07AR12-01

( - previous issue - )

Apologia Report 12:1

January 5, 2007

Subject:  Teaching Biological Origins: A Civil Approach

In this issue:

ORIGINS - "little to choose between the two triumphalistic narratives" 

-------

ORIGINS

"A Clash of Opposing Worldviews: How One Professor Teaches the Intelligent Design/Evolution Controversy" by Robert J. Nash [1] -- the best non-conservative example of *teaching the controversy* that we've come across. Nash is "a veteran college professor who teaches a unit on this topic in his elective graduate course 'Religious Pluralism for Educators.' Many public school teachers and administrators sign up for this course every year, along with a number of higher education administrators. ...

   Nash explains that "I seek to be a reconciling force in the ID/EV debate without watering down those intractable intellectual, political, and philosophical differences in the opposing views. This is dangerous, of course, because both sides have accused me of selling out to the oppositon...." To temper the experience for all, he finds: "There are times in my seminars when I insist that orthodoxy must give way to heterodoxy if only to preserve some semblance of respectful interchange with one another. I refer to this as 'methodological (not doctrinal) heterodoxy,' for without it, conversation about religious difference is impossible."

   It is his custom to always disclose his own point of view right away, part of which includes the remark that "as a philosopher, I believe that no single epistemology or ontology, no matter how intellectually compelling, is able to bear the full weight of answering, once and for all, every existential question that has plagued humanity since the beginning of time."

   Nash provides "a brief summary of the main points of Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Evolution, as well as some issues that come up in my classes around the ID/EV controversy and how I handle them." He explains that "whenever the ID/EV controversy takes center stage in my course [many students] become strident fundamentalists" for one of these two worldviews.

   Nevertheless, he is frequently surprised by evidence that "few points of view on this topic are even minimally informed.... For example, just this past year, not a single student (including many EV supporters) in a seminar of 25 people had even heard of the landmark Dover School District Memorandum Opinion for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on December 20, 2005. On the other side, I have had very few ID students who could explain with any degree of clarity the hallmarks of the ID movement. And fewer still are able to distinguish the fine points between creationism and ID. ...

   "Knowing that any notion of truth is always context-dependent, inconsistent, and, to some extent, hidden from the eyes of its beholder, is, I believe, the precondition for examining all sides of the ID/EV controversy, especially as it plays itself out in education at all levels."

   In his effort to "flesh out the nuances" between naturalism and supernaturalism, Nash lays out five assumptions that "most EV scientists" agree upon. While he identifies moderate and "less moderate" EV scientists, he makes a distinction between orthodox and moderate creationists, naming some in each camp. Similarly, he identifies orthodox and moderate ID representatives.

   Nash tracks vital aspects of the debate. "Some orthodox ID writers are able to accept both the Genesis account of creation and the scientific posit that the earth is billions of years old. ...

   "Moderate ID scholars propose that the universe has been designed by an intelligence, and they believe they have found a scientific alternative to evolution. Most do not rely on the Genesis account of flood geology, or sudden creation in the Bible, and neither do they believe in a young earth. Many are also resolutely agnostic on the identity of who or what constitutes the intelligent designer. ...

   "[C]ontrary to EV charges that all ID proponents want to smuggle their God-driven agendas into science curricula at every level of public education, there are some ID scholars who could care less whether this happens. They strongly support the separation of church and state....

   "Some [ID advocates] carry an agenda of 'Christian cultural renewal.' Others, such as Bruce Chapman, the founder of the Discovery Institute, promote the political values of free market and individual liberty as a logical outgrowth of an intelligently designed universe. And a few, such as Jonathan Wells (a lifelong member of Rev. Sun Yung [sic] Moon's Unification Church), in his book Icons of Evolution [2], spend their time pointing out instances of past and present fraud in evolutionary research. The usual culprits exposed by the ID critics include Mendel's questionable fishy figures, Haeckel's manufactured pictures of fake embryos, the Piltdown Man hoax presented as the key missing link between ape and man, and Kettlewell's deliberately faked work with peppered moths, among other well-publicized frauds."

   Nash says his teaching method is "a variation of 'worldview analysis,' a phrase first coined by Ninian Smart in Worldviews: Crosscultural Exploration of Human Beliefs [3]. ...

   "I am attracted to Stephen Jay Gould's concept of 'non- overlapping magisteria' which he advocates in his Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life [4]. ... Gould confesses: 'I believe, with all my heart, in a respectful, even loving, concordat between the magisteria of science and religion.'"

