Evolution a matter of belief, not fact
Evolution a matter of belief, not fact
Eric J. Reinhold - Letter to the editor - Orlando Sentinel - 1/22/2008 - original
Leanne Comey produced a well-written piece on the debate over evolution and intelligent design in the classroom, but, as always, there are two sides to every story.
To begin with, I thought it interesting that the 17-year-old New Voices author's presupposition -- evolution is a scientific theory -- is accepted by the general population as fact. A scientific theory is a careful attempt to explain certain observable facts of nature by means of experiments. Evolution is not observable, repeatable or refutable, and thus does not qualify as either a scientific fact or theory.
Comey claims, "I'm just as reluctant as the rest to believe that we evolved from monkeys." Apparently not, because she has closed her mind to another option that science cannot prove false.
Evolution must be accepted with faith by its believers, most of whom deny the existence, or at least the power, of a Creator. Similarly, the biblical account of creation is not observable, repeatable or refutable by man. Special creation is accepted with faith by those who believe that the Bible is the revelation of an omnipotent and omniscient Creator whose word is more reliable than the speculations of men. Both evolution and creation, however, can be compared for their compatibility with what we do observe of the facts of nature.
Comey seems concerned about the "chaos that would ensue if a biology teacher decided to incorporate the book of Genesis into lesson plans." I will forgive her for her age and the fact that American history in our public school systems has been purged of anything related to religion.
The "fact" is that creationism was taught in our public schools for 175 years, and it wasn't until a vocal minority drove a wedge between religion and government that is was even challenged. Comey seems to have learned through the public-school system that there should be "separation of church and state," but again, those words are nowhere in our Constitution. The "fact" is that our founders were strong believers in the Bible and quoted it frequently, which is observable in historic documents and all over government buildings in Washington, D.C. The only thing the founders were concerned about was having one denomination forced on the people, like they had been exposed to in England.
Finally, Comey states that "no one is forcing students to believe in evolution, just study it."
My three questions are:
*What are evolutionists so scared of?
*Why are they so close-minded?
*Why can't they study creationism?
No one is forcing them to believe in creationism -- just study it.
Eric J. Reinhold of Longwood is a certified financial planner.