{"id":1990,"date":"2011-09-21T09:54:21","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T13:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=1969"},"modified":"2011-09-21T09:54:21","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T13:54:21","slug":"antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html","title":{"rendered":"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

My freshman \u201cFaith, Doubt and Reason\u201d class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich\u2019s treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of Faith<\/em> raised the issue of whether faith is necessary in the natural sciences, which led some students (the vast majority, at least of those who spoke) to express a \u201clack of belief in evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

So we discussed how scientists draw conclusions, what a \u201ctheory\u201d is in the natural sciences, and the legitimacy of inference and deduction. I used the inferences drawn by linguists about languages having evolved from common ancestors, based on \u201cfossils,\u201d to the inferences drawn from the evidence in biology.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere around the blogosphere, others have been touching on matters of evolution and creationism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kyle Hill offers a simple rebuttal to the common creationist argument from incredulity<\/a>. Steve Matheson discusses what Darwin did and didn\u2019t know<\/a>.<\/p>\n

David Hayward made a cartoon illustrating the fears some Christians have of science<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jerry Coyne shared an image of Jewish creationist propaganda (for discussion of\u00a0real<\/em> sci-fi go here<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He also discussed a fake fossilized cowboy boot on display at a creationist exhibit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arni Zechariassen discusses Michael Reiss\u2019 recent statements on creationism in the science classroom<\/a>. Jim Kidder discussed David Attenborough\u2019s stance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mike Klymkowsky shared a link<\/a> to an article about new methods of correlating fossils and DNA evidence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joel Watts shared a relevant video clip<\/a>, as well as emphasizing that problems with treating Genesis 1 as historical\/factual have been around significantly longer than Darwin\u2019s theory of evolution<\/a>. Jim West considers annoying atheists to be more important than teaching science accurately<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In trying to make sense of the thinking behind various forms of denialism, note the recent research indicating that people tend to assume that a silent, non-voting majority is on their side<\/a>.<\/p>\n

John Wilkins discusses science and the investigation of the unnatural<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matthew Paul Turner shared a photo that nicely expresses the impression Christian give when they link Jesus to pseudoscience<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you need some humor to comfort you after all that, see David Lamb\u2019s completely unrelated post on planking in the Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My freshman \u201cFaith, Doubt and Reason\u201d class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich\u2019s treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of Faith raised the issue of whether faith is necessary in the natural sciences, which led some students (the vast majority, at least of those who spoke) to express a \u201clack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,131,17,137,139,42,148,152,78,86,108],"tags":[686,1200,1835,1846,1848,2269,2272,2454,2970,3217,5273,10886],"class_list":["post-1990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christianity-religion","category-education","category-evolution-science","category-fundamentalism-religion","category-humor","category-intelligent-design-pseudoscience","category-judaism-religion","category-pseudoscience","category-science-fiction","category-young-earth-creationism","tag-antievolutionism","tag-biology","tag-christian","tag-christianity-religion","tag-christians","tag-creation","tag-creationism","tag-darwin","tag-education","tag-evolution-science","tag-intelligent-design","tag-science"],"yoast_head":"\nAntievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My freshman "Faith, Doubt and Reason" class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich's treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My freshman "Faith, Doubt and Reason" class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich's treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-21T13:54:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.nakedpastor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/inappropriate-tees-2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html\",\"name\":\"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-21T13:54:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-09-21T13:54:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"My freshman \\\"Faith, Doubt and Reason\\\" class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich's treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere","description":"My freshman \"Faith, Doubt and Reason\" class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich's treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere","og_description":"My freshman \"Faith, Doubt and Reason\" class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich's treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2011-09-21T13:54:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.nakedpastor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/inappropriate-tees-2.jpg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html","name":"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-09-21T13:54:21+00:00","dateModified":"2011-09-21T13:54:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"My freshman \"Faith, Doubt and Reason\" class yesterday took an unexpected turn, as a discussion of Paul Tillich's treatment of symbols in his Dynamics of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/09\/antievolutionism-in-the-classroom-and-around-the-blogosphere.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Antievolutionism in the Classroom and around the Blogosphere"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}