If you read the post, the top paragraph is from our mailbox and I am responding to this person’s comments. I did not create the illustration of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and posted the illustration so that readers would understand the reference. Your reaction to the illustration is on target – I too think it is an insult to millions of Christians. If you read the comment sent to our mailbox, you’ll see that this person is trying to make the argument that evolutionary theory is the only acceptable scientific theory and is purposely insulting anyone who disagrees by using a pejorative reference to Christians with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Insulting your opponent is a common tactic in the evolution/creation debates. I am trying to steer the conversation away from insults and back to balanced dialogue concerning science and how to interpret scientific information.

I completely agree that we “should give kids ALL choices and let the kids decide.” This is exactly what Real Science-4-Kids is all about. I also completely agree with you that the “truth is probably somewhere in between.” My books teach kids the basic building blocks for science – chemistry, biology, physics etc. and also teach them how evaluate opposing viewpoints. In my opinion, allowing kids to evaluate opposing viewpoints is the single most important aspect of a good science education.

So, I think we are on the same page?

Warm regards,
Rebecca Keller

Einstein once said that as the circle of light increases, so does the darkness around it. To believe that you know everything, including how to “teach kids to think” while bashing the beliefs of millions is ridiculous. You are as guilty as those you blame. Your blather just shows how ignorant you are.

If you really want to be enlightened, give the kids ALL the choices, taught by credible people, then let the kids decide. There are just as many errors in the theory of evolution as there are in the theory of creation. The truth is probably somewhere in between. I know that God exists, and whether he created the earth in six days or 6 million years is immaterial to me. Throwing Christians to the lions is so 2000 years ago. Wake up.

Now let’s consider theories for the creation of the world, which right from the start is not something science can currently prove nor disprove. We can’t repeat the experiment nor observe how it happened. All we can do is make up stories about how and when and even Who created the world. I agree that distorting or discarding data to fit a 6 day creation story is not good science, but even if we make up a scientifically sounding story complete with mathematical symbols and fancy equations, it’s still a story-still a fairy tale. The truth is we don’t know how the world came into being and to imagine that science can answer this question unequivocally or has answered it is errant.

Science must remain iconoclastic at all times and this means that scientists must be aware of and own their biases – even if those biases sound scientific. A good science education encourages students to examine all biases – their own and those of others. If you teach a child how to evaluate opposing viewpoints only then have you educated them and that is why all views-even those we don’t agree with- belong in a science curriculum.

Compare that to when you have an immutable conclusion, such as the creation of the world in six days, fit your observational evidence to match, and discard or distort anything that does not lead to your conclusion. That is dogma, and it is a barefaced lie that does not belong anywhere in a science curriculum. Unless you simply want to redefine the word “science” to include fairy tales.

Leslie Newbigin pointed out that scientists have become the new priests for our secular society. Little has changed in human nature. We have simply traded one dogma for another and each end of our intellectual poles in a deeply divided culture faces huge blockages to recognizing their own blind spots.

I am relieved to find there is still some sanity in our pedagogical culture.