[DEBATE] : Fury rumbles over 'satanic' school course

[Russell Grinker]

Yup, the level of backwardness was astounding. Even worse was their desire
to impose their obscurantism on kids at public schools. But I agree that the
Education Department was particularly craven. The pathetic defence of reason
and science put up by their spokesperson was a real problem.  She whittered
on that there are different theories that explain human origins and that
evolution is just one such theory! The Department is clearly abdicating
responsibility for teaching a scientific approach in schools. It can't even
say that it expects science in a science lesson and not religion. It seems
not to care who delivers what idea. With this framework to go on, teachers
can feel free to teach whatever they like - and they certainly do in a
backwater like the Eastern Cape. 

The Department's apparent approach is that creation and evolution are
equally valid ideas that children should be able to choose between. I reckon
that any science teacher who fails to impart the value of the theory of
evolution is failing in their duty as a science teacher. Teachers have a
responsibility to educate, not to foster ignorance and superstition. My kids
are constantly told that they're getting a Christian education - this at
government schools. A friend's 12 year old kid who told other kids that he
was an atheist was recently denounced as a Satanist by a teacher! Parents
are however wary of objecting because their kids will most likely be
victimised by these new missionaries.

Peter van Heusden wrote


The debate about this on SAFM recently was scary. A HUGE number of
people phoning in and saying "evolution is a marginal, disproved
theory", citing all the usual anti-evolution nonsense. Probably more
scary, however, was the Education Department's spokesperson, who said
that the new textbooks contain a section on Creationism / Intelligent
Design. I haven't seen these new textbooks, has anyone??