After reading an article in the Belfast Telegraph on the teaching of creationism in Northern Ireland:
Tussle of Biblical proportions over creationism in Ulster classrooms.
I sent the Ulster DofE the following e-mail (28 Sept 07):
Hi,
My name is Alan & I am the owner of a UK anticreationism website that specializes in highlighting the dangers of creationism in the British schools.
This can be found at: www.creationism.co.uk
On Wednesday, September 26, the Belfast Telegraph reported on a story in which NI politicians, elected for their political views, were misusing their elected positions in order to attempt to impose their own fundamentalist religious beliefs onto the province’s schoolchildren.
See: Tussle of Biblical proportions over creationism in Ulster classrooms.
DUP MP David Simpson, for example, would like to see, “alternative scientific theories to evolution”, taught. This is spite of the fact that the alternatives, creationism and intelligent design are viewed by both the scientific community and the British Government as religious beliefs. They are not, under any circumstances examples of scientific theories, and anyone claiming otherwise is either displaying their complete ignorance of these issues or worse still, openly lying.
In either case we should expect better from an elected MP.
Further on, it is argued that children, who have been misinformed about these matters & give creationist answers to questions on evolution, should not in future be penalised for doing so; even though their answers would be totally wrong.
Obviously, if allowed, this rule would not only make nonsense of qualifications in biology, but also other subjects such as geology & astronomy as well. After all, the correct creationist answer as to the age of the earth or the universe are 6,600 years in both cases; a minor error of 4.5 billion & 13.8 billion years respectively.
One wonders where this infantile nonsense will stop. Why don’t we just let the student put whatever he or she wants on the exam paper & just have done with it.
I could go on about the dangers of allowing creationism into British schools; however my main reason for contacting you is to express my concern over your response, which is detailed towards the end of the Belfast Telegraph report:
“In a statement the Department of Education said the teaching of alternative theories was a matter for schools.
A spokeswoman said: "The revised curriculum offers scope for schools to explore alternative theories to evolution, which could include creationism, if they so wish." “
I would like to start by pointing out that given the threat creationism poses to the educational system (and I have only just touched on the matter so far), the response from your department seems lacklustre to say the least. Do you really think it is possible for a, “Department of Education” to sound any more indifferent?
Furthermore, although the D of E statement could be interpreted to mean that creationism is explored in science from an historical perspective as a failed explanation, or explored further in RE (where its inclusion would be less contentious), none of this is made very clear.
Worse still, it is possible for anyone who has only a limited understanding of these issues to simply take the D of E statement at face value. After all, at first sight, is there really any difference between exploring creationism & teaching creationism? In fact, take a look at the above quotes, isn’t that exactly how the Belfast Telegraph reports your department’s quote?
To the well informed reader there may well be a difference, but most people will probably not notice such subtle distinctions. They will simply regard your department’s statement as adding weight to the position of the creationists, something I have not the slightest doubt they will now exploit to the full.
I believe that the D of E should in (sic) clarify its position on this issue; surely one of its main functions should be to uphold & defend high educational standards in the province, and that should mean coming out strongly & unambiguously in favour of prevailing scientific consensus on such matters as evolution & cosmology.
The Enlightenment - so hard won, yet so easily lost.
Best wishes,
Alan.
PS – Perhaps you may be interested in the yesterday’s Belfast Telegraph’s editorial comment. It can be seen here:
I received a reply from the NI Dept of Education. This is it in full:
Alan
Thank you for your e-mail of 28 September, the contents of which have been noted.
Kirstin Martin Curriculum and Assessment Team DE Tel: 028 9127 9636
Well, that appears to have been a waste of time. The general consensus is that the DofE has opened the curriculum up to creationism. However I gave them the benefit of the doubt & instead chose to skirt around this issue, allowing them the opportunity to claim that their guidelines had been misinterpreted. All they had to do was, “clarify” the guidelines.
The fact that they have taken it upon themselves not to do so; in the process refusing to answer perfectly reasonable questions relating to this matter only adds weight to their critic’s claims.
Perhaps they are simply too ignorant (or should I say judging from their reply, pig ignorant) to know the difference between creationism & proper science. But this being Northern Ireland where creationism seems rampant, there is probably an element of self interest as well.
Either way, whoever is responsible is in danger of turning the province into a world-wide laughing stock. I see they are already comparing it with Kansas.
DUP creationists: Will they succeed in turning Northern Ireland into the new Kansas?