Published: October 2, 2003
**The suspension of a Colonial Heights Middle School student** is a sad and unfortunate reminder of the deep, but still all-too-common, misunderstandings that surround the place of science in our society generally, and the teaching of evolution in particular.
The eighth-grader was suspended after placing a religious pamphlet on a teacher’s desk and repeatedly discussing religious beliefs with the teacher after being told not to. While the suspension involved an issue of disobedience, the underlying religious motivation of the behavior deserves further examination.
According to school officials, the incident arose out of **a biology class discussion covering evolution, though students raised questions related to the Big Bang Theory of cosmic origins.**
According to Colonial Heights Principal Mike Cline, some students in the class wanted to discuss “Creationism,” but were told by the teacher that she could not lead a discussion related to religion. **Creationism, as a modern doctrine, was first advanced in the late 19th century**, attributing the various forms of life on Earth and the existence of the universe itself to the divine creation of God, usually as described in Genesis.
Principal Cline explained, “What always pops up when they teach these kinds of things is kids want to talk about religion, and our teachers say we can’t discuss those things in school. What happens is these kids get in their minds that, okay, she—the teacher—doesn’t want to talk about religion and Christianity, then therefore she must be an atheist. We’ve talked to the kids and warned them not to say these things. It is hurtful. After we warn them, then there are consequences.”
Cline noted that the student was initially chastised for being part of a rumor mill concerning the teacher’s religious beliefs, which disrupted class and harmed the teacher. Even after the warning, the student persisted, encouraging another student to place a Christian pamphlet on the teacher’s desk. At that point, the teacher reported the incident, and a one-day suspension was ordered.
This is only the latest in a disturbing pattern seen across the nation’s schools. Such incidents point to the critical need for science teachers and the scientific community to better explain what science is—and what it is not.
If public polls are to be believed, a clear majority of American adults believe Creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools. But science does not and cannot reach its conclusions based on polls or public sentiment. Nor should a religious belief be taught as science when it is not a result of the scientific process.
The mathematical equation two plus two equals four is not a matter of opinion, but of fact. Similarly, the concepts that undergird science are not susceptible to a vote. Gravity would not cease to exist merely because a majority of the population wished to deny it.
Creationism, likewise, should not be taught alongside evolution for the same reason we don’t teach a flat-Earth model alongside a round-Earth model.
There are two main reasons Creationism continues to attract the attention it does. The first is the absolutely appalling state of scientific illiteracy in the general population, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars expended on our nation’s schools. The second is that more than a few people believe evolution precludes the very foundation of Christian faith.
Yet, there was a period in Western civilization when **the majority of the populace, supported by the Church, believed that the sun revolved around the Earth.** After all, the Bible describes a stationary Earth in several places, and common sense seemed to demonstrate that the sun rose in the east and set in the west. Moreover, the Church severely persecuted or muzzled the handful of people who first recognized—on the basis of scientific inquiry—that the reverse was true.
The faith of our fathers may make us believe that it is an insult to human dignity that the Earth is not at the center of the universe, but we cannot move it there. We may find moral or aesthetic objections to the manner in which natural history appears to have unfolded, but we cannot command nature to take another course.
Short-changing, distorting, or omitting a frank discussion of science, especially evolution, makes the teaching of the life sciences essentially impossible. And no matter what one’s faith, no one can reasonably argue that a scientifically unacceptable belief like Creationism should be taught—even if a majority of students or their parents hold that opinion. Likewise, neither should beliefs of various other religions be a matter of discussion in a school science class.
The desire of parents to raise their children to think as they do is understandable. But if the parents’ belief is based on a poor understanding of the content and methods of science, it is well if they hope and expect that their children will understand science better than they do. In doing so, parents will provide the means to expose their children to expertise beyond their own.
Indeed, that is precisely why most parents want to send their children to school. As Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. once observed, “A mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”
Although not every student or parent appreciates this “mind stretching,” such intellectual exercise has always been the foundation of every successful society and the mission of every teacher worthy of the name.
Copyright 2003, Kingsport Times-News.
