Some time ago, a highly charged argument was set in motion. It pitted evolution against creationism. One side of this debate relies on scientific inquiry and the other relies on ancient mythological texts.
That’s my view. That’s what I intend to teach my children.
Yet, I have no interest in foisting this curriculum on your kids. Nor am I particularly distressed that a creationist theory may one day collide with the tiny eardrums of my precocious offspring.
Which brings me to the Texas Board of Education’s recent landmark compromise between evolutionary science and related religious concerns in public school textbooks.
The board cautiously crafted an arrangement that requires teachers to allow students to scrutinize “all sides” of the issue. This decision is widely seen as a win for pro-creationists — or are they called “anti-evolutionists”?
“Texas has sent a clear message that evolution should be taught as a scientific theory open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can’t be questioned,” explained John West, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, an anti- … rather, a Darwin-hating group, which argued that Texas students should have a right to review “all of the evidence.”
What damage is there in challenging assumptions and “dogma”? None, of course. We should be fostering critical thinking in our youth. Allowing an inquiry into evolution, I believe, will almost certainly confirm its existence in the minds of millions of children.
Next up: a critical analysis of the existence of God in public schools.
But there is a deeper problem here. Why are so many allegedly tolerant and science-loving Americans aghast at the notion that their beliefs will be scrutinized in schools? Are school systems a reflection of the population’s diverse viewpoints or a place of political control? Should school boards shut down debate on a topic that many millions of Americans still disagree on?
Until we jettison the antiquated one-size-fits-all public education system, a large minority of students will endure some seemingly preposterous objections to fact, or a useless sex and/or abstinence program, or a historical textbook that is a mockery of history, or a truly questionable science employed for ideological purposes.
Which one works? Which one is true? Which one is better? It’s often a matter of perception and largely irrelevant. What do parents want their children taught — or, perhaps, which ideological, controversial topic would they like to avoid — is the real question. Why should a one-vote majority on a school board resolve an issue for an entire community?
I wish everyone believed in the overwhelming evidence of evolution, but that’s not the case.
Not long ago, board members in Texas removed a textbook reference asserting that the universe is around 14 billion years old (based, I assume, on an episode of “NOVA”) because the board’s chairman believes that God created the universe fewer than 10,000 years ago (based, no doubt, on faith alone).
On the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, Gallup conducted a poll that showed only 39 percent of Americans say they “believe in the theory of evolution,” while 25 percent say they do not believe in the theory. Thirty-six percent don’t have an opinion. (My hope is that that 36 percent do not have an opinion regarding evolution like I do not have an opinion about other indisputable scientific truths like osmosis or the Yeti.)
The most sensible solution, of course, would be to permit parents a choice so that they can send their kids to a school that caters to any brand of nonsense they desire — outside of three core subjects.
The left will never allow any genuine choice in our school systems. So it seems highly disagreeable and political to trap kids in public schools and, at the same time, decide where schools fall on controversial issues.
To scrutinize “all sides” is no sin. And in the decidedly collective school system we’ve set up for our diverse population, it’s the best solution we could hope for.
Reach columnist David Harsanyi at dharsanyi@denverpost.com.