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Wednesday, 28 January 2009 |
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Evolution lecture methods anger some Christians
By NIKKI ROBERTI
Lifestyles Reporter
I’ve been taking biology classes for the past five years. In high school, I had to pick a science to specialize in and since I’m no good at math, Physics and Chemistry were out of the question.
After three years of Biology in high school, you’d think I would be done; but now in college, I’m doing my general science credit in-you guessed it- Biology.
This semester my
Biology 1102 professor is a younger guy who only taught the class once
before. Personally, I was excited about getting someone who didn’t seem
as old as the subject he was teaching. But other people in the class
were a bit bothered by his methods.
For the evolution section of the course, he said he would present it as
a court case. Basically, he tried to prove why evolution was correct.
However, he would make statements regarding other cases around the
country where public schools are thinking about adding the theory of
intelligent design to the curriculum and say he is against anyone
saying that evolution is just a theory.
Sure, evolution is considered just a theory, hence being called the
theory of evolution, but still, he has his opinions like everyone else
in the world is allowed to have.
Some students after the class had a discussion about how he went too
far with his opinions. Sure, showing statistics about how less than
half of the United States believes in evolution and saying how he
didn’t understand how that was possible was a bit interesting to say
the least. But, I think displaying a letter of apology to Charles
Darwin issued last year from the Catholic Church hit too close to home
to some students in the lecture hall. Is that even applicable to the
material?
Some students said they thought about writing him letters. One mentioned going to the Department Chair to complain.
Religion can make up a huge part of who someone is. There are some
people who practically shout from the rooftops what they believe in and
there are others who are closet believers who think that religion is a
personal thing.
Sure, it’s good to not be ashamed of what you believe in and often it’s
encouraged by many religions to speak about your faith to others, but
sometimes certain atmospheres and situations may factor in on how you
should deal with a situation.
A professional situation is one of those places where beliefs need to be handled carefully.
Did the professor go too far with his lecture? Maybe. Perhaps trying to
prove evolution was a less effective way to teach the topic than he
hoped.
Should the students write letters or inform the chair? Perhaps. Maybe they were just being too sensitive.
But here’s the thing, although religion can be a huge part of someone’s
identity, sometimes in order to learn and understand others, you need
to be able to set your beliefs aside.
I personally believe in Creation, but I’ve aced every test I’ve had on
evolution. I can learn the material and still hold my beliefs.
And because I know such material on evolution, I can now engage in
conversations with evolutionists and discuss our differing beliefs in a
well-educated manner.
I do think the professor went a little too far, but I understand that
he is passionate about the topic and that he has only taught the class
twice. He’s new. I think he deserves grace as he fine-tunes his methods.
If anything, I think addressing the Department Chair is going farther than the teacher ever did.
Students who have a problem with a teacher or their methods should
address the teacher first. At least inform him of your feelings.
Perhaps he’ll apologize or perhaps he’ll ignore you. If he continues to
offend, THEN go to the chair.
But the fact remains the same: it is important for people of any
religion, belief, or opinion to learn how to separate themselves in
some cases so that they may be able to understand others around them
without being offended.
Sure, it’s important to state your beliefs and to not be ashamed; but
in my opinion, I think it’s a more effective witness for
Christians/Creationists to give someone grace. Have enough respect for
the professor to talk to him directly. Open up the conversation and
state your beliefs. You have that right.
But the way to win any debate is to not try to throw someone under the bus while his or her back is turned.
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