Should Intelligent Design be taught in Public Schools?
The topic of religion tends to bring about many strong feelings in most people, whether they put a large emphasis on their belief systems or not, the question of faith is a very touchy subject for most. I guess that may be partly due to the fact many people base their lives on their faith or lack thereof, so anything that questions or threatens that, essentially threatens the lives of those affected. In this light it seems only natural that this topic would be of great concern to many. That being said I feel that Intelligent Design should not be taught in public schools at least not in the suggested context, alongside scientific theories such as evolution. I feel it can’t hurt for students to learn about this concept to shed light on historical and informational aspects, but to suggest it as a science would be in my opinion straying away from the main direction and design of the educational system.
It’s understandable that many would want a science to fight against the idea of evolution which has grown in acceptance rapidly over the more recent years. Just as the religious zealots attempted to conjure up any propaganda they could spew when Galileo asserted that the Earth was not the center of the universe. Fortunately we have later widely accepted as the truth. Unfortunately, this along with most other new and revolutionary ideas doesn’t come without cost, as Galileo was ultimately quieted due to the threat of torture by the church. Just as Galileo faced resistance the idea of evolution will as well, and in this instance that is all this is, resistance, an attempt at denying the truth out of fear of the unknown.
Although it may be clear why we should not implement this idea into any sort of science curriculum, I can understand some of the leanings towards this even beyond a purely religious stand point. From a utilitarian philosophy people are generally more orderly and generally behave better when practicing a religion, not that I am for it, but I could understand how some would encourage that in a traditional education environment. But this isn’t really about what is convenient, it’s about what’s right. To encourage the teachings of information not based on science will go against everything which the modern education system is based on, so leave the discussion of intelligent design to those who wish to study it.
Posted by Chris | 0 comments










