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Originally Posted by AXOmom
What bothers me is when a student who holds to some form of creationism sits in a classroom and is told that evolution is fact (no doubt whatsoever), and their belief is a myth (no doubt whatsoever). That happened to me - often.
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This one bothers me for a slightly different reason -- typically the person spouting a view like this doesn't understand what "myth" means. Myth = untrue. In fact, one could say that a myth is, by definition true. A story doesn't have to be factual to be True or to convey Truth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drolefille
As far as evolution being "just a theory." That is not how the word "Theory" works in science. Being a theory means it is supported by all the evidence and both predicts and describes behavior. Gravity is also a "theory" for example. A more appropriate acknowledgment to me is "Evolution is based on scientific facts. Science doesn't take an opinion on matters of faith or religion. Hopefully you will explore these issues in an appropriate theology/philosophy/etc. class or on your own." I'm not sure such a disclaimer is even necessary unless the issue is actually raised. (Then again, Catholic grade school/high school/college taught evolution so I never had that struggle in school.)
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Agree on this. Coming from a mainline Protestant background, I never saw either the reason for controversy or the reason to set up evolution and the Bible as mutually exclusive alternatives. To me, it was sufficient to say that evolution seeks to explain the "how," while religion (or philosophy) seeks to explain the "why" and the "what it means."