PZ Myers rarely writes anything I find objectionable, but today he is so bang on that I feel compelled to share it with those few readers of mine who might not be regular visitors to Pharygula.
PZ basically wants to give young students the benefit of the doubt, rather than assuming they can't handle anything verging on ethically or intellectually challenging. Responding to Francis Collins' suggestion that kids of fundamentalist parents can't handle it when their world view collides with scientific reality, he writes:
As young people's crises go, the conflict between science and religion is a small one. Why not encourage more intellectual anguish than the usual "So-and-so doesn't want to go to the dance with me!"?
Exactly. Same goes for Matt Nisbet's opposition to showing "partisan" documentaries in school. I say they can handle it. And if teachers haven't prepared their students to think critically, then those teachers should be handed their walking papers.
- Log in to post comments
Might you mean Francis Collins? I don't suspect that Francis Crick cares too much these days....
My only thing is that it may not be the teachers' fault. The teacher can TRY to teach critical thinking all they want, but if there's no exposure to it, and in fact a purposeful denial of it at home, then all the schooling in the world will never teach the child anything.
Why is this challenge to young people's faith so traumatic for some?
1) Their religion has taught them stupid things that conflict with science.
2) Their religion has taught them that atheists cannot be moral.
3) Their religion has taught them that atheists have no purpose in their life (as opposed to being Yahweh's puppet).
4) Their religion has taught them that if they lose their faith, they will roast for eternity in the fires of hell.
Therefore, the degree of trauma accompanying the possibility of loss of faith is all caused by this emotional blackmail and psychological terrorism of some brands of religion, most notably those who place stock in salvation by faith. And yet, Collins bends over backwards, making every excuse possible (and then some) for religion.
Have a read: I made a Christian cry
A high school student simply states his atheism publicly in a classroom exercise, causing a Christian student to break down in tears. Who is to blame for this child's fragile emotional state? I say it is the fault of his religion, which has been foisted on him by his parents and church.