# Creationism does not belong in Science class **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004 "2008-09-24T16:03:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/41 "2008-09-25T13:50:27Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > [Teach the controversy](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2587286576_cfce01b747_o.jpg)! You’re a fucking tease. Where can I buy the T-shirts?!? Spill it, man! ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/42 "2008-09-25T13:59:24Z")
> [@glee](#): > > **Sep 17th** - The Royal Society’s embattled director of education resigned last night, days after causing uproar among scientists by appearing to endorse the teaching of creationism. That certainly was an embarrassment for the Royal Society, but not for the reasons people seem to think. The director merely expressed (as he had done before) the mild opinion that teachers should be prepared to address the question in class if it was raised by children, something I would entirely endorse. Science class is the very _last_ place you want to introduce the idea that some questions are forbidden - the whole point is teaching the process of how you evaluate the answers. It’s absolutely scandalous that this guy was forced to resign because his remarks were considered “open to misinterpretation.” What an absolute capitulation to idiocy. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/43 "2008-09-25T14:04:02Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > You’re a fucking tease. > > Where can I buy the T-shirts?!? Spill it, man! > **[Apache2 Ubuntu Default Page: It works](http://controversy.wearscience.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/44 "2008-09-25T14:07:28Z")
I dunno. They’re putting pineapple on pizza now. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/45 "2008-09-25T14:52:08Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > [Teach the controversy](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2587286576_cfce01b747_o.jpg)! Now that’s just _wrong_! The elephants are standing on the back of a turtle, _not_ a tortoise! How can you trust goods from an outfit that can’t even get its basic scientific facts correct? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/46 "2008-09-25T15:23:47Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I dunno. They’re putting pineapple on pizza now. The controversy is delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/47 "2008-09-25T15:24:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > IDiots tend to be pretty immune to argument anyway. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/48 "2008-09-25T16:54:35Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Did I say it should? _Now_ **glee** has deigned to provide some context for the OP, but putting it in the OP would have been better. As for science class, a scientist would find out what it was that “sparked this” - not drag out a bunch of random assumptions. If you bother to actually check the link, you’ll find out that it’s more along the lines of a noted scientist taking the line that there might be better approaches than pointing and laughing - and the evolutionists have closed ranks to hound him out of his position of responsibility. None of which has a fucking thing to do with American classrooms. > > Graham, Graham… you can own my sorry butt over the chessboard any time you like, and you make a fair-to-average Wose, DM or Viking berserker, but you can’t debate religion for shit. 😛 This is the Pit, not Great Debates, which is why I was sarcastic as opposed to laying the ground rules. I am seriously concerned about religion getting in to either US or UK science classrooms. This is not a debate about religion as a whole, merely a poke at a minority of Protestant Christians who make repeated attempts to teach their fundamentalist religion in schools. I’m sorry if you are offended, but please could you clarify your position: - should Creationism be taught in Science class? - do you agree with evolution? ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/49 "2008-09-25T21:33:30Z")
> [@Dead\_Badger](#): > > That certainly was an embarrassment for the Royal Society, but not for the reasons people seem to think. The director merely expressed (as he had done before) the mild opinion that teachers should be prepared to address the question in class if it was raised by children, something I would entirely endorse. Science class is the very _last_ place you want to introduce the idea that some questions are forbidden - the whole point is teaching the process of how you evaluate the answers. It’s absolutely scandalous that this guy was forced to resign because his remarks were considered “open to misinterpretation.” What an absolute capitulation to idiocy. It certainly was - we had a great time (/sarcasm) at work when that story arose. It really was a travesty of news reporting. Article starts “Education Director of the Royal Society says creationism should be taught in schools” and then goes on to say something entirely different which was completely in line with the Government’s guidance and the RS’s position. We thought it was a shame that Reiss felt he needed to resign, but he really should have thought twice about raising this issue in the terms that he did. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/50 "2008-09-25T23:35:52Z")
> [@glee](#): > > This is the Pit, not Great Debates, which is why I was sarcastic as opposed to laying the ground rules. > > I am seriously concerned about religion getting in to either US or UK science classrooms. FWIW. Like **Malacandra** , I opened up this thread expecting there to be a link to something like a current news item wherein it had been decreed that creationism could be taught in science classes. In the absence of any such link or explanation, I too interpreted your OP as a random snark. Of course I don’t interpret it that way now, but that was my first reading of it - and that wasn’t just a knee-jerk defence of anything - it just seems to me the simplest explanation for a post like that. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/51 "2008-09-25T23:52:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Amateurs. > You only have to say it three times, while facing a mirror. I did and the mirror ran away… screaming:eek: ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/52 "2008-09-26T00:05:19Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > You’re a fucking tease. > > Where can I buy the T-shirts?!? Spill it, man! I apologize. I posted the link only because I thought the cartoons were apropos and gave no thought to the fact that people might want the T-shirts they were on. In any case, I see **Really Not All That Bright** has provided the necessary link. [QUOTE=Bookkeeper] Now that’s just wrong! The elephants are standing on the back of a turtle, not a tortoise! How can you trust goods from an outfit that can’t even get its basic scientific facts correct? [/QUOTE] Tell me about it! And not only that, the top blurb for the “Sinking Atlantis” shirt says, “Because we know Atlantis is sitting at the bottom of the Mediterranean.” Heresy! It’s the _Atlantic Ocean_. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/53 "2008-09-26T17:26:01Z")
> [@glee](#): > > “Washington, your Mother talks about things she doesn’t understand. This is Science - which cannot be questioned. Anyway it’s not a prayer – just a fact. > Now open your Science textbooks to Chapter 2. Since this “pitting” is mostly for you to rehearse your comedic routine and not about actual outrage at anything, I will just say that you could make it better by saying “Open your Science textbook to Chapter 2, verses 3-7” I’ll be here all week, try the fish. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/54 "2008-09-26T17:28:55Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Since this “pitting” is mostly for you to rehearse your comedic routine and not about actual outrage at anything, I will just say that you could make it better by saying “Open your Science textbook to Chapter 2, verses 3-7” Bravo, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/55 "2008-09-27T23:30:12Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Scene: A Science class in an American School (near future)… > > “Settle down, everyone. The quicker we get started, the quicker you will receive God’s blessing. > We shall start by repeating the basic scientific truth ‘Jesus is God and we worship Him.’” > > “Please Miss, isn’t that like a prayer? My Mum says Church and State are separate.” No, rest assured it can’t happen. Nobody says “Mum” over here, in favor of “Mom” or “Ma”. Also the schoolkids aren’t that polite. 😃 In all seriousness, I agree with your sentiment. But was there something in the news that I missed recently, that makes you bring this up now? ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004/56 "2008-09-30T21:12:49Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > In all seriousness, I agree with your sentiment. But was there something in the news that I missed recently, that makes you bring this up now? I’m not the OP, but maybe [this?](http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080929/ARTICLES/809290288/1004?Title=Debate_erupts_over_proposal_to_teach_creationism_in_Brunswick_schools) Looks like the effort isn’t going anywhere, thankfully. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creationism-does-not-belong-in-science-class/465004.md?page=2)