So it appears that a few public school boards in Alberta are going to be incorporating a "Christian" stream into certain public elementary schools. Doesn't sound like a big deal, right? Who cares if kids get a little religious education on the side? But wait! That's not the case! Christian teaching will be incorporated into all of their subjects, including...wait for it...science!
Here's a quote taken from this article: "Bill Bell, Mitford's principal, said Christian beliefs will be woven through every subject in the new Christian program. Creationism will be taught in science class, he added. 'The first teaching will be from a Christian point of view and then there will be an acknowledgement that there is another theory.'"
Wow. Does anyone else find this backward? Remember - this is a public school, funded by public monies. My libertarian streak prevents me from telling people what they should be teaching their children, but when it comes to using public funds for teaching myth as fact, I think it's time to draw the line. People should be free to teach their kids whatever they want, but the teaching religious beliefs is a private matter. Religious schools should be private schools, and parents should pay for that private education.
Sigh. This whole deal actually reminds me of that Arrested Development episode where there is no money to sponsor a State Fair, so the Church steps in with some funding. The next scene shows people happily moving in and out under a huge banner that says "Church and State Fair." Hilarious, yet depressing at the same time.
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5 comments:
I just watched the banana clip - so funny!!!
odd, very odd, i do agree...
I don't see too much wrong with the "christian", though have one curiosity: after the first two classes of the science semester, where the teacher, being a rational human being that cares for the supple minds of the young students in said class, easily demonstrates that creationism (or intelligent design) does not hold to the tenets of scientific theory and therefore is not and cannot be argued under common reason, what is left to teach or learn in a science class? Oh, science. No problems here.
How do we, as tax payers and general accomplices in this thing called society, work to maintain an open, and "free" public system? Rob?
Thanks for the comments, Fraser. First, I guess I should say that I know that public education is far from perfect, and that, for the most part, the stuff we are teaching kids is essentially a "version" of the truth - especially in subjects like history and social studies, where a colonial perspective still looms large (unless things have changed radically in the past few years, which I doubt). Anyway, biases come through, there's no doubt about that. The "story agreed upon" is taught as truth. I think it would be cool if we could teach kids to think critically about their sources, and maybe weigh differing perspectives in order to gain a broader appreciation for the whole - or perhaps the goal would be to bring about an awareness that "history" is often the story of the victor, but that there are other voices as well. Something like that could work for social studies, or English, I think.
Now, teaching science is a different matter. Of course, there's a history of science and a philosophy of science - what I describe above should apply there as well. I'm talking about the scientific method - conducting an experiment under controlled conditions, and being able to reproduce the results. I am also talking about the teaching of accepted scientific theories (and proofs) that have stood the test of time and much experimentation. Many of these theories are being pushed aside, and in their place, kids are being taught a creation myth (nothing wrong with creation myths either - almost every culture has one) that has no foundation in the physical world. The creation story has a great deal to teach us, but it operates at an allegorical level. In fact, I would argue that to teach Genesis as scientific fact is doing a disservice to both science and faith, as it eviscerates the allegory and turns a blind eye to all kinds of hard-won scientific knowledge.
There are lots of other questions that come up as well: Why does Christianity enjoy privileged access to public resources? I don't see a buddhist stream at public schools. Do you see what I'm saying? This seems like the thin edge of the wedge, in some respects - a minority group leveraging public dollars to teach myth as fact. It amount to a tacit endorsement of a religious belief by a public-elected body. The church/state separation gets a little fuzzy, and that just don't sit right with me.
I doesn't sit right with me either Rob, and I really appreciate your thoughts on this matter, which in my opinion is very worthy of our concern.
To add fuel to the fire, check out this video, perhaps something that could be used within the new Christian curriculum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZFG5PKw504
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