> From: Paul Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Gallup/creationism
>
> > Jim Guinee wrote:
> > 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?
>
> In a way, this is an equally good argument for _not_ spending
> classroom time presenting the religous point of view. As you said,
> Americans are already quite theistic. Those religious explanations
> permeate popular culture and tradition. Challenging their existing views
> implies presenting an alternative to the viewpoints they bring to the
> classroom - presenting a scientific viewpoint, in this case. If the goal
> is to challenge existing beliefs and present a balance so that students
> can make educated choices, I think it's pretty clear that we need to spend
> a LOT more time on science than we already do.
You make soom good points here.
I'm not necessarily advocating overthrowing the curriculum. In my courses I
don't bring religion up very much, partly because this is a state school and I
don't want to be inappropriate, but also there are certainly a lot of things out
in the world that religious doctrine/dogma just doesn't cover.
I teach a health ed course where we cover a lot of "factual material" --
prevalence of health problems, contraceptive failure rate, percentage of
students on campus who problem drink. Obviously there are a lot of things
we learn and teach that seem unrelated to religion. However, in this class
when it comes to discussing why people make certain health choices, I try
to be supportive and ask questions about different value systems.
I think that's really one of my main points -- we should be teaching what we
are supposed to teach. But I do get irritated when I hear about certain psych
professors that try to present certain information that contradicts religion as
factual (e.g., spanking leads to abuse) when that ain't necessarily so, and
worse when I hear of prof's making snide comments about religion and
religious people.
>The creationists' arguments
> against evolution make that point crystal clear.
Hmm...I'm not so sure. Certainly there are those in the religious and non-
religious community who still don't have a good grasp of evolution. I realize
that evolution is more than just a theory, but I would still contend that micro-
evolution is much closer to being "factual" than macro.
> I have nothing against the general principle of discussing religion
> in the classroom (in fact, I was one of only two faculty members to show
> up at a special meeting we had yesterday to discuss the thread of
> religious faith at our institution). But the notion that we get an overall
> balance in students' lives by equally presenting religion and science in
> the classroom is simply wrong, in light of the fact that outside of the
> classroom religion absolutely dominates their views
Oh, I would disaree with that very much. My experience with students and
my perusal of research on religious behavior simply does not support the
statement that religion dominates students' views.
If so, how do we explain the high rate of premarital sex among students?
cohabitattion? How about Stephen Davis' research suggesting that 60-70%
of college students have cheated on at least one occasion in college?
I know I said many Americans are theistic, but that does not necessarily
mean the same percentage of Americans are strongly adhered to a set of
religious beliefs.
This is especially true for college students. Based on research, we can
*tentatively* conclude that late adolescence/young adulthood (where age-
wise most of our college students are) is a time in life where religion is far
less important, and church attendance is far more infrequent than at any
other point in the lifespan.
>(how many of your
> students spend over an hour of their free time once a week at scientific
> lectures? Now, how many attend church weekly? <grin>).
Good question -- but mere attendance at EITHER event doesn't necessarily
mean the material is getting through.
"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian, any more than
going to a garage makes you an automobile."
... Billy Sunday (1862-1935)
************************************************************************
Jim Guinee, Ph.D.
Director of Training & Adjunct Professor
President, Arkansas College Counselor Association
University of Central Arkansas Counseling Center
313 Bernard Hall Conway, AR 72035 USA
(501) 450-3138 (office) (501) 450-3248 (fax)
"No one wants advice -- only corroboration"
-John Steinbeck
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