It would not even occur to Melanie Balog to interview those on both sides of a disagreement about the newest science standards being vetted by the State Board of Education. Typical of all liberals, she believes that interviewing two people on one side of the issue gives her all the facts. Could it be that in speaking to those who have an ax to grind, Melanie is getting (and reporting) a skewed picture? Naaaah!
What Melanie doesn't understand is that the SC Parents Involved in Education are not asking for the teaching of religious doctrine; they merely want science classes that are not antagonistic to religious thought. The teacher who was interviewed made it a point to show her desire for neutrality in the classroom when religious ideas are put forward by students. So Millibeth Currie, chair of the science department at Moultrie Middle, attempts to be neutral. Good for her, but what about the many science teachers who have and will continue to make fun of religious ideas in the science classroom? Probably Professor Dillon is one of them. Balog implies that the concept of "irreducible complexity" is this year's buzzword, an idea fed to her by Dillon.
What's frustrating about such arrogance is their dismissal of critical thinking on this particular point of disagreement. Professor Dillon, and Balog in response,denigrate a concept ripe for critique in the classroom, not the ideology of some right-wing zealot. No one is asking that biology teachers suggest that Genesis is the place to find how the universe was created.
No doubt both of them are licking their chops in anticipation of cutting down any reasonable suggestion for fairness in the classroom.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
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1 comment:
Forty years ago, my public high school biology teacher was an Episcopal priest. Though his students were from many different religious and cultural backgrounds, I don’t think any of his students had any problems having an open discussion in class about all elements of science with this teacher. I don't think it ever crossed our mind that one realm had to be used to refute or, worse, beat to death the other. Rather than making progress on both fronts (science and religion) in recent years, it seems as if we have once again moved into a period of intellectual intolerance. How ironic. The Dark Ages have returned, but we’re calling it the Information Age.
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