Wednesday, December 1, 2010
More to come.
If you happen to be following this little blog please don't think I've lost my drive because I haven't posted anything for several days. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact over the last several days I've acqurired some new fuel for my fire! The holidays and the general business of this time of year require that I focus on some other things for the time being. In the mean time Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The debate must continue!
If you are a facebook friend who has decided to come along for the ride I apologize for repeating myself but I think we should start at the beginning.
Let me set the stage. In November of 2005 the Kansas State Board of Education made a decision that passed with a vote of 6 - 4. That decision basically allowed the idea of Intellegent Design to be taught in public schools as an alternat theory to evolution. Included in that decision were five main points. They are as follows:
1. Add to the mission statement a goal that science education should seek to help students make informed decisions.
2. Provide a definition of science that is not strictly limited to natural explanations.
3. Allow Intellegent Design to be presented as an alternate explanation to evolution as presented in mainstream biology textbooks.
4. State that evolution is a theory not a fact.
5. Require informing students of purported scientific controversies regarding evolution.
If you remember when this was going on the new media was going nuts over the idea that Kansas was wanting to teach "Creation" in school. The BOE was blasted not only by local media but even national media outlets. They also took fire from all of the mainstream scientific organizations. Thier biggest argument, apart from the obvious religious implications, was that Intellegent Design should not be taught because there is no way to prove or test the theory.
The decision didn't last long. In 2007 it was reversed after we elected "moderate republicans" to the State BOE.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago. My 13 year old daughter does not like science. She says she doesn't get it. I'm o.k. with that. She is carrying A's in every class but science.
She came home from school the other day frustrated because she and several other students had debated the science teacher over Creation-vs-Evolution. Her primary frustration was "he just won't listen". Now, this was not shocking to me or her. We have told our girls over and over that what they are teaching in science concerning our beginning is simply a humanistic theory that removes God from all aspects of life. So I reminded her of this and then went on my way.
Then came time for parent teacher conferences. Durning my discussion with the science teacher I asked if there was something that my daughter was struggling with specifically that was keeping her grade down. His response was" No nothing specific, there are just some things she refuses to learn. I understand if she has a different belief but if she wants a better grade she will have to learn the curriculum." I asked him at this point whether he allowed the discussion of Intellegent Design as an alternative to Evolution. He told me he was not allowed to. I then asked about the BOE's decision that did allow this. I wasn't aware that the decision had been reversed three years earlier, so it was a bad argument. He brought up the First Ammendment and told me it required the seperation of Church and State. I presented my views on this as well and finally he told " I have an email that says I'm not allowed to teach Intellegent Design."
Before I left I summed up our conversation to make sure of what I had heard. I said to him " Basically what I'm hearing is that it's o.k. if she wants to believe something else but she has to learn and be tested on what she does not believe in order to pass the class." To this he answered "Yes".
I'm going to park here for awhile before I go on to my Constitution thoughts.
Ask yourself this "is this education or indoctrination?'. I'll tackle that next time!
Let me set the stage. In November of 2005 the Kansas State Board of Education made a decision that passed with a vote of 6 - 4. That decision basically allowed the idea of Intellegent Design to be taught in public schools as an alternat theory to evolution. Included in that decision were five main points. They are as follows:
1. Add to the mission statement a goal that science education should seek to help students make informed decisions.
2. Provide a definition of science that is not strictly limited to natural explanations.
3. Allow Intellegent Design to be presented as an alternate explanation to evolution as presented in mainstream biology textbooks.
4. State that evolution is a theory not a fact.
5. Require informing students of purported scientific controversies regarding evolution.
If you remember when this was going on the new media was going nuts over the idea that Kansas was wanting to teach "Creation" in school. The BOE was blasted not only by local media but even national media outlets. They also took fire from all of the mainstream scientific organizations. Thier biggest argument, apart from the obvious religious implications, was that Intellegent Design should not be taught because there is no way to prove or test the theory.
The decision didn't last long. In 2007 it was reversed after we elected "moderate republicans" to the State BOE.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago. My 13 year old daughter does not like science. She says she doesn't get it. I'm o.k. with that. She is carrying A's in every class but science.
