In a daring display of commonsense and logic today, the Michigan State Board of Education approved public school curriculum guidelines that support the teaching of evolution in science classes — but not intelligent design.
Board member John Austin, an Ann Arbor Democrat, spelled it out very clearly…
The intent of the board needs to be very clear, evolution is not under stress. It is not untested science."
Now this doesn’t destroy any chance of Intelligent Design in the classroom. It does however guarantee that it will not be taught in the science classroom, but could appear in more appropriate settings like mythology class.
Religious Freaks gives a big salute to Michigan. May commonsense and rational thought reign supreme for years to come. One state down and lots more to go.
Related posts:
- Creation Science Cartoon
- Death Threats Over Intelligent Design
- Intelligent Design Is Apparent?
- We’re Not In Kansas Anymore
- Human Ears Evolved From Ancient Fish Gills
Michigan, I salute you.
Intelligent design would be at home in a philosophy or a religious studies course. I’d like to see both of those courses be required in HS, as long as the material is comprehensive and impartial.
Go Michigan! Score one for the home team!
“It does however guarantee that it will not be taught in the science classroom, but could appear in more appropriate settings like mythology class.”
indeed, to bad there are a lot of non-enlightened states left.
Uhg! As an Ohio State fan, I can’t stomach that phrase, Humanistic Jones ;)
Oh, and this is not completely off topic. Ohio State football is the only religion my father practices.
Yay for my state! Now if only its economy wasn’t down in the depths of hell…
But seriously…
“It is not untested science.”
Finally, someone gets it out there.
sidfaiwu: As a Georgia resident, it doesn’t matter to me, I have to worry about the fact that half my family went to Georgia Tech and the other half to University of Georgia.
“I’d like to see both of those courses be required in HS, as long as the material is comprehensive and impartial.”
Alchemy class too.
Hang on, why not?
How’s this for an idea: Don’t teach both, but pick one pseudoscience (be it “intelligent design”, astrology or whatever) and go through it briefly in science class. Show, IN CLASS, why it’s not science.
Science isn’t a bunch of facts and theorems, it’s a living process by which we discover information about the world. Pseudosciences break the process in various ways. It’d be great to show high school students exactly how this works.
“I’d like to see both of those courses be required in HS, as long as the material is comprehensive and impartial.”
Alchemy, yes, but also Astrology, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism, Tarot, Voodoo, Channelling, The Great Savannah Tree On The Left, Energy Lines, Native American beliefs and a few others.
If not, it’s hardly impartial.
Hello eyp,
Are you seriously comparing philosophy classes to alchemy classes? Do you even know what philosophy is (academically speaking)?
It is this sort of misunderstanding that highlights the need for such courses to be required.
Hello travelhun,
Comparative religion would have to include all the major world religions. They should be studied not because one or more of them might be true (they’re not), but because having an understanding of the prevailing beliefs of many cultures across the world would be valuable for many reasons. You would be able to travel to such places and not offend anyone or embarrass yourself. Everyone, as a whole, would be less likely to go to war with people that they have an understanding of. You can better negotiate when you understand how the person you are talking to believes. You can even use their own religion to help get results that you want.
Minor religions carry none of these benefits and thus have less of a reason to be required study.
Oh, and some of the religions you mentioned in your list are definitely major religions and should be studied in a comparative religion course.
The problem that seems to happen in the world religion class im taking at a community college, is that liveing in the bible thumping south no matter what religion we are supposed to be discussing, we end up comparing it to Christianity. Which this causes the majority of the class to look down on it as a lower, less plausible religion, when really, in the major religions, its all essentially the same fairy tale with a few different details.
You are absolutely correct, thatoneguy. On the other hand, I think that it is a difficult problem to solve. When learning something new, it is human nature to compare the new knowledge to something they already understand. Since we live in a culture where 3/4 of the population is Christian, most people taking the class will naturally compare all the religions to theirs.
I’m not sure how we can overcome, or at least mitigate, the problem, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Damn! This almost makes me like Michigan. If there were really a just and true god, the Buckeye State would have done this first. Oh well. I only have one day of prayer, and this year that day is November 18th.
“Alchemy, yes, but also Astrology, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism, Tarot, Voodoo, Channelling, The Great Savannah Tree On The Left, Energy Lines, Native American beliefs and a few others.”
why not i think its fair, why should we always study Christianity in schools as our only religion class? not to long ago alchemy was thought real as well as native american beliefs (me being half native american half irish i have a strange look on early american religions and think all should be studied) as well as i like anime and love full metal alchemist ^_^
There is an alchemy in sorrow. It can be transmuted into wisdom, which, if it does not bring joy, can yet bring happiness.
I like that thought. I visited your site for the first time and basically been your supporter. Go on to retain submitting as I am gonna come to read it daily!
Thanks , I have just been looking for information about this topic for a while and yours is the greatest I’ve came upon till now. However, what concerning the bottom line? Are you sure about the supply?