From: parker@ehsn17.cen.uiuc.edu (Robert S. Parker)
Subject: Re: ProLife, ProMurder, ProCrime And Iraq
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 03:08:01 GMT

casivils@lescsse.jsc.nasa.gov (craig sivils) writes:

>In <1993Jan21.023127.26352@Princeton.EDU> datepper@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (David Aaron Tepper) writes:

>>>Tit for Tat,

>>>Why are so many people who claim to be "pro-choice" against the right of
>>>an individual to use public money for their children to attend the
>>>school private or public of their choice

>>Loaded question. Let me rephrase that:

>>Why are so many people who claim to be "pro-life" against the right of
>>an individual to study evolution in school?

>>I'll answer yours if you'll answer mine...

>     Let me first start by pointing out that the correlation between accidents
>of war and being pro-life seems just as extreme to me as my example probabbly 
>does to you.

>There are two possible answers to your loaded question, I will give both.

>1.  Because some people choose to view this theory as being in conflict with
>    the biblical account of creation in Genesis.  The conflict is based mainly
>    on the interpretation of the word day.  If you ignore that, there are 
>    some striking similarities.

>2.  Because the THEORY is not always taught as such and the scientific evidence
>    (there are several different flavors of the theory of evolution, and some
>    scientists who don't buy it at all) which goes counter to the THEORY often
>    is ignored (ie: not taught).

Actually, my high school biology course mentioned the "special creation theory"
as one of the theories on the origin of life.  Of course, because they can't
show a preference for any particular religion, we did not discuss the details.
But we don't feel too bad about it as most people who would take it even
*remotely* seriously had already learned about it.  There is also the little
matter of there being more evidence to discuss for evolution, etc, than for
Genesis.  (well, the Bible *says* so...  end of discussion, eh?)
 
To paraphrase something I heard once:  We don't expect evolution to be taught
in church, so don't expect Genesis to be taught in school.

>Ok, I bit the bullet.  Your turn, and please when answering, remember the 
>slogan that I often see on my TV, Abortion: safe, leagal and funded.
>Someone stated that the position was logically consistant, it is not, even if
>you don't favor the funded half of the above statement.  There is a case in 
>court now where a football coach was fired for placing his son in a private
>school rather than a public school.  When asked for the reason, the Coach
>replied that he wanted his son to be taught from a christian perspective on
>values.  His supervisor told him that was what his evenings were for.  How many
>people would be in favor of a christanity clinic at every school where a
>counselor would discuss with each student if christanity was right for that 
>student and would provide detailed information on where to go if the student
>wanted to become a christian.  (Answer: its illegal in some states for a
>teacher to have a closed bible on their desk).  I understand why we don't have
>such clinics and agree that they are not needed.  But there is a difference in
>the way we treat the seperation of the State and one Value, and the way that
>we tread the seperation of the State and the other value.

I'm sure you realize that anyone who desires couseling on Christian values
can go to any local church.  If evolution were not taught in public schools,
where do you suppose people would have the opportunity to learn about it?
Would you have people get to college and still not have been exposed to one
of the most widely accepted scientific theories?

The point is, if you want your children to learn about the Bible, take them
to Sunday school.  If you don't want your children to learn about science,
you can encourage them to be sanitation workers when they grow up (or you
could enroll them in a Catholic school and encourage them to attend a
Catholic college).  The rest of us would prefer to have the benefit of more
modern ideas.

>                                 Craig

-Rob
Newsgroups: talk.abortion,talk.politics.misc