The Following is my reply to Stewart Cowan, a creationist who posted his views to the CADPAG website in November.
I wish to respond to the insulting comments posted by Stewart Cowan on the 6 November in which he accuses anyone who believes in evolution, of being brainwashed.
Brainwashing involves imposing a set of beliefs on someone (usually religious or political ones). Simply learning everyday scientific facts & theories is no more brainwashing than learning that the world is round. One such theory, the Theory of Evolution, is universally accepted by scientists as the only rational explanation for the changing life forms present in the past fossil record, a process that has been amply documented with contemporary species as well.
However, if you were to teach a child that the world was flat, then this would be classed as brainwashing, as it would be imposing on the child a belief that was unsupported by evidence & even worse, contradicted by it. Likewise, in order to believe creationism, a child must believe an extreme religious view that is both unverifiable & in gross contradiction to available scientific information . It is therefore obvious that contrary to what Stewart says, teaching evolution is not brainwashing but teaching creationism is.
If anyone is “uniformed & prejudiced” then it is Stewart & his fellow creationists, who dishonestly portray the scientific & secular elements of our society as being immoral, deviant & responsible for all social ills. They know they are never going to persuade people of their position using facts (as they have none), so they are forced into the position of “muck spreading” instead.
Stewart asks, “What makes you so terrified of discovering a possible truth”. This sort of reasoning shows a poor grasp of the facts, which clearly show the superiority of the modern scientific method. The real reason why creationism is so strongly opposed is because it is just total nonsense. However, if there is anything to be terrified of, then it is the knowledge that creationists are being allowed to infect schoolchildren with their irrational beliefs.
Alan.