Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Another Evolved Homeschooler!

I was browsing the newest Carnival of Homeschooling today over at PHAT Mommy and found a post called Teaching Creation Science or ID? A Formula For Putting Your Child’s Christian Faith At Risk from Rebecca at The Upside Down World.

Here, in part, is what Rebecca says:
Those who are teaching their children using creationist curriculum are in particular danger of setting their children up for this fall. To see why, I’d like to offer a challenge. Take your child’s creationist materials and look at whatever footnotes and references are provided. Now take an evening and look up the names of the authors cited. Odds are excellent that virtually all of the authors are creationist scientists. Now, take the names of any mainstream scientists who are quoted or whose work is referenced and attempt to track down their work. Specifically, see if you can find the particular quotes used in your child’s materials. Google books can be a great way of doing this. Now, read through whatever you can find with an eye towards evaluating the accuracy of the quotes provided (ie are words changed, relevant sections replaced by “. . .”). Also try and honestly evaluate if the author of your child’s materials has accurately conveyed the substance of what the author is saying.


Now, if you take the time to actually look at the methods used to source creationist materials, you should already be disturbed by the idea that these purportedly Christian groups who produce such materials indulge in such blatant dishonesty to sustain their ideas. An idea which is true should not depend on deception. And if you can bring yourself to this point, perhaps the danger this teaching poses to your child will start to become clearer to you.


This is really what we need. Not simply homeschool bloggers posting on good science. Not just Christian homeschoolers letting it be known that they accept the Theory of Evolution. We need Christians challenging Creationist Christians on the claims they make not only about science but about faith.

I'd like to invite Rebecca and her readers who are of like mind to stick an Evolved Homeschooler graphic on their blog. It's nice to know you're out there!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Virtually all "mainstream scientists" are evolutionary scientists. And those who write creationist materials are usually creationist scientists. So where's the problem?

You're implying that "mainstream" scientists are neutral, which is not so. ALL scientists, whether creationist or evolutionist, have some type of bias or another. They are not some class of superhumans who are unaffected by bias.

Evolutionists and evolutionary teaching dominate virtually all the public universities, so it's obvious that these "mainstream" scientists will favor evolution.

In some cases, educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – for the “crime” of merely believing that there might be evidence of “design” in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance. http://www.nwcreation.net/nwseminars.html

I wish you had provided some specifics on these Christian groups who "indulge in such blatant dishonesty to sustain their ideas." This is quite a claim to make without providing any evidence.