Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Textbook Creationism

Mr. Stewart mentioned the creationist textbook "Of Pandas And People." This was in relation to the Supreme Court case Edwards v. Aguillard, in which Louisiana had a "creationism act". The act made it so that if either creationism or evolution was taught, the other also had to be taught. Aguillard was a teacher who thought that this violated the first amendment, and challenged it. The ruling was in favor of Aguillard, against the Louisiana statute.
A quick search of "Of Pandas And People" returns an image of what seems to be a typical biology textbook. On the wikipedia page, an image of a panda lies on the cover of the textbook. Further examination of what seems, aesthetically, like a stereotypical biology textbook, reveals the pseudoscientific nature of the book. The main argument the book seems to deny the very rationale of scientific critical thought. The main issue to me is the fallacious premise of the book. Objections given to evolution are that there are a lack of "transitional fossils" and gaps in the fossil record. This claim that, because of this, evolution is false and therefore God is the designer, is a God of the gaps fallacy (aka argument from ignorance). The God of the gaps fallacy describes the fallacious logic in thinking that gaps in scientific knowledge/evidence is direct evidence for God's existence. However, those gaps are not evidence for God's existence- it's just a place where science or chance hasn't given evidence that we can examine. This fallacy proves the conclusion that creationism isn't really a theory of science- it's a conclusion of religion. Therefore, it gives the grounds for the Supreme Court to rule against it.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

How Fast Fashion is Destroying the Environment and Exploits Workers

Fast fashion is cheap clothing that is mass-produced in order to be trendy and more fashionable. This clothing is essentially disposable as ...