Who Knows?

Science is a mystery to me. I have never been good at it. I failed biology spectacularly at school, receiving a dazzling U for unrated for my final exam, chemistry nearly blew me up (literally), and as for physics, well, let us just say I accept things as they are and never really felt the need to question them. For me life is NOT about the how it works, but that it does. I guess you could call me simple in a non-offensive way. However, for some, science is their life, their be-all-and-end-all, and honestly I thank goodness for those people. Without them, the world would not be as it is today. They are our lifeline to existence and development.
Yesterday, whilst on a long car journey, I discovered an ongoing issue with science. My ignorance to this is not a surprise given my interest in the subject but it got my attention. I tuned in to a public radio station and happen to listen to a discussion about Evolution versus Creation. It seems that when it comes to public education there is a conflict raging here in the USA on how to teach science.
I did a little homework (this is science remember) and found that this ongoing battle has been running for decades and not just in the USA, but also all over the world. I found court case after court case reciting the first amendment clause, people battling a state or each other, and polls taken left, right, and center to see which side is tipping the scale. New names and scientific offshoots appeared such as Creation Science and Intelligent Design but when it boils down to it, it is nothing other than the battle of the two sides. It is a huge deal.
Creationism was studied predominantly in school science initially (obvious of course). Then with time and development of theories such as those of Darwin (let us just ignore the whole WW2 issue with Darwin's theory and elimination of the weak. That totally blew my mind!), and the need to separate religion from state, "Evolutionist Science" came into play. Some US states have passed their own rules to give equal time in the classroom for both sides of the argument but most do not mention Creationism at all.
Religion you may or may not know is a huge no-no in American public schools. Heavens, my son received a good telling off not long after we moved to America. He took his favorite joke book into school and one of the punch lines (out of at least a few hundred) happened to be, 'how the devil are you?' This is a common expression in the UK, a sin apparently in a US school.
Whether you believe our existence is as a direct result of the handiwork of God, or that we came from a monkey looking primate is not why I am concerned. It is the fact that education, it seems, is tilted to such an extent that we deny believers of either side of the scientific argument the right to learn and form their own opinion.
Surely to make your own judgment is a human right. If both of these theories are presented in such a way that it does not try to indoctrinate our children to any religion or belief, then our teachers are giving them the right to decide for themselves. In addition, could it be that giving a historic view of how science is viewed from both sides could possibly lead to connections for future development. There are always two sides to every story.
As so many high-ranking individuals have presented their stance on this issue, is it possible this conflict is actually a political and religious battle hidden under the guise of education and our classrooms are the dividing lines? If so, I for one am not comfortable with this. Education should not be a weapon to eliminate others view. It should be unbiased. It is there to help our children learn, grow, and develop into well-rounded educated individuals and they cannot do that without all the facts.
So, for me, I vote for my children knowing the facts of Creation and Evolution. I will trust that when they feel informed enough they will make their own decisions and be courageous enough to respect others even if their opinion differs.

They Can’t Rewrite History, Can They?

In 1857 women didn’t have many options. They couldn’t vote, they couldn’t own property, and you hardly, if ever, heard of a woman having an education that went further than finishing school. The best most women could hope for was to marry well. Then one day in 1857, a far-sighted gentleman decided to give ten thousand dollars and eight acres of land for the education of women. For 154 years Peace College in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been doing just that, educating women, until an announcement was made on July 21 that the school was going to become coeducational and the name would change to William Peace University.

Since the announcement, debate and controversy have ensued, but not for the reason some might think. While Peace is a private college, the board of trustees and the president are not required to discuss or review proposed changes with the student body, the alumnae, or even the faculty, so the announcement was made without prior knowledge to anyone, save the board and the current president. In fact, as early as January of this year, the board had announced that going coed was not even on the table, let alone a name change. Oh yeah, then there is all the business about complete course studies being done away with and tenured professors being forced out. So I guess you could say that an entire community was sucker punched and expected not to exhale.

Critics came out of the woodwork, making statements about the women who protested the change. (Although most were protesting the way the change was brought about and announced.) The comments ranged from: “men haters, left wing feminists, these are the same types of women who complain about so called glass ceilings,” and, “just go get your husband’s wallet.” Holy 1950’s, Batman! What year are we living in? There was the one who wrote: “You wanted the Equal Rights Amendment, you got it, now suck it up.” (Now that’s just plain silly. Only 35 of the necessary 38 states have ratified the ERA. When three more states vote yes, only then would it be possible that the ERA could be the 28th amendment.) These critics missed the point entirely. The dissent has everything to do with a lack of communication and preserving the history and integrity of a place that many called home for a time. You wouldn’t change the name of your home would you? A rose by any other name would, quite simply, no longer be a rose.

You see, I attended Peace College and it holds more than special memories for me. When I went there it was a community of women who learned together and grew into womanhood together. When I wrote “A Journey of Peace” this month, it was to share my history. Mine is just one little story out of the many that found a place to become. But the great “they” have already decided to change the history that I knew. On the college website they have reworked Peace’s history. Where it used to say “Peace College has a long tradition of providing education to women,” it now says “Peace has a long tradition of providing education.” Gone is the initial statement that once said William Peace provided the land and money for the continued education of women. The final sentence of that web page used to say “Peace College enjoys a reputation of providing women a unique environment…” and now says: “Today Peace College enjoys a reputation of providing a unique environment.” I used to love history; I just didn’t realize it could be so easily rewritten.