller
Research Assistant Professor
Dept of Geology, Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-3201
785-532-2250
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
Received on Sat Mar 13 13:50:52 2004