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I believe very strongly that we need to teach our children how to distinguish a false claim from one supported by evidence. It is not facts they need to learn, it's how to recognize and interpret evidence.
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Yes, agreement! We need to teach children "how" to think, not "what" to think.
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I agree, too. Unfortunately, the trend in education for some way to gauge how "effective" a teacher is and how "well" the students learn has led us to the use of standardized tests. Such tests stress the "what" more than the "how." Indeed, it's possible to pass a purely objective test without knowing anything about the subject being tested.
I think there are also too many people who are just as afraid of "how" people think as "what" they think.
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... It isn't really "science" vs. "religion." Religion is not the enemy.
Dogma is the enemy. ...
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Dogma is acceptance without critical thought... which is probably why people who cling fiercely to dogma (of any kind) don't really want people to learn "how" to think.
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There is a lovely quip, which I have heard attributed to one of the participants in the Scopes Monkey Trial...
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"I am more interested in the Rock of Ages than the age of rocks." -- Mathew Harrison Brady (Fredrick March),
Inherit the Wind
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Dogma is the enemy when it says, "Yo, Science, you're wrong!" And, upon a few occasions, science is the enemy when it says, "Yo, Religion, you're wrong!"
Silas
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I don't think it's necessarily bad for religion (science) to call science (religion) wrong. It's the context of that claim and what follows that can cause trouble.
And this gets us back to "creation science."
We have some people claiming that accepted scientific theory is wrong (which is in keeping with the precepts of science) and offering a religion-based pseudoscience as an alternative (which is not). If they wish to contest a scientific theory, that's good... that's what science is all about. But, they need to do so within the context and framework of science, offering rebuttals and/or alternatives that can be tested.
The existence of God cannot be tested, only accepted on faith. Or not.