   Nash emphasizes: "I want my students to be open to the possibility that a mutually respectful, even mutually beneficial, concordat can exist between religion and science, wherein both magisteria are able to cooperate with, and enrich, the worldviews of one another. ... I agree with Huston Smith that a division of labor can exist between religion and science, because each deals with separate ontological domains. ... I would like both sides to begin to look for what I call 'worldview overlaps.' ...

   "My own preference is for Creationism/ID to find a home in the humanities and EV in the sciences. If there is overlap, it might be in the social sciences, in such subject matter as sociology, anthropology, and political science. ... the greatest obstacle to locating a concordat in the social sciences, however, is the increasing tendency of some social scientists in the academy to exaggerate the *scientific,* rather than the *humanistic,* components of their disciplines. This might be called a quest for 'glory by association,' and it is an understandable strategy for social scientists desperate for the intellectual prestige associated with the more elite natural sciences, particularly at a time when the influence of the social sciences is waning" - citing Clueless in Academe [5] and The Moral Collapse of the University [6].

   Nash finds the meager fruit of seeking middle ground worthwhile because, "at the extremes, there is really little to choose between the two triumphalistic narratives. ... The ultimate victims in all of this, I believe, are civility, intellectual integrity, academic freedom, principled compromise, and a genuine spirit of pluralism."

   The required reading for Nash's course consists of these three texts: Total Truth, by Nancy Pearcey [7]; God, the Devil, and Darwin, by Niall Shanks [8]; and Can Darwin Be a Christian?, by Michael Ruse [9]. In addition, for background Nash recommends Skeptics and True Believers, by Chet Raymo [10]; and Why Religion Matters, by Huston Smith [11].

   Nash wraps up by discussing "four key qualities I hope to model" as he teaches teachers: humility, faith ("trusting that what we hear from others is worthwhile in some way"), self-denial, and charity. This last quality "is all about generosity and graciousness, and it is a virtue tragically missing in higher education today. Sadly, it is also a quality conspicuously missing in the country-wide ID/EV debate, with few exceptions."

   He concludes with a bow to Francis S. Collins [12], one of those exceptions, who Nash sees as exemplifying each quality. In the process, Nash concisely summarizes Collins' conversion experience and how evidence of it is seen in Collins living out each of those key qualities. One class act follows another. Definitely worth adding to your tool box. Religion & Education, 33:3 - 2006, pp90-113.

   The entire issue of this journal is focused on origins. For a look, see <http://fp.uni.edu/jrae/Fall%202006/Fall%202006%20 Issue%20Contents.htm>

 --------

Sources, Digital:

1 - http://fp.uni.edu/jrae/Winter%202006/Winter%202006%20Contributors.htm

 -------

Sources, Monographs:

2 - Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution Is Wrong, by Jonathan Wells (Regnery, 2002, paperback, 338 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895262002/apologiareport>

3 - Worldviews: Crosscultural Exploration of Human Beliefs, by Ninian Smart (Prentice Hall, 1999, paperback, 224 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130209805/apologiareport>

4 - Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life, by Stephen Jay Gould (Ballantine, 2002, paperback, 256 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/034545040X/apologiareport>

5 - Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind, by Gerald Graff (Yale Univ Prs, 2004, paperback, 320 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300105142/apologiareport>

6 - The Moral Collapse of the University: Professionalism, Purity, and Alienation, by Bruce W. Wilshire (State Univ of NY Prs, 1990, paperback, 287 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0791401979/apologiareport>

7 - Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity, by Nancy Pearcey (Crossway, 2004, hardcover, 480 pages)  <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1581347642/apologiareport>

8 - God, the Devil, and Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory, by N. Shanks (Oxford Univ Prs, 2004, hardcover, 273 pages)  <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195161998/apologiareport>

9 - Can Darwin Be a Christian? The Relationship between Science and Religion, by Michael Ruse (Cambridge Univ Prs, 2004, paperback, 254 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521637163/apologiareport>

10 - Skeptics and True Believers, by Chet Raymo (Walker, 1999, paperback, 288 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802775640/apologiareport>

11 - Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief, by Huston Smith (HarperSanFrancisco, 2001, paperback, 304 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060671025/apologiareport>

12 - The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis Collins (Free Press, 2006, hardcover, 304 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743286391/apologiareport>

-------

( - next issue - )