Creationist Fools
I have worked as an Educator for many years. Some would say too many. As an educator I understand that my role is to impart factual knowledge, to stimulate and encourage curiosity and to motivate students towards studying further and to engage in a process of lifelong learning, questioning and informed criticism.
Creationism is plainly wrong. It is a religious belief that the whole universe and everything in it was physically manufactured by a deity and this is supposed to have taken place relatively recently. There are many variants of creationism, some of which actually accept scientific and geological evidence of the history of the universe, but reject evolutionary principles in favour of the superstitious views presented in the bible (Genesis).
The only aspect of creationism which is genuinely interesting and worthy of any form of study is how can seemingly intelligent and well informed people become so deluded and why would they choose to believe such nonsense? Is it because the truth is actually quite complicated and, therefore, it is much simpler and easier to believe that some form of ‘god’ knocked the whole of the universe together just because he or she could? Creationism does not make sense!
My mum holds lots of old-school superstitious beliefs. She believes that one can tell the future using a variety of arcane mechanisms such as tea-leaves, crystal balls and cards. She believes that the number 13 is genuinely unlucky, that an itchy palm means you will be coming into money and that new shoes should never be left on a table as this will bring bad luck.
All of these are plainly wrong. It would therefore be wrong for beliefs, such as these, to be presented alongside well proven scientific facts as potentially being true.
One of the greatest crimes that can be committed against society is to manipulate and adversely influence the thinking and reasoning capability of young people. Young people are malleable, they are relatively easy to influence, they are susceptible to emotionally driven behaviours and these can be evoked through persuasive, brain-washing techniques.
Creationism has no place in our schools or education systems, except as an interesting anachronism. We are living in the information age and this is to be celebrated. People no longer need superstitions to explain why things are the way they are and where everything came from. The information and evidence speaks for itself.
