Warning: A Rant

by Ben

I read Isaiah 36-39.

This section recounts the story of Hezekiah vs. Assyria and the postponed death of Hezekiah.

Hezekiah, although grieving at the oncoming attack from the Assyrians (reported in a letter), takes time to pray to God. In fact, he puts the letter out in front of God and prays the following:

"God-of-the-Angel-Armies, enthroned over the cherubim-angels, you are God, the only God there is, God of all kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth. Listen, O God, and hear. Look, O God, and see. Mark all these words of Sennacherib that he sent to mock the living God. It's quite true, O God, that the kings of Assyria have devastated all the nations and their lands. They've thrown their gods into the trash and burned them - no great achievement since they were no-gods anyway, gods made in workshops, carved from wood and chiseled from rock. An end to the no-gods! But now step in, O God, our God. Save us from him. Let all the kingdoms of earth know that you and you alone are God" (Isaiah 37:15-20).

This prayer has much value even today. I was watching NOVA last night on PBS. The program was about the much debated trial of Intelligent Design vs. Evolution of Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District. The verdict of the trial was that ID is not a science and would never be taught in Dover schools. Although I agree with the decision in that the school board handled the whole situation poorly, I think it is a benefit that the discussion happened at all. It made people face the issue of how we educate our children. Mind you, it created much tension, even between family members, that still continues today. However, I think that is part of both good science and good faith.

We have to question beliefs, otherwise we don't grow. I don't know the ultimate truth of how humans came to be. I believe in the Bible, yet I believe that we can learn a lot through methodical observation of the world around us. I think that evolution should be taught in schools, but I also think that other ideas should be taught as well. I don't think that just because something cannot be tested by current methods means that it should be thrown out as an option. That's not good science. Testing and observation are part of the scientific method and should not be given up on so easily. Maybe there are other ways to test if there was a creator. I leave that to greater minds to ponder about.

This still leaves the question of what to teach our students. In science class, let us teach science, but I fear that we do our children a disservice by not trusting that they can study differing ideas and make their own decisions. Why do we teach any of what we teach in public education? What is the purpose of education? And what is the function of education? This article gives some suggestions as to both of these.

What if instead of teaching our children facts, we taught them how to think? Would they be able to make their own minds up about the origin of the species, God, and everything else?

Look back at the prayer above: how would you apply this prayer in relation to education and what we teach?


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A note: I studied to be a public educator, but now I currently serve as a youth advisor for a church in northeast Ohio. I believe that providing public education is important, but I think we need to reconsider what we teach based upon what our purpose for education is and for any functions that come as a result of that public education. I do not think that science and religion have to be at odds, nor do I think that anybody has everything figured out.