From: bu008@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Brandon D. Ray)
Newsgroups: alt.society.civil-liberty,alt.activism,alt.politics.usa.constitution,soc.history,talk.politics.theory
Subject: Re: [ACLU] Guardian of Liberty: American Civil Liberties Union
Date: 20 Nov 92 22:45:59 GMT
Reply-To: bu008@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Brandon D. Ray)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, fcrary@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (Frank Crary) says:

>In article <1992Nov19.214624.15573@beaver.cs.washington.edu> graham@cs.washington.edu (Stephen Graham) writes:
>>Evolution merely states that based on the evidence we've found and current
>>behavoir, this is the best explanantion of how man and other flora and fauna
>>reached their present form. 
>
>I'm afraid evolution, as they teach it in public schools, is quite
>a bit more absolute that that: It states that this is the correct 
>explanation of how life reached its present form (and if the teacher
>is unusually good) a few bits of evideince to demonstrate that
>this is clearly the correct explanation. I don't know of any
>teachers that risk confusing students with "we aren't sure, but 
>this seems to be a good explanation..." lectures. As presented,
>that seems to be in conflict with the First Amendment's
>"free exercise" clause: It disagrees with a widespread religious
>teaching, so it is, essentially, publicly-funded indoctronation
>that a specific religious view is wrong. If the schools simply
>offered the students the available evidence, and let them
>draw their own conclusions, this objection would not apply.
>However, such free thinking doesn't really fit into modern
>public schools...
>
I don't know where (or when) you went to school.  I went to high school
in rural Iowa in the late 70s...hardly a hardcore bastion of secular
humanism...in fact, as late as 1972 (and maybe to this day, for all I
know) certain grade school teachers led the students in morning prayer,
in open defiance of the SupCt.  [The crowd gasps.  Those hooligans!]

But evolution was *not* taught the way you describe it.  The teacher
(a young, liberal Democrat) *was* very careful to make it clear that
evolution was a theory that was used to explain certain observed
phenomena.  One of the class assignments was to write a short essay
on this topic, and the instructor encouraged students to discuss their
religious views in this paper and in class.

BTW, we should clear up some of the terminology here.  I have been
guilty of some sloppy usages, as have many others on this thread.

Evolution...the idea that species change over time and take on new
forms...is a fact.  It has been observed in countless species, and
it is not possible to remain intellectually honest and deny this fact.

Natural selection...a description of a mechanism which may drive 
evolution...is a theory, and is fundamentally unprovable, although the
evidence for it is extremely strong.

My opinion on the whole thing is that science should be taught in
science classes, and religion should be reserved for theology
or comparative religion classes.  Thus, creationism does not
belong in biology class...certainly not in a school supported by
the taxpayers.
>                                           Frank Crary
>                                           CU Boulder
>

-- 
******************************************************************************
The opinions expressed by the author are insightful, intelligent and very
carefully thought out.  It is therefore unlikely that they are shared by the
University of Iowa or Case Western Reserve University.
Newsgroups: alt.society.civil-liberty