first mefi post!

[symbioidlj]

woot! I just posted my first metafilter post... Regarding:
37 percent of Americans want the teaching of 'evolutionism' replaced outright. (Yeah, I know it's hackneyed but 37%??)

My comment:
Jeez... Between the time I signed up and am posting this you people sure commented a lot, so forgive me if this question was brought up in the intervening time, but...

They said 37% are for replacing evolution with creationism, and "about two-thirds" want to teach both together. Is it me, or is one option missing: Keeping evolution, and leaving creationism out? Was this a loaded quiz, or is it really possible that there is no-one who actually wants that? Because I know that's what I think it should be. I call bogus on this survey, not only for the small sample size, but also due to the phraseology.
posted by symbioid at 11:57 AM CST on November 25

Comments

[vyoma.livejournal.com]

I don't care if 97% of Americans want creationism taught in schools; it still has no place there. Education in the sciences is about learning about things that actually happened, not fairytales, which is what Creationism is. There is a tremendous amount of evidence that supports the theory of evolution (note that it's a theory, NOT a hypothesis; the vast majority of those who clamor that evolution is "just a theory" don't even understand the distinction between the two terms, and thus have NO business engaging in ay sort of scientific debate to begin with). There has yet to be found a single shred of evidence outside of bible stories and crackpot theories that support either Creationism or it's bastard cousin, "intelligent design theory."

And while it's very fashionable to capitulate these days, I am more than willing to call a spade a spade and state clearly that belief in Creationism is a sign of ignorance. Whether that ignorance is a result of willfully not understanding or merely not having been exposed to the hard and very real evidence for evolution, it is nevertheless a tenet espoused by the ignorant. The purpose of education is to educate which is exactly the opposite of keeping people ignorant. Thus, there is absolutely no valid argument for the teaching of Creationism, whether by itself or alongside evolution.

We are in a rapid decline into mob rule in this country. It matters not one bit whether or not the majority of people believe in evolution. The majority of people couldn't identify a list of the amino acids that make up genetic peptides if they were staring right at them, and they wouldn't know the differences between a dimetrodon and a pogonophore if they were given a running start at seven-foot-high illustrations of them. "The majority" has no place deciding what science and math subjects are to be taught in schools. They are, of course, free to believe whatever they like, and to be as deluded and as ignorant as they wish, and there is nothing to stop them from locking their children into a lifetime of the same misguided attempts to explain god and man in the same way. Educators, however, and particularly those in math and science, have a responsibility to teach about reality to the maximum extent possible. Shoving Creationism into an equal status with evolution, genetics, molecular biology, etc., is nothing short of a return to Medievalism. Next they'll want to force the teaching of geocentric cosmography, or perhaps phlogiston theory. Why not? They're all equaly valid ideas.

[abadman.livejournal.com]

They can teach creationism in literature and history classes right next to the sections about the Greek gods on mount Olympus.