The creation story deals only with the becoming of all things, and therefore with the revelation of God, which is inaccessible to science as such. The theory of evolution deals with what has become, as it appears to human observation and research and as it invites human interpretation. Thus one’s attitude to the creation story and the theory of evolution can take the form of an either/or only if one shuts oneself off completely from faith in God’s revelation or from the mind (or opportunity) for scientific understanding.

So tell the teacher concerned that she should distinguish what is to be distinguished and not shut herself off completely from either side.

Nákvæmlega!

Ps. Þessi útgáfa kerfisins hefur nú verið sótt 8160 sinnum. Það þýðir að maður er með þeim fyrstu.

Sjá einnig:

• Aaron Brazell nefnir 10 atriði sem vert er að vita um WP 20.
• Ryan Boren útskýrir notendastigin í WP 20.
• AJAX og ummæli í WP

But Dawkins is often guilty of sins of which he accuses others, including arguing against straw men and playing fast and loose with the flaws in his own ideas. In the “ignorance” article he declares, for example, that doctrinaire creationists dominate the school boards in some states. Oh really? Which ones, exactly? Creationists did take over the Kansas State Board of Education and issue a non-binding recommendation against teaching some aspects of Darwinian thought. The recommendation was rejected by Kansas’s Republican governor and ignored by all Kansas school districts, and the creationists were voted out last year. Today, every U.S. state requires basic instruction in the theory of evolution. By pretending otherwise, Dawkins tries to exaggerate his opponents’ influence and cast them as a looming anti-intellectual menace.

Hann heldur svo áfram:

Dawkins is guilty of a very human fault: insisting that people who don’t agree with him are not just wrong but ignorant, stupid, three-headed, etc.

Þetta er athyglisverð lesning og niðurstaðan er skýr: Það væri mun betra fyrir samræðuna ef menn gætu virt hana sem slíka og hlustað á rök þeirra sem eru á andstæðri skoðun. En kannski er málið það að margir hafa engan áhuga á samræðu! (Vísun frá Kottke)