Separation of Church and State

Bill Frist has apparently agreed publicly with President Bush that Creationism (also known as Intelligent Design) should be taught in America's classrooms as an alternative to Evolution. Hogwash.

America is founded on the freedom of religion and the separation of Church and State. Creationism is a religious belief which, Catholics at least, are not obligated to believe. Every Catholic has the right believe or to not believe that God created the world in six days - that alone should be enough argument to keep it from being taught in a science class! I do believe in God, but I do not believe in the Biblical story of Creation and Adam and Eve. I believe in the messages that were taught when using these parables. These are stories which are told to express a belief in God at a time when science was unable to offer an explanation of our beginnings. Now we are able to offer the theory of Evolution.

If you believe in God, as I do, than you surely know that many Christians believe God to be Omnipotent. (Though if God can do no evil than explain to me how he is omnipotent.) Nevertheless, let's assume God is all powerful. Is He not able to have created a world, a universe which is based upon the principals of Evolution, the signs of which we are discovering all around us? Could God not allow the development of species and allow their demise as part of His plan? If you believe he is Omnipotent, than you must believe that He certainly CAN do just that. The history of our world (in whichever branch of science you may choose: biological, physics, astronomy, medicine, etc) which we know and understand all support evolution as the manner in which species change, evolve, adapt - usually predicated on the need to survive! This is also true of man as the only cognizant and rational species - we still seek new ways to understand our universe and our origins. We work through our sciences in part to achieve many great things for the continuation of our species. We are evolving! It's a marvelous thing, but it can also be frightening. New views demand a change of a belief - whether it is a faith based belief or a scientific belief. Change always has the possibility to challenge us to grow. Move forward. Evolve. All compatible with an omnipotent God, yes? Yes. In the end "the unknown is unknowable." I choose Evolution as the greater work of God, in which he gives this wonderful ability to adapt to even the lower creatures and plants. And so much more to us. Science, if God is about, is his gift to man as well - for we are HIs creation, as are our minds! I believe He wants us to discover a great deal and use this knowledge for the good of man, and our planet.



The dire and harmful step we are embracing if the country decides to allow Creationism to be taught as a science when it is not a science is profoundly disturbing. You cannot teach Faiths' beliefs in a science class. These beliefs are founded on trust in God alone from a text, the Bible, which has been pointed out as being full of stories - parables - and for which there is no scientific discipline which can provide any sort of an answer. Why? Because a belief is an intangible thing of the heart. A belief is a glorious gift to receive, but use it wisely, support those members of your Church, Temple or other house of worship and understand your Faith's rich heritage and explain the texts as you would in any class: words with different meanings being pulled apart, texts examined to discover which is the most likely meaning when this parchment comes from this time and this word means this, but also this and this too. There is a marvelous place for Science and Religion to interact together which should be worthwhile to both. But not in Science class, please! In World Religion, please! Give the honor due Religion - for it is a driving force of man as long as we know man has existed - it does have a place, even a scientific place. But that place is not in the science lecture our children will attend about Evolution.

Jesus Christ said "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and give unto God what is God's." If my memory serves me for the quote. Here is another way of stating the same good advice. Give your children a marvelous Faith, in which Love is the greatest act you can give or receive in honoring God and His people, study all the wonderful and comforting texts of your Church and do so proudly. Then send your children to classes where they may be educated in Science, Mathematics, History, Arts, Literature, World Cultures, Religions and all the great studies of men. Let them embrace the magnificent knowledge that men have accumulated over millenniums which gives us all the lives we are priveligied to have today. When our children have both Faith and Science I think they will be a strong and happy people.

And for those of our children and adults who do not have a Religion or Faith, speak in the religion class about what Agnostic and Atheist mean. And PLEASE, teach our children and adults of the prevalent Catholic and Protestant Christian groups that the Buddist, Islamic and Jewish peoples all have something which we may learn from, let us in an appreciation of a world of many cultural beliefs take our brothers and sisters to heart, as friends, with whom we must learn to live in order to survive.