> It is "the other side" who are
>scandalized that belief in evolution is not to be required
>by the State. It seems, then, that the theocratic shoe is
>actually on the other foot in this case.
>Gordon
False. Scandalized by the certainty that in some schools creationism will now be taught to the exclusion of not only the theory of natural selection but also the claim of descent with modification from an or a few original life form(s). The theory of natural selection, especially in its ultra Darwinist form , is controversial, and its controversial history as a hypothesis should indeed be understood. That should be part of the teaching of evolution and the scientific method in general.
. But teaching as fact on the basis of scriptural authority that the present diversity of life forms was put on earth perfectly designed by God is a scandal. It does not square with the fossil record (you know, the extinction problem) or with why we have so much lower back pain (the bend in the lower spine of human exists because our ancestors were quadrupeds; we have only been recently walking upright) or the design fault of our the positioning of our noses above our mouths, which requires our food and air passages to meet at the back of the throat (this being a result of the nostril in fish not being a breathing passage but an opening to a chemical sense organ). If we had been designed by an all wise creator, this kind of maladaptive feature would be hard to explain. However it is to be expected if structures change their function in the course of evolution. See Maynard Smith's Theory of Evolution and Problems of Biology.
The fight to teach full blow creationism (not the kind Darwin was willing quite reluctantly to entertain about the origins of life, a problem on which there has been substantial progress since the mid 19th century) is really a struggle to subordinate the teaching of rational and scientific methods to grapple with the problems of reality (the simultaneous adaptation of diverse species to respective niches as well as the persistence of maladaptative design; extinctions; the workings of heredity) to the inculcation of belief in absurdities on the foundation of (scriptural) authority, obeisance, mental servitude. Getting people to close their eyes to the claim of descent with modification, no matter those facts of evolution to which those secular humanists point, is the a big step to getting people to submit to the Big Lie.
If there are going to be state exams at all, then knowledge of Darwin's two pronged theory (including the problems the theory of natural selection in particular has had to overcome and still faces) should indeed be mandated for matriculation.
We could do this as a state wide multiple choice test.
1. Where have scientists found supportive evidence for the claim that there has been descent with modification from a few or one original life form?
a. the Book of Genesis b. the common language of humans and animals shown in Dr Doolittle movies c. the logical deduction that life could not have evolved any other way d. the fossil record e. all of the above
2. What initially posed a problem for Darwin's theory that life has evolved mainly due to the cause of natural selection
a. the earth did not seem to be old enough for complex life forms to have evolved this way.
b. it was not understood how randomly appearing favorable variations were passed on since these few organisms that were born with these traits would mate with those that overwhelmingly did not have the favorable variation.
c. it was not understood how complex organs could have evolved "bit by bit" over time if the intermediate variations had no plausible adaptative advantage
d. the favorable variations of domesticated animals were lost to future generations once these animals were released into the wild, indicating the difficulties of maintaining advantageous variations over time.
e. all of the above
I am no biologist. This could all be written up in precise and succinct language. The point is that the teaching of Darwin's theory should be anything but enforcement of dogma. It should be taught as what it remains: one of humanity's greatest intellectual adventures.
Yours, Rakesh