Creation, Evolution, Ms. McKloskey's 3rd grade and tree frogs

2006-02-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

OK, we've fought long and hard and now it's official - you can't even mention Intelligent Design in a public classroom. The only official version of how the world came to be is evolution. So now that it's official, it's time to get our practices in line with the official, scientific ideas that we teach, hmm?

Now the main tenet behind evolution is that whatever species we have today are here because they adapted and survived. The world changed and these biological winners adapted succedssfully. They made it. Survival of the fittest.

For all that we line up to defend the teaching of evolution in schools, we certainly don't practice what any good evolutionist would - survival of the fittest. Instead, we invest massive amounts of time and energy to prop up the ones who aren't surviving, who aren't succeeding or adapting. Remedial reading, special ed, self esteem boosting, affirmative action - we act like The Big Benevolent, All-Loving, All-Accepting Higher Being (Fill in your name for it here_____________).

We want everyone to succeed, and we're upset when large groups don't make it. Something is wrong, we declare. We must do something. On the other hand, what is happening is clearly explained by what the science curriculum is putting out. Some adapt, some don't, says Darwin. But we refuse to practice this. Our intellects may be all for science and Darwin, but our guts and hearts believe in an Intelligent Designer with a heart as big as all outdoors.

And when the spotted owl or the rainbow darter or the singing tree frog is declared endangered and on the brink of extinction, we don't hear a big yawn from the scientific community. Hey, if we really bought into evolution we'd just shoot the last few and put them in a museum as proof that some make it and some don't. We'd analyze why they bombed and add a display of the mutated creatures that were making it. We'd be admiring the cockroach, the coyote and the rat.

But we don't. We knock ourselves out to make sure that all critters survive somehow. We agonize over losing species, which according to evolution has been happening since the beginning of time.

When it comes to a court case, evolution wins out in the classroom, perhaps out of pure turf jealousy. "We scientists are the source of truth now, and you can't get in the game. We remember what you did to Galileo, Copernicus and all those guys from our side. Now we're in charge of dispensing truth, and you're not. Nyah nyah. Won't even argue about it. Won't even mention your existence. Buzz off. "

The fight here really seems to be over: What is truth? And who gets to lay it out?

The evolutionistas may have won the court cases and control the science curriculum. When we look at how we do things from day to day, however, another picture emerges.

The truth is, we just don't buy survival of the fittest as the way to live. Heck, look at the basic idea the United States was founded on "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men were created equal."

Most people believe in some kind of a supreme being. (That some believe it is Bob Marley is neither here nor there) While we may lose the intellectual argument about evolution, in our guts we believe in a creator.

We design, we create. Even when we speak of evolving, we assume it is for the better, as if there is some intelligence at work, some plan which we may not be fully aware of. We submit to a mysterious power, and we evolve.

So design, plan, create. Or evolve. And see which one gets you where you want to go.

Abba Dabba.

Slamhar

Slamharley

Creation, Evolution, Ms. McKloskey's 3rd grade and tree frogs