Evolution Isn't a Natural Selection Here

By P.J. Huffstutter, Times Staff Writer

CLAY CENTER, Kan. — In this rural swath of northern Kansas, where the grass rolls thick and green to the horizon, a white cross dominates the landscape.

Kathy Martin, a member of the state board of education, and her family built it on their farm this spring, gathering weathered chunks of limestone from the horse pasture and laying them on a hillside.

The cross is a proud expression of Martin's faith. And as hearings challenging the role of evolution in the state's school science curriculum began Thursday, that cross left little doubt about where she stood in the debate.

"Evolution is a great theory, but it is flawed," said Martin, 59, a retired science and elementary school teacher who is presiding over the hearings. "There are alternatives. Children need to hear them…. We can't ignore that our nation is based on Christianity — not science."

Reading Kathy Martin's quote above demonstrates, to me, how scarily narrow-minded this country is becoming. With the ultra-religious Rightwing on a Crusade to destroy American ingenuity and critical thinking, it's only a matter of time before we lapse into becoming a third-rate nation with a first-rate nuclear capability run by zealots with itchy trigger fingers. In short, we're becoming the very terrorist enemy we're fighting against.

But back to Martin's quote. Every statement of hers is either flat-out wrong or shows a complete lack of logic.

"Evolution is a great theory, but it is flawed," - Evolution - the natural process like gravity - is fact and one well documented, researched, and validated. The Theory of Evolution - the explanation of the process - is near perfect but is still subject to the scientific process and therefore open to revision. But, it's beyond a hypothesis. It's gained enough scientific support through experimentation that the hypothesis is considered a theory. Martin and like-minded folks can't grasp that science doesn't put forth facts as explanations of natural processes, that theories are the top echelon of explanation. Martin etc. think theories aren't good enough. They want black and white - fact or fraud. Sadly, the bible thumpers can't even see the gray in their own dogma.

"There are alternatives." - Sure, there are, as many as there are people in this world. *BUT* the Theory of Evolution is the best supported description of the process of Evolution. Other alternatives, including Creationism, have failed the scientific rigor to grow beyond hypotheses. Or, to put it another way, even if Evolution were severely flawed doesn't validate other hypotheses. You can't say that Intelligent Design (I.D.) is right because Evolution is wrong. Science doesn't work that way. Intelligent Design has to pass its own muster. The problem with I.D. is that there's nothing to test, nothing to predict, nothing to replicate. It's simply "God did it" and that's it. Well, there is one thing to test. Show that God exists and do so beyond spewing quotes from the Bible... But how can Science show that God exists when Philosophy has yet to do it. God is a concept, not a testable entity or process.

"Children need to hear them..." like children need to hear about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Sure, it's cute and fun as a kid to believe in such myths and fairy tales but at some point you have to grow up. I've said this before, children are born scientists. They test the environment, make hypotheses, and learn from their experiments. As parents, we try to instill what we've learned from our life's experiments into our kids, if anything, to keep them from harming themselves. Crap like Creationism, Intelligent Design, or whatever it's being called this week, bypasses critical thinking. It tells our kids: "Don't think, just believe!" Well, sure, we could teach our kids that the answer to everything is simply God but our civilization would return to the Dark Ages with superstition and the High Priests ruling our lives. It'd be a step backwards.

"We can't ignore that our nation is based on Christianity — not science." - What?!? Our nation is not based on Christianity. Our Constitution makes no mention of Christianity and, more importantly, specifically mentions that there should be a gap between Church and State. Again, Martin and her ilk are confusing the personal beliefs of our Founders with their public stance, like saying that the film studio MGM was founded by a Jew therefore the film studio is Jewish. It's not true! More importantly this statement of hers clearly shows that Martin and the like want to destroy Science, plain and simple. They want to convert our public schools into Christian schools, turn our nation of many into a Christian nation of only those who believe.

Creationism, Intelligent Design - however it's called - is religion and has no place in Science classes. These hypotheses don't and can't pass scientific rigor, which doesn't give them a free pass into our science classes!

America is already suffering from poor education. Classes are getting larger. Education dollars are shrinking. Kids aren't learning how to think and as a result America is no longer the great bastion of invention. The Religious Right wants control. If they gain oversight of our kids education, we'll end up a nation of Christian goosesteppers willing to go forth and convert the heathen even if it means strapping on the boom-boom vests, for when it comes to converting the heathen those who perish in the attempt are surely going to heaven...

Another thought: Since God is responsible for everything, he must also be responsible for Evolution. Therefore Evolution should be taught in all religious classes as a valid alternative to the biblical explanation...