She came home from school the other day frustrated because she and several other students had debated the science teacher over Creation-vs-Evolution. Her primary frustration was "he just won't listen". Now, this was not shocking to me or her. We have told our girls over and over that what they are teaching in science concerning our beginning is simply a humanistic theory that removes God from all aspects of life. So I reminded her of this and then went on my way.
Then came time for parent teacher conferences. Durning my discussion with the science teacher I asked if there was something that my daughter was struggling with specifically that was keeping her grade down. His response was" No nothing specific, there are just some things she refuses to learn. I understand if she has a different belief but if she wants a better grade she will have to learn the curriculum." I asked him at this point whether he allowed the discussion of Intellegent Design as an alternative to Evolution. He told me he was not allowed to. I then asked about the BOE's decision that did allow this. I wasn't aware that the decision had been reversed three years earlier, so it was a bad argument. He brought up the First Ammendment and told me it required the seperation of Church and State. I presented my views on this as well and finally he told " I have an email that says I'm not allowed to teach Intellegent Design."
Before I left I summed up our conversation to make sure of what I had heard. I said to him " Basically what I'm hearing is that it's o.k. if she wants to believe something else but she has to learn and be tested on what she does not believe in order to pass the class." To this he answered "Yes".
I'm going to park here for awhile before I go on to my Constitution thoughts.
Ask yourself this "is this education or indoctrination?'. I'll tackle that next time!
Rattling in my head
Over the course of the next several months I hope to post those pesky little thought that keep rattling around in my head. I'm doing this,in part, to try to get them out of there so I can move on to something new but also I hope to provoke some thought. I must make it very clear that my intention is not to try to win anyone over to my way of thinking. I hope to recieve some feedback with an altermate point of view, not for the sake of argument but for the purpose of seeing the whole picture. If you stand behind an elephant and never look at anything but his butt then your perception of that creature will only come from one point of view. However, if you walk around the animal then your point of view,or opinion, can involve the entire elephant.
So to set the playing field let me first lay out what I believe.
1. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
2. I believe in a literal creation of the universe that took place over the course of six 24hr periods (days).
3. I believe in the depravity of man (man is not as bad as he can be but as bad off as he can be)
4. I believe in the virgin birth of Christ
5. I believe that Jesus Christ was deity on earth
6. I believe that Christs crucifixion was payment for my debt of sin
7. I believe in a literal Heaven and Hell
8. I believe in the coming judgment of man
9. I believe we will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell
So there you have it in a nut shell. Each one of these points deserves some discussion, which I hope to get to at some point, but the purpose of me posting these is so when I present my view you understand where I'm standing in relation to the elephant.
Let me say one more time before I go, I understand there are many out there who do not share the same core beliefs and that's fine. I'm not the preacher on the street corner shouting "The end is near, Repent!". But, here lately it seems that each one of these "Christian" beliefs has come under violent attack, either by religions extremists or in the media and I don't fully understand the justification behind it. Next post," The debate must continue!"
So to set the playing field let me first lay out what I believe.
1. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
2. I believe in a literal creation of the universe that took place over the course of six 24hr periods (days).
3. I believe in the depravity of man (man is not as bad as he can be but as bad off as he can be)
4. I believe in the virgin birth of Christ
5. I believe that Jesus Christ was deity on earth
6. I believe that Christs crucifixion was payment for my debt of sin
7. I believe in a literal Heaven and Hell
8. I believe in the coming judgment of man
9. I believe we will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell
So there you have it in a nut shell. Each one of these points deserves some discussion, which I hope to get to at some point, but the purpose of me posting these is so when I present my view you understand where I'm standing in relation to the elephant.
Let me say one more time before I go, I understand there are many out there who do not share the same core beliefs and that's fine. I'm not the preacher on the street corner shouting "The end is near, Repent!". But, here lately it seems that each one of these "Christian" beliefs has come under violent attack, either by religions extremists or in the media and I don't fully understand the justification behind it. Next post," The debate must continue!"
Friday, November 12, 2010
What am I doing?
I suppose there are thousands of reasons why people blog. So, why am I doing it? Seems kind of silly, or maybe more correctly, arrogant to think that someone out there may be interested in what I'm doing or thinking. My life is no more interesting that anyone else's and my challenges are no more dramatic. So why am I sitting here typing on this stupid computer? I guess ultimately my goal is to provoke thought. My thoughts as well as yours and perhaps a debate or two. So, there you have it. See you soon.
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