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Originally Posted by fckm
I appologize, I was a little agitated when I wrote my post, and shouldn't have worded it the way I did. My point is that around the founding of our country, our forefathers didn't think that the population at large was intelligent enough to make many decisions regarding government. That's why we have elections, and politicians. Supposedly, knowledgeble, intelligent people are elected into office to run our country. In practice, there are many flaws with this system, but as is pointed out by many, the system still works pretty well.
I would venture to say that the population at large has no grasp of Science at all. That the so called "average Joe" barely remembers the last Science class they have taken, if they've taken one at all. Why can't the population learn to trust Scientists who have a proven track record of results to determine what should and shouldn't be taught in grade school?
Every time the Creationism topic is brought, there are invariably two or three Scientists from the National Academy of Sciences or some other prestigous organization who try to act as the voice of reason, and try to explain why Evolution is a superiour theory to all that have come before it, and why Creationsim and ID in particular are so lacking as scientific theories. Just as invariably, the Young Earth Creationism Conservative Christians (let's face it, these people are not exactly a diverse group) trot out some crazy from whatever cellar they keep them locked in, who's never published in any respected peer reviewed Journal in their lives, and calls that person an example of the Many-Scientists-Who-Support-Our-Theory.
I can appreciate that this country historically distrusts government and Overriding Authorities, but seriously, this is starting to become a huge problem. In the past, Creationists have been relegated to the shadows, marginalized and ignored. With the rise of power of the Christian Coalition in Washington and their brand of Christian Ultraconservatives, I'm really afraid that this is going to be very bad for the US in general. I think that they are trying to make up for their past marginalization by forcing themselves into the classrooms, and in the process, damage what little educational sanity is left in this country.
Seriously, how is a country who's economy is so dependant on technology supposed to support itself if it's children are graduating high school without understanding the fundamental differences between Science and Psuedoscience? If certain voting blocks in this country keep trying to confuse children by inserting nonsensical and useless garbage into the Science curriculum?
EDIT: inserted some linebreaks for readability
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I personally agree with the countries originators in the regard of people's ability to rule themselves directly (i posted as much in another thread). The republic system is an elaborate buffer.
And the country doesn't rely upon the masses to lead, only the upper crust. I did a report on this very problem, comparing the differences between American and other industrialized countries school systems. American schools are designed to work well for those who are planning on attending college, and divide their classes likewise. Those are the students who recieve the primary positive attention. The rest are not really worried about, which could be a big problem; this is also different how most countries handle the "masses" for lack of a better term. IMO, America's strength hasn't ever come from the masses, but from the outliers. As long as there are people who don't think the earth is 6000 years old (or whatever it's supposed to be) who create the innovations, things should be fine. Someone doesn't have to understand the intricacies of the internal combustion engine to work an assembly line, the same reasoning should apply for other technologies.
And personally, I was suprised when I first heard that there were people who still thought the earth was only a few thousand years old. Sure, the bible says the earth was created in 7 days, but what's a day to GOD? A day could be millions of years. But if people want their children to be ignorant, it's their problem. I don't see it as a problem of what's the proper view, but what rights people have over their children's education.