Quebec’s Ministry of Education orders the religious schools to teach the Theory of Evolution. Maybe not much of a debate but it is nice to see a Government take a stand for the proper education of children.
That’s horrible. Regardless of your views of evolution, forcing private schools to teach a theory with which they morally disagree should strike you as a bit heavy-handed. People should have the freedom to teach error, especially in private schools. It is not the government’s place to enforce scientific orthodoxy.
Why on earth should any school have the right to deliberately teach error. Being a private school should not allow for the continuance of ignorance upon another generation.
How do you know this is even what they’re doing? It just says they must teach it, not must teach it at the expense of a religious alternative. In fact, if you read the article, you’ll see that a person with a say in the running of an evangelical school says that they already teach evolution - as well as intelligent design, which they believe is superior.
I don’t think this is a huge victory though. Just mandating the teaching of evolution doesn’t mean that it’ll be taught well, or that it’ll be taught from a neutral viewpoint. Same for the addition of sex education; i’d say that was great, but i’m cynical enough to believe that it’s going to be a case of “This, kids, is a condom. They give you cancer.” rather than an actual teaching of the subject.
Because they don’t believe it’s an error, first and foremost. Secondly, because the government should not have the power to step in and tell people what they must teach their children. Children do not belong to the state – they are under the care and management of their parents.
I happen to think that people who believe in Islam are in error. If enough people agree with me and vote for me on the school board, should I be able to go in and shut down the local Muslim school? Of course not. Parents are given wide latitude to provide for the instruction of their children. The state should stay out of it unless the children are being hurt. Not teaching evolution doesn’t hurt anyone.
By this standard, then, quite a few public schools should be shut down.
Under your logic, the state is the ultimate arbiter of what children are taught and parents have no say. So then do you support the state taking away children from fundamentalist parents who teach their kids that evolution is wrong? After all, these parents have no right to teach error, do they?
It’s worth pointing out that until recently, many school boards in Quebec were officially religious, and in actuality split along language lines: Catholic for French, Protestant for English. But this case refers to an independent school which still has to meet provincial education standards if students are going to get a high school diploma that means something.
Rubbish. That’s the government’s job. I pay taxes so the next generation of rugrats can actually contribute something useful to society.
Creating a standard curriculum is government’s responsibility, and that includes making sure a citizen is properly equipped to answer questions like Where did I come from?
Actually, it is a “crime” that many Fundy parents are allowed to do this. Fundies can teach their ignorant religion, but kids need to learn science and math without religious overtones. I also do not believe a Parent has the right to teach their kids that 3+3=78. If a Fundie wants to teach ID or some equivalent to their offspring along with the accepted Scientific Theory of Evolution that is okay by me. Perhaps they might even want to say that their God created the rules by which Evolution works. However, when Fundies teach kids that the Earth is only a little more than 6000 years old or Man and Dinosaurs coexisted I do think the government should meddle.
The school curriculum is a minimum standard, and dos not exclude the teaching of anything else. So if the curriculum says that kids have to be taught that the earth is in orbit round the sun, the school can also teach that the earth is flat, and that what we see as the sun is glowing ball a few miles up, that is extinguished each sunset, and relit before each dawn. (Though if they put that sort of nonsense into external exams, they might lose a few marks – so the teachers might want to say, “This is what we believe, but the state wants you to say something else when you are sitting for your science exam.”)
Seems like a pretty hollow victory. I’d have let them teach whatever the Hell they want, but strip them of accreditation of they teach ID or any other form of “creation science”, which is simply a pack of falsehoods, not an “alternative” to anything.
Why? I was taught that at my church and through literature given to me by my family, and yet I’m a productive member of society. I have a good job, I pay taxes, and I even vote (sometimes even for Democrats ). I have also rejected that theory as being wrong.
There was no need for government to step in and censor the books I received or to silence my pastor with the threat of jail. And that is exactly what you are proposing. The state will determine what is scientifically correct, and I would assume that any literature that went contrary to that determination would be banned and people would be forbidden from teaching it.
It’s very interesting that you are proposing giving governments power that was routinely used in pre-Enlightenment times to supress scientific innovation and free speech. Government should not determine what is the scientific orthodoxy. It should let scientists, teachers, academics, and the general public sort this out for themselves.
I’m surprised that so many people on this board are in favor of giving government this type of power. Do you think government should have this power in other areas besides evolution, or is your hatred of evolution simply blinding you to the dangerous nature of your notion? For example, there’s about as much proof for the Diebold stealing the 2004 election as there is for ID. Should the government then step in and stop parents from telling their children about this? Should the government step in and stop parents from telling their children that UFOs are real, JFK was assasinated by the Mafia, and a secret CIA-Mossad cabal perpetrated 9/11?
Isn’t this about what schools must teach? Nothing at all to do with what parents can teach. (Unless the kids are being home-schooled, in which case the parent involved becomes a teacher, and has to satisfy minimum standards).
Um, I don’t. That doesn’t mean I can’t lament the choices of other people who victimize their children with their own ignorance and stupidity. However, I must say, I don’t think I can support a governmental mandate to teach something in what is essentially a private club with no practical value in membership. It’s sad when protecting civil liberties has the effect of victimizing innocent children, but I think it would be too privately intrusive in this instance to force these kids to learn something their parents are morally-opposed to. I’m disgusted by it, but I can’t think of a good way to remedy it.
How interesting, who brought up arresting your pastor? Not I.
If you what your students to be accredited with a High School Diploma there is a certain minimum curriculum that the student needs to know. If the Fundie school chooses to teach their own version next to the Accepted Scientific Theory, fine as long as the student knows the Accepted Scientific Theory.
I did not propose anything you outlined for me above and you are being dishonest in placing these words in my mouth. BTW: did you overlook the part where I mentioned I would be fine with a Religious school teaching that their God created the rules that Evolution works under? I am not an Atheist. I am not a liberal for that matter. Try your attacks on someone else. The law mentioned does not forbid the teaching of tin-hat theories, it just requires the teaching of Accepted Scientific Theory.