The teachings of Science versus Religion

A recent blog article, "Texas School Board of Gym Teachers" written by William Gee presents the continuous debate between Science and Religion teachings in the classroom.  Science and technology have become the most ubiquitous of human creations, changing how we perceive our world and shaping the way we live.  Science serves our innate need to know, helping us to deal effectively in some measure with forces of nature.  For many, it provides meaning and understanding in facing life's realities and challenges.  Science and Religion have their respective reasons for being.  Each stand alone as independent human endeavors, having their own culture, body of knowledge, processes and procedures of verifying the truth, and ways of serving humanity.  They do not have the same viewpoints about the nature of the world or agree about how the truth is perceived or confirmed. 

Texas School Board of Education's debate regarding the teachings of Science versus Religion in the classroom is merely a political issue.  Why would scientists be more qualified to critique the politics of the American classroom than, say, photography or car racing?  For that matter, why would prominent TV evangelists be qualified to tell Americans what scientific content is appropriate for our children?

There's no question that there's battle for the minds of American children, no question that Creationism belongs in Sunday School and not high school Biology, and no question that we get our fair share of seriously disturbed hate mail because we say: the evidence is in.  Just like the article stated, "The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old," early hominids go back over a million year, and homo sapiens emerged a hundred thousand years ago spreading to Europe around 40,000 years ago.  We get no thanks for suggesting that, if you were going to teach Creationism, you would teach it as part of a survey of world religions, many of which have their own theories of creation, being sure to include the views of Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. 

What is taught in American public schools is a political decision, and if you don't like it, you can teach your kids yourself, or put them in a private school that subscribes to your personal views.  There are many valid reasons for doing so, but there are no valid reasons for trying to require children of other parents to absorb your views too.  Instead of wasting time debating "Science vs. Religion," perhaps we need to stop, step back, and take a fresh look.

I don't see a conflict between Science and Religion, per se.  What I see are global political conflicts between political demagogues acting in the name of the religions they claim to represent, but don't.  If Americans can pause to rue the institutionalized destruction of "different" native American beliefs, values and culture, then surely we owe ourselves, as modern-day Americans, the same courtesy.