Disallowing evolution in schools.
From: http://www.rickross.com/reference/fundamentalists/fund158.html
From Larry King Live. My comments are below.
"T. LAHAYE: I think religious freedom has been under attack in our country well over 50 years.
KING: Explain.
T. LAHAYE: Well, the 1st Amendment is supposed to guarantee the government stays out of religion.
KING: And vice-versa.
T. LAHAYE: We don't want the government to tell us what church to belong to and what faith to have.
KING: And we don't want you to tell the government what faith to believe in.
T. LAHAYE: But we don't believe that the government should sanction the teaching of atheism and evolution and things that are anti-God, forbidding them "Pledge of Allegiance" in public schools.
KING: Shouldn't teach evolution? Shouldn't teach evolution?
T. LAHAYE: In the public schools they do.
KING: Why shouldn't they teach evolution?
T. LAHAYE: Because it's not proven, it's just a theory.
KING: Adam and Eve is proven?
T. LAHAYE: No. It's a theory.
KING: Their [sic] both theories."
First off, since when are evolution and theism mutually exclusive? Haven't these evangelicals heard of evolutionary theism? What strikes me as particularly intolerant about this is that they view theism as relating to their idea of God only (the Christian God in this case). Evolution may be "achristian", but it certainly isn't solely reconciled with atheism. And there are many Christians who believe in evolution as well. I'm not sure if there is cognitive dissonance there, but Michael Ruse did write a book on that topic
.
Also, to say that Adam & Eve is a theory just goes to show their lack of knowledge of science. I have NO PROBLEM AT ALL with Adam & Eve being taught, as long as it's taught in the appropriate forum - e.g., religious studies. The problem with fundamentalists like this is that they want it all - they want evolution out of schools and Adam & Eve taught as science. What they need to learn is how to work together and not just have their way all the time.
Can't we all just get along? Or is that too naive?
From Larry King Live. My comments are below.
"T. LAHAYE: I think religious freedom has been under attack in our country well over 50 years.
KING: Explain.
T. LAHAYE: Well, the 1st Amendment is supposed to guarantee the government stays out of religion.
KING: And vice-versa.
T. LAHAYE: We don't want the government to tell us what church to belong to and what faith to have.
KING: And we don't want you to tell the government what faith to believe in.
T. LAHAYE: But we don't believe that the government should sanction the teaching of atheism and evolution and things that are anti-God, forbidding them "Pledge of Allegiance" in public schools.
KING: Shouldn't teach evolution? Shouldn't teach evolution?
T. LAHAYE: In the public schools they do.
KING: Why shouldn't they teach evolution?
T. LAHAYE: Because it's not proven, it's just a theory.
KING: Adam and Eve is proven?
T. LAHAYE: No. It's a theory.
KING: Their [sic] both theories."
First off, since when are evolution and theism mutually exclusive? Haven't these evangelicals heard of evolutionary theism? What strikes me as particularly intolerant about this is that they view theism as relating to their idea of God only (the Christian God in this case). Evolution may be "achristian", but it certainly isn't solely reconciled with atheism. And there are many Christians who believe in evolution as well. I'm not sure if there is cognitive dissonance there, but Michael Ruse did write a book on that topic
.
Also, to say that Adam & Eve is a theory just goes to show their lack of knowledge of science. I have NO PROBLEM AT ALL with Adam & Eve being taught, as long as it's taught in the appropriate forum - e.g., religious studies. The problem with fundamentalists like this is that they want it all - they want evolution out of schools and Adam & Eve taught as science. What they need to learn is how to work together and not just have their way all the time.
Can't we all just get along? Or is that too naive?