Victory for Evolution in Texas

monkeysphere7.jpg
 
I don't have strong feelings on these matters, but I read another article on this matter, and it sounds like that the supplemental wordings will be written by the Texas Board of Education, or the wording chosen anyway, so it doesn't sound like much a 'victory' in the sense that the linked article seems to say. This means that the wording our school kids get could be even MORE conservative than the original proposals.
Personally, I will teach the religious aspects at home, so I am not too interested in religious perspective being taught in the science classrooms of our public schools. That includes a purely atheistic/secular point of view too.
 
Very few creationists believe that the earth is a few thousand years old, and it takes a extremely literal interpretation of the Bible to take that stance. Most of my creationist friends believe that:

1. The Genesis story is remarkably accurate if you take into account that it was given to a group of wandering nomads 5,000 years ago and the terminology used was restricted to what they could understand.

2. Their is an amazing degree of beauty and order in the world that can either be accepted as a happy accident or as the design of a Creator. Much of that beauty is at microscopic levels and has no apparent effect on the survival or reproductive success of the organisms involved.

3. While many evolutionary mechanisms are well proven, there are many aspects of Evolution that have not been proven yet are still accepted as a matter of faith by its proponents. For example, where is the experiment that demonstrates that life can develop in "primordial ooze"? And, when that experiment is finally successfully conducted, all it will prove is that that is possible when the right conditions are established in a laboratory, which could be described as "intelligent design".
 
In the playgrounds of my elementary school at Las Vegas New Mexico I used to dig fossils of sea life from exposed shale at the edge of a playground. 6000 years isn't a long time to take fossils formed at the bottom of an ocean and transport them high in the Rockies where they would be uncovered through the process of erosion. Of course I could believe God planted the fossils and data to confuse carbon dating to expose smart, arrogant people who would use reasoning and science to create a world view inconsistent with Genesis. Their unwilliness then, to superstitiously accept every word of the Bible, a document compiled by humans, as literal words spoken directly from Him would give Him justification to have them burn in hell for all eternity. But that really doesn't seem reasonable to me.
 
Recorded human history starts around 5,000 years ago...
__________________________________________________

not according to this guy....
The Link

According to various esoteric sources, the first civilization arose 78,000 years ago on the giant continent known as Mu or Lemuria and lasted for an astonishing 52,000 years. It is sometimes said to have been destroyed in earthquakes generated by a pole shift which occurred some 26,000 years ago, or at approximately 24,000 B.C.

While Mu did not reach as high a technology, supposedly, as other later civilizations, it is, nevertheless, said to have attained some advanced technology, particularly in the building of long-lasting megalithic buildings that were able to withstand earthquakes. However, it was the science of government that is sometimes said to have been Mu's greatest achievement.

Supposedly, there was one language and one government. Education was the keynote of the Empire's success, and because every citizen was versed in the laws of the universe and was given thorough training in a profession or trade, magnificent prosperity resulted. A child's education was compulsory to the age of 21 in order for him to be eligible to attend citizenship school. This training period lasted for seven years; so the earliest age at which a person could become a citizen of the empire was 28.
 
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into
a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

-- Charles Darwin - On Origin of Species (typo edited)

God's Son spoke in parables throughout his teaching. For this reason I expect that his Heavenly Father did the same. I don't take Genesis literally. Really, you can't. Parts of the story contradict other parts. It's still a good parable for illustrating the forces of good and evil, which is a pretty difficult concept to explain, even today.
 
BOB -- I've had irritating exchanges with foks who seem to confuse God and the Bible. The Bible, of course, is a magnificent book that reveals much about our Creator. It provides a glimpse of the divine, not an all-encompassing never to be questioned limitition on the divine. And it's a poor science text.
 
our public school system is so terrible. you would think the focus would be on trying to improve it to the point that our kids actually get educated as opposed to whether or not evolution is taught alongside intelligent design or whatever it is. good lord, 1/2 the kids cant read at their proper grade level.
 
We talk about public education in the state of the Texas, and in the US in general I guess.
My wife and I have two kids 3, and 1 1/2. We are looking at what type of education they will get, and to be quite honest public education is fairly low down the list and one of about 4 or 5 options that we are looking at.
Public schools are really having a hard time. They have to teaching to the test stuff, they have tons of kids coming from terrible homes were kids are just nothing but unmotivated discipline problems which detract from a teacher's ability to teach. It really is rough, and we are NOT in a bad school district.
We are actually looking seriously at a University model education where the kids are in class 3 days a week, not unlike University. They would study Spanish and probably Latin from the K or 1st grade on, in addition to 'normal' stuff.
We also plan on doing things with our kids for learning opportunities. We won't just tell them about the Alamo, we will take them there. We will take them to the state capital in Austin. We won't be 'missing school' because instead we would rather give our kids an education.
I know that just about every parents of small kids we know are thinking seriously about their options. This just makes it harder for public schools, because our best and brightest kids and families are right now opting out of of the program.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

NEW: Pro Sports Forums

Cowboys, Texans, Rangers, Astros, Mavs, Rockets, etc. Pro Longhorns. The Chiefs and that Swift gal. This is the place.

Pro Sports Forums

Recent Threads

Back
Top