NOTE: If you are the parent of a young child, please read this post.

I originally missed this story when it first came out on March 31, but caught wind of it over the weekend. The LA Times reports that students are challenging teachers more regularly and more effectively that try to teach neo-Darwinism in the classroom.

In Liberty, MO, biology teacher Al Frisby has his hands full:

As his students rummage for their notebooks, Frisby introduces his central theme: Every creature on Earth has been shaped by random mutation and natural selection — in a word, by evolution.

The challenges begin at once.

"Isn't it true that mutations only make an animal weaker?" sophomore Chris Willett demands. " 'Cause I was watching one time on CNN and they mutated monkeys to see if they could get one to become human and they couldn't."

Frisby tries to explain that evolution takes millions of years, but Willett isn't listening. "I feel a tail growing!" he calls to his friends, drawing laughter.

Students are not only educating themselves to the problem of Darwinian evolution, but the outcry against the teaching of Darwinism in school exclusively has caused many churches to begin taking this seriously, training their students more effectively in basic apologetics, teaching them the types of questions to ask.

Two decades of political and legal maneuvering on evolution has spilled over into public schools, and biology teachers are struggling to respond. Loyal to the accounts they've learned in church, students are taking it upon themselves to wedge creationism into the classroom, sometimes with snide comments but also with sophisticated questions — and a fervent faith.

As sophomore Daniel Read put it: "I'm going to say as much about God as I can in school, even if the teachers can't."

Such challenges have become so disruptive that some teachers dread the annual unit on evolution — or skip it altogether.

The new concern for parents who do not want their children taught Darwinism is the only (or best) explanation for the origin of life is that the American Association for the Advancement of Science has put together a teaching guide that will begin indoctrinating children at a much earlier age:

In response, the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science is distributing a 24-page guide to teaching the scientific principles behind evolution, starting in kindergarten. The group also has issued talking points for teachers flustered by demands to present "both sides."

The annual science teachers convention next week in Anaheim will cover similar ground, with workshops such as "Teaching Evolution in a Climate of Controversy."

"We're not going to roll over and take this," said Alan I. Leshner, the executive publisher of the journal Science. "These teachers are facing phenomenal pressure. They need help."

About half of all Americans dismiss as preposterous the scientific consensus that life on Earth evolved from a common ancestor over millions of years. Some hold to a literal reading of Genesis: God created the universe about 6,000 years ago. Others accept an ancient cosmos but take the variety, complexity and beauty of Earth's creatures as proof that life was crafted by an intelligent designer.

Religious accounts of life's origins have generally been kept out of the science classroom, sometimes by court order. But polls show a majority of Americans are unhappy with the evolution-only approach.

As the father of a soon-to-be kindergartener, it is disconcerting that such a strategy exists to begin the indoctrinating so early (though it is no surprise). This fact has been a major concern for my wife and I as we have begun the process of looking at schools for our child. Fortunately, as the groundswell against neo-Darwinism continues to mature, there are more and more resources that can help weed out the problems of Darwinism (and they are legion) for you and your family.

What this should stress to those of us who realize that Darwinism cannot adequately account for the origins of life on Earth is that we cannot wait to begin teaching basic apologetics to our children until they are older. By the time they are in the second grade, it is highly probable that they will be thoroughly indoctrinated in the religious system known as Darwinism.

Many teachers, such as Mr. Frisby, are taking new tactics, choosing to work a strategy that does not overtly challenge a student's religious belief, but instead demonstrates how Darwinism can work in tandem with Christian faith. He is adopting the two-story approach that Francis Schaeffer talks about in The God Who Is There and Nancy Pearcey expounds upon in Total Truth. He advocates leaving your faith out of the classroom; maintain your religious beliefs at church, but emphasizes they should not be a part of scientific study:

Growing up in nearby Independence, Mo., Frisby learned the biblical creation account from his mother, a Sunday school teacher. "I believed it without question," he said. "It was literal to me."

He doesn't remember hearing about evolution in high school, but then he didn't pay much attention to academics. It wasn't until college that he discovered a passion for biology.

One evening in 1968, Frisby was dissecting a shark's heart for a night course. As he spread the organ out in front of him, studying the looping valves and arteries, he had what he can only describe, with wonder, as a religious experience. "All those beautiful arches coming off the heart — it was just too perfect," he said. "I thought to myself, 'God could have created this animal just this way.' "

That satisfied his religious nature. But the scientist within him wouldn't let the matter rest. Dissecting more animal hearts, Frisby found the same awe-inspiring beauty. He also came to understand how an organ as complex as the heart could evolve; he could see the progression there on his lab table, from one chamber to two to four.

Frisby still believed that God created the universe, but his faith couldn't tell him what happened next; to answer that question, he concluded, he would need science.

At 22, he decided the best way to honor his faith was to hold it sacred in his heart — and to keep it out of his lab. [italics added]

Casting about for ways to explain that to his students, Frisby tried a new approach this year: He strapped a leather tool belt around his waist. Life, he told the class, required a variety of tools. Sometimes they would find it helpful to use art or music to help them make sense of their world. Sometimes they would use religion.

"We're in science class now, so we're going to use our science tools," he told them. "I don't want to be in a debate about religion or literature or art. My job is to explain evolution so you can understand it. Whether you accept it or not, that's your business."

What Mr. Frisby calls a "tool" is actually his entire worldview. What Mr. Frisby is really saying to his students is, trade in your biblical worldview for that of a Naturalist. In other words, for Mr. Frisby to make his differing beliefs work, he must hold at least two entirely different and competing worldviews.

The problem with Mr. Frisby's approach is that he is forced to live a life of dichotomy. He has his faith which speaks to a certain part of his life and his science that speaks to another and never shall the twain meet, so to speak. Unfortunate for Mr. Frisby, that worldview approach cannot work. Mr. Frisby is advocating a philosophical system that cannot hold up in the real world. A few minutes of questioning regarding his personal life would quickly reveal this truth.
I have said this before on this blog so I'll not go into the same detail again, but Frisby cannot live this philosophy out honestly. Christian faith and Darwinism do not mix because they lead to different conclusions; they answer worldview questions such as the meaning and purpose of life, the problem of evil, the nature of ultimate reality, etc. completely differently. Christianity leads to a living, personal God who directs and guides and provides purpose. Darwinism on the other hand leads to chance, irrationality, and the impossibility of a personal God.

Attempting to unite the two does not work when they are taken to their logical conclusion. That really doesn't matter to people like Mr. Frisby and others who teach your children, though. Their concern is not your child's trust in God but rather to use "religious speak" to serve a very narrow agenda. Mr. Frisby may talk of God, but it is only enough to have Him "put back in the tool belt."

If your philosophy of life is not able to deal with all issues, including religion and science without having to change to a completely different set of guiding principles, you're frankly living a lie...and whether you want them to or not, your children will be soon, as well.

Labels: David C. Price