antagon
The Man
- Dec 6, 2009
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Exactly. I mean, what's the multiple choice question on that one?if a student proposes that intelligent design is involved or coincidental to chemistry, even in a way which lent no identity to the designer, or that implied that there was any input or creation, i would argue that a teacher ought to dismiss that component from the parameters of a well-crafted examination of the subject, and wont be anti-religious for doing so. any reflection on the amazement which science and our universe inspires, whether that lends to a conclusion of God's hand, a designer's [insert interaction here] or, for some, the stark absence of deity, isn't really good science, and educators should work to purge this input from the study. it is superfluous and god or no-god, nothing changes in science or the subject.
Which of the following is the best reaction you should have for the way the world works?
A. It sucks. Maybe there was a designer.
B. It's amazing! The designer is awesome!
C. It just is, without bearing on how I should feel about it
D. The bible is wrong
E. The world allows for much grandeur right down to the smallest molecules.
I know what you're thinking: oh crap, I've narrowed it down to two......
Seriously, what kind of learning is a student supposed to get out of such a thing? This is not science.
one of my students will come away with the idea that if they wanted to get an A, they would have to go with C, exclusively, as far as how they present a conclusion. i'd inform my kiddies that persuasion in science is in the evidence and would expose them to theses and journal contributions with earthshaking implications, but which delivered evidence supporting conclusions with the necessary sterility to make them shine on their own.
teaching the matter, there is plenty of room to embrace and encourage secular awe and enthusiasm over the way the world works. if i was teaching at a religious school, i could imagine that awe would be permitted (or encouraged?) outside of secular bounds. i dont remember that ever happening in high school, at a catholic school, but there wasn't a zeitgeist of religious zeal whereby religious themes would be pressed into english, math, history or poli-sci either. we had religion classes.