| Religious groups oppose the teaching of evolution on | | | | of them them in the same playing field as a scientific |
| the grounds that it is a flawed science and | | | | method that provides evidence backed up with |
| undermines creationist theories.They have had a few | | | | advanced techniques such as molecular genetics - in |
| reverses recently. This week the Kansas Board of | | | | particular as it relates to DNA sequencing. |
| Education voted to throw out so-called "scientific | | | | Attempting to suppress scientific inquiry and |
| standards" introduced by conservatives in their effort | | | | knowledge in order to promote the Genesis myth, is |
| to downplay the role of evolution. | | | | a place some fundamentalist Christians would like to |
| In terms of scientific credibility, the theory of | | | | go and they have to be strenuously resisted. |
| evolution is actually rock solid compared to a creation | | | | Dressing up their "back to the garden" agenda with |
| myth that features a conniving serpent, a tree of | | | | high sounding terms such as the ironically named |
| "good and evil" and the first blind date on record. | | | | Intelligent Design won't help either. |
| There is no scientific evidence to support the view | | | | Fact is ID is simply religious conjecture, because the |
| that an anthropomorphic deity created the planet. It | | | | proponents have no positive proof they can bring to |
| would be as hard as trying to assert scientific | | | | the table - no Edenic rib cage or skeletal remains of a |
| credibility for Santa Clause or the Ghillie Dhu - Scottish | | | | talking serpent, not even a half eaten apple, carbon |
| fairies that reputedly guard the trees. | | | | dated to the appropriate period. Of course I'm being |
| Creationist theories "prove" nothing. They merely | | | | facetious, but in truth they simply do not have a |
| extrapolate from scientific fact in an attempt to lend | | | | fraction of the evidence that has been assembled by |
| legitimacy to a supernatural hypothesis. There is no | | | | researchers in the area of evolutionary theory. |
| basis for creationism to claim scientific credibility | | | | ID has established its shaky credentials mainly by |
| because it derives from a myth rooted in scriptural | | | | attacking the theory of evolution. Pointing out areas |
| lore. It has more in common with poetic allegory than | | | | of apparent contradiction and gaps in the fossil |
| with the hard proofs of empirical science. | | | | record. It's primarily a reactionary philosophy, that has |
| The creationist argument is weakened further by the | | | | made its name by opposing the work of evolutionary |
| fact that the Christian version is only one of many | | | | theorists. |
| such creation myths. Other variants from around the | | | | With the recent decision to bolster the teaching of |
| world contradict the Christian version of events. In | | | | evolutionary theory, the Kansas Board of Education is |
| the Aztec creation myth the world is born out of | | | | simply looking out for the best interests of education. |
| destruction when Huitzilopochtli, son of the goddess | | | | Predictably the Discovery Institute in Seattle that |
| Coatlique, murdered his own siblings. The Hopi | | | | supports Intelligent Design was upset by the decision. |
| creation story features a woman with spider-like | | | | John West, a senior fellow at the Institute, described |
| qualities and early earth is symbolized as a womb | | | | the board in Kansas as "extreme". |
| from which humans emerge. | | | | I think it's a lot more extreme to insist on importing |
| A pseudo-scientific rationale could be created for any | | | | religious mythology into a science class. |
| one of these myths, but that still wouldn't place any | | | | |