>From: ging ginanjar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >By Paul Majendie >LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - British teenagers may soon be >debating creationism and intelligent design in religion classes >that give equal time to the Darwinists and atheists who reject >these views of the world's origins. >Newly published school guidelines reflect the growing >influence in Britain of a bitter battle over evolution being >waged across the Atlantic by conservative American Christians >who want to put God back into the secular state school system. >The guidelines, issued by the Qualifications and Curriculum >Authority, place the issue firmly in religious education class >rather than the science classes where U.S. creationists want it >to be handled. >By placing creationist views with those of their critics in >religion classes, the QCA could head off the divisive debates >that have pitted religion against science in the United States. >"This is a clever way of defusing the issue," Clifford >Longley, a religious affairs commentator, told Reuters. >While endorsing neither side of the science and religion >debate, the Authority made clear it sees creationism and >intelligent design as part of a wider public debate that pupils >should be able to understand. >Among the guidelines, applying to children up to the age of >14, is a suggestion that pupils act out the debate by playing >the roles of Galileo, Charles Darwin and the current >best-selling atheist author Richard Dawkins. >A spokesman for the Authority described the guidelines as "a >flexible tool to help teachers. None of this is compulsory. It >is entirely optional and offered as guidance. >"Our position is that it should be discussed in religious >education and not in science." > >CREATIONISM AND INTELLIGENT DESIGN >Conservative U.S. Christians who want schools to teach a >religious view of creation denounce evolution as atheistic and >say it should not be taught as the only explanation for life. >The most conservative view is creationism, the Bible-based >account saying God made the world in six days. U.S. courts have >banned this theory from state schools as a violation of the >separation of church and state. >A more recent argument is intelligent design, which says >nature is so complex that it must have been the work of a >creator rather than the result of random natural selection as >outlined in Darwin's theory of evolution. >Supporters say intelligent design is scientific, but its >critics say it is pseudo-science that aims to bring God back >into schools. >State schools in Britain teach religion because Britain has >an established Christian Church, Anglicanism. Prime Minister >Tony Blair has joined religious and scientific leaders in >resisting calls for creationism to be taught by itself. >Anglican views on the world's origins cover the spectrum, >from "theistic evolution", which reads the Biblical story >allegorically, to a literal belief in the words of Genesis, the >first Book of the Christian Bible. >Longley welcomed the way the guidelines included the >faith-based approach in the wider debate. >"I have no philosophical objection. It is not being taught >as truth but as an idea that is out there," he said. >John Wilkins, former editor of the Roman Catholic weekly The >Tablet, agreed it was a good compromise solution. >"I can see no reason why we have to regard Darwinism as a >holy text that cannot be questioned," he said. >"It is a very good idea to challenge that in religious >education. Just teaching children Darwinism doesn't stretch >their minds and give them intellectual hurdles to jump over. >There should be lively debate." > >REUTERS >241720 Jan 07
