The Door Is Opening
Jim Sullivan
Millions
of people across America were thrilled recently to learn that "Intelligent
Design" (ID) is going to be taught in some science courses as an alternative
to Darwin's theory of evolution, which has had a lock on the biology curriculum
for years. The ID concept argues that all things found in the world,
indeed the globe itself, do not come from natural causes alone, as biologists
claim, but from God, the Intelligent Designer.
A
public school district in Louisiana, one in Ohio, and perhaps others, will
soon be instructing students on ID. Justice finally prevails for
fundamentalist Christians.
Over
the decades, the Big Bang Theory, too, was the only creation concept allowed
to be taught in public schools. The Almighty had been completely
removed from the story of the beginning. Now the idea that God created
the land, sea, animals, and mankind, as spelled out in the book of Genesis,
will be presented to public school children. And why not? Evolution
and the Big Bang are not completely proven theories anyway.
Intelligent
Design is actually an old belief that has been resurrected by the "Creationist"
movement or certain of its followers. Creationists are a well-meaning
group of Christians who want only to have God recognized in science classes
as the Creator. However, those people were forever running headlong
into hard-to-refute arguments emanating from biology teachers who wouldn't
budge an inch from their atheistic and agnostic beliefs. Those same
biologists will now have to face the Intelligent Design crowd who, with
merely a foothold in two American public school districts, are already
facing opponents who are urging boards of education to relegate ID to religion
classes only.
On
the other hand, ID supporters probably hope that one day not far off their
beliefs will be more broadly accepted and taught in additional science
classrooms. Some supporters may even harbor the wish that Evolution
and the Big Bang Theory will be proven erroneous and, hence, removed from
public school teaching.
All
that aside, what makes so many individuals happy about this ID breakthrough
is that from now on other topics, formerly kept out of public classrooms,
will have to be allowed. They are alternative theories, also.
To
begin with, there's astrology, your future based on stars and their relationship
to each other, that can be taught as a reliable alternative to astronomy,
which doesn't give stars any predictive credit. Numerology, a science
based on digits that can tell what will happen next in your life can be
offered in conjunction with arithmetic and math classes, where things don't
always add up. Let's not forget phrenology, the study of bumps on
and shapes of people's heads, that indicates the kind of person he or she
really is. That study could be taught along with anatomy, which isn't
in the prediction business. After all, those studies about people
and their futures are often eerily accurate and they're about as scientific
as are biology, chemistry, and physics. Other unfairly marginalized
but authentic studies, like what happens in, around, or under the Bermuda
Triangle, Crystals, Pyramids, and other phenomena, may be presented to
school students, too. The Intelligent Designer, after all, started
all of it, didn't He?
Of
course, once the curriculum door opens wider to let in the aforementioned,
then such undeniably interesting topics as UFO sightings, alien appearances
(like E.T. and ALF), the Mystery of Area 54 or is it Area 91 or maybe
Area 76? well, whatever and the like will get their noses into
the classroom tent, also. Such studies deserve to be there.
For far too long they've been arbitrarily kept away from school children
who could benefit greatly from such knowledge. Not far off, even
the Loch Ness Monster (AKA Nessie) and the Abominable Snowman (AKA Bigfoot
and Yeti) will be a big part of every school child's education. Tarot
Cards, Palmistry, and reading Chicken Entrails are still nebulous subjects
awaiting a bit of additional proof of their validity before children are
exposed to them in the classroom. But already those subjects have
more reason for being taught than does that current, vile course known
as Sex Education.
Please use the enclosed envelope to send a contribution.
I prefer cash. For checks or money orders, please inquire.
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April 2005 |
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