Science teaching materials discussing intelligent design rather than evolution have beendeemed "not appropriate" by the UK education officials.

DNA BY DESIGN

The Department for Education and Skills said they  not supportive of the science curriculum. However, supporters of the 'Truth in Science' courses says they are "very scholarly" and could be extremely useful in helping children understand the importance of scientific debate

A Truth in Science supporter said"Darwin has for many people become a sacred cow.

"There's a sense that if you criticise Darwin you must be some kind of religious nut case.

"We might has well have said Einstein shouldn't have said what he did because it criticised Newton."

Surely, science only moves forward by reviewing and reworking previous theories and that these materials foster an understanding of this. There is no doubt, however, 'intelligent design' is fast becoming abhorent to the education system

The chairman of the parliamentary science and technology committee, Phil Willis, said using the packs in science classes "elevated creationism" to the same level of debate as Darwinism and that there was no justification for entertaing creationism.

He added: "There's little enough time with the school curriculum to deal with real science like climate change, energy and the weather.

And the final humdinger..

"This is quite frankly a distraction that science teachers can well do without."

Parents, don't be blind to the worldview that the education system is sadly being built on. Sound foundations are crucial to our children. Truth matters!

Jane

Info sourced from BBC news website

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Posted by deedeeuk

...for highlighting this! I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to link back to this one from the UK blog too!! I think people should read it just the way you wrote it - brilliant!

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Posted by jayfromcleveland

Jane, we had a big debate on ID in Ohio a few years back (where our State Motto *still* is "With God, All Things Are Possible.")

I like ID and all stuff that just fine, but the main thing we need to do is go one step further -- we need to demand that mainstream science and its apologists in education and the media explain the actual methodology used to arrive at various scientific conclusions. In other words, we shouldnt just question evolution, we should also question the entire enterprise of science.

Not only is Darwin a sacred cow, but so is the entirety of mainstream science. Science sits in the place of the Medieval church -- source of all authority and arbiter of truth. Scientists always tell us that we Christians lack "critical thinking skills" when we question darwinism. We should apply all that critical thinking to ask "how do we know what we are told that we know."

We can start by asking "how do we know the earth is round?" Once we get those answers, we can move on to particle physics. We can ask the Priesthood of Science to take us on a tour of the history of science and explain to our feeble pea brains how we arrived at such deep knowlegde about the natural world.

What we will find is that, by the 20th century, tiny little infinitesimals of data were used cobbled together with sweeping inferences to draw universal conclusions about a great many things beyond what was directly shown by the slim physical evidence. Once we get to that place, we can then have an informed, candid conversation about the limits of science and dogmatism thereof, and the role it should play in educating the next generation.

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Posted by John Green

Jane,

The reason why "intelligent design" is not taught in science classes in the UK is because it is not science. It is a quirky reworking by Evangelical Christians of the fairy story of the biblical creation. If it is mentioned at all in school it should be in those lessons given over to discussing the various world religions, giving the teacher the opportunity to explain its flaws. Quite rightly, with a very congested curriculum, there is not time to address all the peculiar ideas that are dreamed up by religious fanatics.

By the way, science moves forward by testing ideas for evidence and rejecting ideas, like intelligent design, that fail this test.

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Posted by John Green

Jay from Cleveland,

You are right, we should be sceptical until we see the proof. The point about mainstream science is that it is the result of painstaking observation of phenomena which are then interpreted. Tests are designed to evaluate the interpretation and only those interpretations which can be supported by testing and evaluation are accepted as facts. If only religious mumbo-jumbo was also subjected equal testing and evaluation. You and I both know that there is no evidence for the belief in a supernatural God so that should be the end of the story.

I urge you to read Darwin’s “On the origin of species”, one of the most important books ever written, to gain an understanding of evolution. This beautifully written book describes the many years of observation and experimentation undertaken by Darwin. Then read any of the many books about the fossil record and the results of radio-metric analysis to see how it all fits together.

You will never talk of “intelligent design” again, nor scoff at science.

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