• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

The Theory of Evolution is Real, but Threatened By Ignorance

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 December 2004, 15:00 CST

As scientific as gravity

Articles like The teaching of evolution is still an unsettled subject (news, Dec. 11) are needed often to remind us of the greatest threat to ever face American science education.

I consider the science education program at the University of Georgia to be one of the best in the country and am confident that they know exactly how to handle this situation without advice from me.

However, any person who does not understand that the theory of evolution is supported by facts to as great a degree, if not greater, than the theory of gravity, the theory that the earth is (almost) round or the theory of the atomic structure of matter should not be allowed anywhere near a science classroom.

The problem with the future teachers at the University of Georgia lies not with the science education department but with the preparation they have received in their science instruction. Evolution should have been presented to them as a basis for every science course they have taken.

If the importance of the theory of evolution was not well understood by these students, they should have been counseled into some other line of work one that involved no need for an understanding of any science.

The statement we often hear, that evolution is just a theory, comes from people who are pathetically ignorant of the nature of science and of science inquiry. Such people are dangerously ignorant if they are allowed to have any influence on the education of our children.

Please strive to continue to keep your readers aware of this problem, wherever it occurs.

Walter R. Brown

Virginia Beach

Engine of biological life

I have enjoyed very much your articles on whales, but I was not surprised to read a letter, in last Sundays paper, from a reader who objected to the description of the evolution of whales. It is amazing how many people continue to ignore, deny or object to the vast array of fossil evidence that has been found on whale evolution.

The National Geographic magazine has had several fascinating articles on the many transitional fossils of whales found in places from the Sahara to Pakistan. Many of these fossils clearly show the evolutionary stages of the animals from terrestial creatures to wholly aquatic ones.

Evolution is the engine of biological life on Earth. This is scientific fact, not fiction, and as a practicing Catholic I find no difficulty in embracing science as well as faith.

Vicky Collette

Chesapeake

Basics misunderstood

Those who support the teaching of creationism and those who dont approach the issue from completely different viewpoints, with creationists overlooking or misunderstanding the basic argument of evolutionists.

Creation-evolution debate deserves full hearing in classroom by Bill Ferguson (op-ed, Dec. 12) illustrates perfectly the misunderstanding that creationists have in this debate. Eliminating creation from science classes is not an attempt to eliminate religion from public life, or even a fear that it will appear as an endorsement of one religion over another. It is simply acknowledging that creationism does not stand up to scientific inquiry.

Mr. Ferguson attempts to calm fears about endorsement of religion by proposing that the creation stories of many religions be included to avoid a focus on Christianity. It is here that he unwittingly argues for the exclusion of creation in science class.

He gives examples from Hindu and Chinese culture. These creation stories, if taken literally, have absolutely no evidence to support them if evaluated from an empirical, scientific point of view. This is why religious creation stories have no place in a science class.

If you look at the stories cited by Mr. Ferguson, as well as Christian creation stories, metaphorically, they very much parallel scientific theories such as evolution and the Big Bang.

John Graham

Virginia Beach

Source: Virginian - Pilot

More News in this Category