Question
In my state the Board of Education threw out the teaching
of evolution a few years ago. Upon election of moderate
members, the Board brought it back again. Now conservatives
are in the majority again and the whole issue of universe
origin is being debated again. This time the issue of
"intelligent design" is being brought in as needing to be
taught. Is this just another way of bringing in conservative
belief about instant creation?
Answer
On one level it really doesn't matter what the Kansas
Board of Education thinks, evolution is real and is not
subject to majority vote any more than whether epilepsy is
caused by demon possession. Yet it is embarrassing to live
in a state where public ignorance can force people to deny
reality. It will also ill-equip the children of Kansas to
live in the modern world. Already American school children
are far behind Asians in the field of science. The pursuit
of knowledge should never be compromised to protect religious
sensitivities. That is where religious tyranny begins.
Intelligent Design is just one more smoke screen. The
task of geologists and anthropologists is to study the
sources of the life of this world. They should be free to
follow wherever their scientific research carries them. If
Christianity is threatened by truth, it is already too late
to save it. Imagine worshiping a God so weak and incompetent
that the Kansas School Board must defend this God from
science and new learning. It is pitiful.
The challenge of Darwinian thinking to traditional
Christianity is deep and profound. That means that
Christianity's survival depends on its being big enough to
embrace a post-Darwinian world. If we cannot then
Christianity will surely die. I do not believe that is the
fate toward which Christianity is headed unless it becomes
that petty, small-minded enterprise that must hide in
ignorance and fear lest it be destroyed.
I hope you and others will resist these tactics at the
ballot box. If that fails then you have to assess whether or
not you want your children to grow up in the environment that
Kansas is creating. If not, you might consider moving. I
for one hope you will stay and fight for ignorance will not
prevail forever, even in Kansas.
John Shelby Spong
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