(snip)
So are you saying religion is not appropriate in the classroom.
At all?
(snip)
Like it or not, many Americans are quite theistic and tend to use religion as
a means to understand and live in the world. Why not engage people in
religious discourse? Challenge their ways of knowing? Get them to analyze
religious and scientific explanations for the same phenomena?
I think that this is a complicated issue. Do I think it's appropriate to discuss
the psychology of religious (and non-religious) belief in psychology courses?
You betcha! The potential physical and mental health ramifications (pro and con)
of religious belief? Sure! The role of religion in society? Bring it on! I also think
it's appropriate, as Jim suggested, to contrast scientific and religious approaches
to the search for truth and knowledge. In fact, I do this in ALL of my undergraduate
courses.
Where things get problematic for me is when religious views of the natural world are
promoted/discussed as if they were scientific ones (creationism is the most obvious
example). I'm not saying that this should never be done; indeed, a course discussing
the scientific shortcomings of creationism would be a worthwhile pursuit. I would simply
argue that, as Paul noted, there is much public confusion about the difference between
science and religion (how many times have you heard that evolution is "only a theory")?
If the two are discussed concurrently, one might imagine that such confusion might be
further promoted. However, this is an empirical question that I'm not sure anyone has
addressed.
Teachers should be blunt, however, in noting that creationism is not a scientific theory,
it is a religious one. Thus, giving "equal time" to creationism in biology courses is really
no more appropriate than giving it to Japanese in Spanish class.
As to the religious versus scientific basis of creationism, what do we think our Gallup
respondents (as well as creationists such as Gish) would have replied if asked whether
Hindu, Native American, and other non-Judeo-Christian creation stories should be given
equal time in high school biology? There are PLENTY to go around. (I've long wished
that a pollster would actually ask this question.)
-Mike
P.S., And while we're at it, how about readings from "Origin of Species" at high school
football games?
P.P.S., Conflation: A combining or fusing together, as of two variant readings of a text;
a fusion. (From my mom's old Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
************************************************
Michael J. Kane
Department of Psychology
P.O. Box 26164
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, NC 27402-6164
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone: 336-256-1022
fax: 336-334-5066
