Creator deserves place in schools
Published: June 22, 2009
Those who do not believe in a Creator God or in intelligent design, as well as those who believe public schools should not mention religion, may not have read (as I had not read) what Thomas Jefferson said:
“… it was obvious to common sense and to every rational being that a Creator, Preserver, and Supreme Ruler of the Universe existed; to teach students that the world just happened, or that it had always existed, was to betray their education.
The God revealed in Nature and to Reason deserved a place in the classroom, as in life” (quoted in “Sworn on the Altar of God,” by Edwin S. Gaustad, page 163). In fact, Charles Darwin himself refers to the Creator.
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First, though not reported here in the Daily Progress, Thomas Jefferson is dead. This is not recent news, though it may be shocking to some.
Second, a TJ today would very likely have different observations about past, present, and future than we might imagine. Taking him out of his historical and contextual surroundings ought to be done thoughtfully, rather than fancily.
Third, God, the Creator, has a place in the world, including schools, regardless of who believes what. God is present, needs no permission, requires no belief in his existence to be.
A corollary is that religion does not have a place in school in place of science. The universe is wonderfully made, and will survive indefinately with the sciences and religion(s) coexistent. One should not confuse the two.
The Bible is many things. One thing it is not, however, is a scientific text. One can study the depth and bredth of the history of this great book—indeed, one can even espouse the belief that it represents the revealed Word of God—no matter. Biblical scholars, from many walks of faith, know too much about its origins and history for any serious person to accept as fact (apart from faith) that much of the writing inludes historical narrative, story-telling, allegory, and myth. That doesn’t diminish its Truth. It probably does mean that the Earth is more than a few millenia old, and was “created” in more than 6 24-hour time periods.
Intelligent Design is about as nonsensical as any theory I’ve had opportunity to read about, and I know of no reasonable argument for its place in a science curriculum. Fantasy literature, perhaps.
This is one issue where God is “rolling his eyes”—if God were a “he”, and if God had “eyes”. As fun as it may be—and comfortabkle—to make God in our image, I think some folks have that backwards.
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