PZ Myers: The war between science and religion - Part 10/12

Faith has intruded into education like never before. In America schools are fighting to keep evolution in their science curriculum while others are fighting to keep the religious movement called creationism out.

This is not only a fight in the United States. In Alberta the government funds up to 70% of some Christian fundamentalist schools. In Ontario catholic schools funded by all taxpayers frequently deny admission to non-Catholic students. In Quebec, the new faith and ethics course denies equal time to secular ethical worldviews like humanism.

Dr. PZ Myers has been a longtime critic of intelligent design and has written extensively on the topic on his popular blog http://www.scienceblogs.com/pharyngula . Earlier this year the Catholic League asked the University of Minnesota to take legal action against Myers after he publicly criticized those who had sent death threats and hate mail to a young man who took a communion wafer back to his seat and didn't consume it as expected.

Dr. Myers has shown frequent contempt for religion on his blog. He once ripped out pages of the Q'uran and threw them in the garbage with old coffee grinds and banana peels. His university dismissed the call for action by stating that their faculty is allowed to express themselves however they see fit.

Dr. Paul Z Myers, PhD is a professor of biology at The University of Minnesota, Morris campus. He works with zebra fish in the department of evolutionary developmental biology. His blog, Pharyngula is the most widely read science and atheism blog on the Internet. He is a self-avowed godless liberal and as such is one of the most vocal skeptics on all forms of religion, pseudoscience and superstition.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Centre
• For
• Inquiry
• CFI
• Ontario
• PZ
• Myers
• Pharyngula
• Darwin
• evolution
• biology
• science
• eduation
• religion
• atheism
• Expelled

[Masher88]

Learning about other religions is part of what set me on the road to atheism a long time ago. Just the realization that there are hundreds of belief systems that all refute each other (with no basis in reality) showed me that religions are just a made up set of "answers" to questions about the natural world that couldn't be explained at the time.

[ananiasacts]

I think PZ should have mentioned Dan Dennett's suggestion that we teach what we do know to be true about the world's major religions as a normal part of primary education. The theory being that it could help to inoculate kids against any particular religion's ultra-rigid mindset.

We have minds that evolved to outwit and are happy to prey upon each other in almost every sense. I don't see what more is required to completely explain religion.

[ShawnsterVideos]

@mistereveready I am so glad you brought that up; "how pissed people get when their team loses or insult their favorite band. " I see it daily from people in Pittsburgh - they worship the Steelers, just because of home town affiliation. It's quite sad to see an entire city of dizzy sports team worshipers pay hundreds for game tickets souvenirs and stadium food, then complain about high taxes and gas prices.

You are right, stupidity is standard for religious people and sports fanatics.

[mistereveready]

well i'm not surprised at how dizzy people are about religion, its always impressed as some sort of invisible friend. but i see how pissed people get when their team loses or insult their favorite band. i guess stupidity is standard equip.

[WisdomVendor]

ditto masher88