Quote:
Originally Posted by tapu
So... where do you come down on freedom of religion?
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I'm strongly in favor of people having very large ranges of latitude to practice whatever religion they prefer. I see very few areas where government has a legitimate reason to restrict religious practice. However, there is a non-trivial difference between letting religion be and granting religious beliefs the status of 'alternative truth' when it comes to questions about curriculum in public schools. Letting schools off the hook, if you will, because the most current science contradicts this or that deeply held belief sets up those religious belief as having an alternative truth that must be treated as being as equally probable when they simply are not. This sets up a great deal of confusion for people and hamstrings them in the long run.
It is imply not true that the Young Earth Creationist account of the origins of the Universe, the planet and the history of life on this planet is a viable alternative to the standard scientific account. The YEC account gets it wrong all over the place so anyone who learns the YEC account *as if it were a scientific theory* is, for all practical purposes, shut out of the mainstream of large amounts of science. We do neither them nor ourselves any favors pretending that it is any other way. I don't see this as being properly a question of religious freedom anymore than I would if some sect or another taught that pi was *exactly* 3.0 or that the angles of a triangle always add up to 100 degrees. No one would argue that any church-run school had the right to teach students that, for instance, men walked on the moon in 1869 instead of 1969 or that the Earth was at the center of the solar system. I see no reason to draw a hedge around certain scientific questions and allow church-run schools to get a pass on any subject just because it may conflict with their religious doctrines.
Cheers
Aj