Create This!

I was having a drink with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, and we veered onto the topic of teaching Creation in schools and I was mildly astounded to hear him say that he thinks, yes, that we should teach both sides in science class. And still am, somewhat. You can make your pithy responses, talk about how showing both sides isn't fair to Creationism, but I feel compelled to go into a little more depth. So here are my thoughts about teaching both sides.

Let's do it. Let's show both sides of the Creation/Evolution debate, and let's start with the churches. We need to start teaching evolution in Sunday School. Maybe devote a sermon or two a year to Darwinism. Church-goers need to be exposed to multiple interpretations of the data.

I am, of course, being absurd. This is a horrible idea, but why it's a horrible idea is really at the root of the problem. You see, science has no place in a church, not because they disagree with each other, per se, but because they represent two very different approaches to understanding the world. In church, you are taught to trust, to have faith. When new data emerges that challenges your faith, your reaction should be even more faith, even to the point of rejection of the new information.

In science, you are taught to ask questions and to conform your worldview to the emergent data, and to constantly revise and try to recreate and validate new evidence. "Agreement" doesn't enter into the picture. The approaches are fundamentally at odds. To introduce science to a religious setting undermines the nature of religion. Therefore, we have no excuse to try and force people to learn about science in their religious settings.

Likewise, we have no excuse to try and force people to learn about religion in a science classroom. To do so would undermine the nature of science. Now, you may be saying to yourself that there is a scientific backing to some Creationist theories. You would be mistaken. Not because the conclusions are wrong, but because the conclusion was reached by fitting data to a pre-determined endpoint. This undermines the scientific method, which is ultimately what we're trying to teach kids in science class.

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