UK Royal Society and creationism

posted: 1231 days ago, on Monday, 2008 Sep 22 at 13:44
tags: atheism, creationism, science and religion.

The UK's prestiguous Royal Society is currently involved in a controversial issue regarding creationism, leading to the resignation of one senior official.

The Times Online reports that Professor Michael Reiss, of the Royal Society, has said that science teachers should treat creationist beliefs "not as a misconception but as a world-view".

Senior Royal Society Fellows took exception to his comments, pointing out that his statements could be seen as supportive of the notion of teaching creationism as if it were science.

A spokesman for the society said that "Our position is that if young people put forward a creationist perspective in the classroom, it should be discussed."

Fair enough, as long as teachers are properly trained to specifically combat this so-called 'world view'. It is simply a false belief, and should be treated as such. Once a student speaks out about creationism, it should be tackled directly, and thoroughly debunked. Only by directly addressing a misconception is it likely to be rejected.

Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church is preparing to discuss faith and Darwinism at a five-day Vatican-sponsored conference, reports the Times.

Perhaps at last the Catholic Church will come out and say, directly, that evolution is OK. The conference will be held in March 2009.

Links

  1. Royal Society's Michael Reiss resigns over creationism row
  2. Royal Society to be called to account for creationist view
  3. Catholic Church to hold debate on God and evolution

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