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I never understood why people get so worked up over this issue. Is the job of education to only ever let a child hear the one thing we believe to be most factua

by err4nt 12y ago

I never understood why people get so worked up over this issue. Is the job of education to only ever let a child hear the one thing we believe to be most factual and never hear anything else? How boring would life be? I grew up in a place that valued multiculturalism. We heard about creation, AND evolution, and Indian creation myths, and Egyptian creation myths, and more. Pthe idea was that we had these people around us with this rich history and tradition and us learning it made us understand others better, and feel closer to them. We knew where they were coming from! So why not teach creationism in schools, as long as at least one group of people are telling their kids, then that's something we should tell all of our kids so they all understand. I don't see the harm. What if learning origins stories was an exploration of history or anthropology, instead of being framed as 'science'.

arethuza 12y ago
"What if learning origins stories was an exploration of history or anthropology" That's pretty much how it is taught in schools here (at least in Scotland) - kids are taught about religions as cultural phenomena. Meanwhile, in science classes they are taught about we think the world was actually created.
mercurial 12y ago
I don't think anybody is opposing teaching religious creation myths in a religion class. Saying that "creationism is a valid scientific theory", on the other hand, is the same thing as claiming that there is a controversy in the scientific world about the existence of Greek titans. Teaching that the world is a varied place is valuable, but it doesn't mean telling kids that myths and science have the same factual value.
joesmo 12y ago
It'd be a waste of children's time and energy. I understand that, at least in the US, the purpose of schools is not education but babysitting, but if you're going to spend time teaching anyway, perhaps teaching children real science instead of pseudoscience might be a better option not only for them but for society as a whole. Societies that believe school's primary purpose is education don't even have the excuse above for the miseducation you refer to. It's not about teaching children what we believe to be most factual, it's about not teaching them what we know is false.

by err4nt 12y ago

arethuza 12y ago

"What if learning origins stories was an exploration of history or anthropology" That's pretty much how it is taught in schools here (at least in Scotland) - kids are taught about religions as cultural phenomena. Meanwhile, in science classes they are taught about we think the world was actually created.

mercurial 12y ago

I don't think anybody is opposing teaching religious creation myths in a religion class. Saying that "creationism is a valid scientific theory", on the other hand, is the same thing as claiming that there is a controversy in the scientific world about the existence of Greek titans. Teaching that the world is a varied place is valuable, but it doesn't mean telling kids that myths and science have the same factual value.

joesmo 12y ago

It'd be a waste of children's time and energy. I understand that, at least in the US, the purpose of schools is not education but babysitting, but if you're going to spend time teaching anyway, perhaps teaching children real science instead of pseudoscience might be a better option not only for them but for society as a whole. Societies that believe school's primary purpose is education don't even have the excuse above for the miseducation you refer to. It's not about teaching children what we believe to be most factual, it's about not teaching them what we know is false.