Creationism in classroom causes concern

(http://thesoutherneronline.com/frontpage/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/CREATIONISM.jpg)

The original story broke in the Henry W. Grady High student newspaper, the Southerner. Written by Josh Weinstock and Archie Kinnane in May, the boys reported on the presentation of creationist ideas in a freshman level biology class drawing attention to a cartoon since attributed to Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis and the Kentucky Creation Museum (see: page 101).

“[I] have gay parents, and [the cartoon] said that evolution caused homosexuality and it implied that to be negative, so I was pretty offended by it,” Cooley said.

Cooley said that another student emailed the administration complaining about the PowerPoint.

Freshman Griffin Ricker, who is also in Jones’ class, said Jones got angry with the class when she found out students had notified the administration.

“She had a 10-minute rant,” Ricker said. “She yelled and said, ‘This is on the APS website, and it was certified.’”

Freshman Lily Soto, who switched from Jones’ biology class after the first semester, said Jones had refused to teach evolution when the class approached the portion of the cirriculum.

“She always had random comments about [creationism],” Soto said. “If someone would ask if we were going to learn evolution, she was like, ‘No, I don’t teach that.’”

Robin Rosen, parent of a freshman, took her child out of Jones’ class after the first semester. She said she wouldn’t have talked to The Southerner if her child were still in Jones’ class, for fear of retaliation.

“I was offended, but more shocked and disturbed that a teacher in [APS] could get away with putting that in a classroom,” Rosen said. “Offended is probably the wrong word at this point; it is very troubling to me that a teacher who is in a position of influence over children in a public school can put something up [like the cartoon].”

Besides the obvious, creationism is not science, the boys cite fellow science teacher Nikolai Curtis, "“If you start adopting religious doctrine as a form of teaching, you start advocating for a religion,” Curtis said. “There is no national religion. When you teach religion in a public school setting, you are reinforcing a national religion, and that’s not acceptable.”

But here is the problem, in the process of "teaching the controversy" (for lack of a better way of putting it), Jones demonized women who exercise their right to choose and gay people. She also associated evolution with racism. (My assumption based on what Ham states::the Sanger/Planned Parenthood/Nazi argument prevalent in some circles of religionists as an argument against evolution.)**

Under more mundane circumstances, I would pass this off as naivete; an inexperienced teacher. But with the controversy being so in the news and Ham's views concerning the debate, I find this hard to believe 

From Ham's 2002 posting, "The Evolution Connection:"

Many Christians, including most Christian leaders, don’t understand the connection of evolution to the social ills of our culture and the difficulties in getting people interested in Christianity. They see evolution as something totally separate from such issues. I think the main reason for this misunderstanding is because many Christians have been indoctrinated to believe that evolution is factual science.
,,,
It is true that most evolutionary scientists, the media and the average public school textbook today present atheistic (perhaps subtly rather than overtly) evolution as fact. Students are taught that the universe and all life arose by strictly material causes. God is not given any place in the ‘origin of anything.’ Over the years, the teaching of evolution has intensified in our school systems and through the media. So much so that the average person believes that scientists have proved the earth is billions of years old and that the different forms of life arose through an evolutionary process of death and struggle.
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The more evolutionary ideas pervade the culture, the more a person’s whole way of thinking will change. For them, right and wrong will be whatever they determine for themselves, if they can get away with it. If they are just an animal, then no-one owns them, so their body is their own. Thus, why can’t they do what they want with sex? Also, if this life is all there is, and death ends it all, then if things get tough, why not commit suicide now and get out of it—after all, a person won’t remember they ever had life, so what’s the point anyway? And, if we get rid of spare animals by killing them, then what’s wrong with getting rid of spare babies by abortion?
,,,
Some people misunderstand me when I say there’s a connection between evolution and these social ills mentioned above. I’m not saying that evolution is the cause of abortion or school violence. What I am saying is that the more a culture abandons God’s Word as the absolute authority, and the more a culture accepts an evolutionary philosophy, then the way people think, and their attitudes, will also change. I’m not saying that a student says to himself, ‘Now, I’m just an animal—I know evolution is true—therefore there’s no basis for right or wrong—so there’s nothing to stop me from shooting my teacher.’

And we are the ones accused of having an agenda!!

What this incident and others before it illustrate, how science is under attack by religious extremists and why creationism should be banned permanently in schools. It's why I think we should follow the lead presented by the United Kingdom.

Creationism is not scientifically valid. It’s a religious story that has zero evidence to support it. It has no business being taught in science classes. A point clearly brought forth in the Kitzmiller v Dover (2005) decision (although Edwards v Aguilar -1987- is an important decision, Kitzmiller is more recent). As Justice Jones so aptly states: "The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ID is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory." (p. 43)

I won't go as far as some and say that Jones is a disgrace to the teaching profession but I do agree if she wants to teach Christian dogma, she should get a job at a church, not a school. Kids suffer when they don't learn and understand the biology that they need to in order to be successful in college and life in general. The parents and the community suffer when school districts allow violations of the law to push a political or religious agenda. They lose the inevitable lawsuits and waste taxpayer money that could be better spent on education. Religion is for church, not for public schools.

Creationism in classroom causes concern

 **Now, don’t get me wrong here. People are not stupid. They are just being consistent with their presuppositions. Hitler was not silly. Some even say in some ways he was a genius, albeit he was warped in his thinking. But he consistently applied what he believed about origins. This led to the deaths of millions of people. Abortionists today are not intellectually inferior. They are just being consistent with their presuppositions, the foundation they ultimately have for their thinking.