The whole issue of fundamentalism in Christian religion does not seem to be as mainstream an issue here in Aus. As an Anglican from birth I do not ever remember running into someone who actually believed the whole 7 days thing. I went to a methodist school and don’t remember any issues with creationism (mind you I didn’t take biology) and of course, my father is a scientist.

None of this has stopped me believing in God.

Discussion in the classroom is always a good move. a) it engages their brains and b) it lets them see that you value their opinions.

I will be interested to see what the majority opinion is. I am willing to bet in Adelaide that you will have a goodly number of heathens hahahahah!

arizaphales last blog post..You Teach Your Daughters

It wasn’t easy to get to this point in my life because I was raised by just the kind of parents everyone has commented about here before. Very blinded, stubbornly ignorant individuals when it comes to the real world. My mother still doesn’t believe we landed on the moon, so to say it was hard for me to rise above that is putting it mildly.

The only thing I can do at this point in my life is to make absolutely sure I do not try to influence my children in this area. I don’t discuss religion with them unless they ask. I’ve made it known to them that, yes, dinosaurs did exist no matter what their grandmother tells them. I work really hard to make sure they know the scientific facts and still try to allow them to have faith in whatever they choose to have faith in.

Considering my expert denial in anything logical, I don’t think I’m doing such a bad job… so far.

SSG - The Big Book of dumbassedry? Of course I remember.

That’s the thing, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. You can be a religious scientist and a scientific religious person. It’s just the fundamentalists - Christian, Jewish & Muslim - that are the problem. There does seem to be more of them around these days, however.

Gypsy - it’s not just the US. It’s the UK, Turkey, and probably loads of other places.

Chris - yep, literal interpretation is the problem. But it appears to be selectively literal. A lot of the creationists that interpret the creation story probably don’t interpret Leviticus literally. How come? Why the disparity?

Maggie - yeah but then they’d all have far too clear a window into my personal life!

Courtney - That study was done of “538 students in a public, liberal arts college”. They don’t say which University, but they’re on the faculty of Arkansas Tech.

Tom - I know you’re right in the middle of this controversy, teaching Bio in a, shall we say less than progressive part of the country. I actually find Dawkins to be a little bit much, but he would definitely get a discussion going.

I think that’s the root of the problem — young people born into fundamentalist families are told what to believe and what not to believe before they even set foot in a classroom. It’s no wonder teachers run into this roadblock; they’re dealing with some students who believe they already have all the education they need on the issue. In fact, I’d be interested to know more about the Lovely & Kondrick study you cited - can you really find a room full of college students who are undecided on evolution?

As for the best way to teach it, I say tackle it head-on. Even though evolution is as close to fact as you can get, it’s probably always going to be controversial out in the real world. And the point of school is to prepare students for the real world, not shield them from parts of it, right? Encouraging them to think about the issue from both angles may make those fundamentalists come up with a more well-rounded reasoning than “because my pastor said so.”

courtneys last blog post..29 Is Such An Emo Age

Is it wrong to just send your students over to your blog?

maggie, dammits last blog post..up for air

Many religious text, including the bible, are largely metephorical(I know some people will disagree here). Zues having sex with a swan, God creating earth in seven days, God lifting up Mount Sinai in a threatening gesture, these things don’t have to be literal to be significant.

Nice post.

Chriss last blog post..Battle of the Sexes

and do you remember the intelligent design encyclopaedia we got sent? the big blue book?

and as always my favourite: intelligent falling

To me, once you’ve been taught about evolution, seen all the evidence for it, tested it in some cases, I find it hard to see why people would choose to believe something just because they’ve been told it. I grew up going to Sunday school, but no where was the creationist message hammered into me… my religion classes were more about how the bible teaches us to be better people, through stories and parables, and how it explains the world in a simplistic way if that’s your kind of thing. But not as F.A.C.T. And then i learned about evolution, and when younger I had the idea there was a big God in the sky watching over all of us, that we would meet when we died, but that he wasn’t in control of things on earth, like speciation, but more was someone to talk to and someone to learn from. Yeah, that was when i was young, and my ideas have changed, but I guess it raises the debate as to whether science (testable) and religion (belief) are mutually exclusive or not. Of course, I don’t believe a black cat crossing my path is actually going to lead to death and destruction, but I still cross out of it’s way, it’s how we feel. So even scientists don’t live their lives by science. i’ve probably not explained myself very well and someone else will either a. explain it more eloquently or b. decide I’m a hardliner against their viewpoint and abuse me, eh-oh.

SSGs last blog post..Over it