The Importance Of A Science Education

Teaching children the earth is only 6,000-years-old, that human beings and dinosaurs lived on the earth at the same time, and that the story of Noah’s Ark is true, constitutes intellectual child abuse.

Every child deserves an education. However, many children in the U.S. and around the world are denied an education in the name of religious superstition. In the U.S. some children are denied a science education because they are being home-schooled or attend Christian schools that fail to teach the facts of basic biology, like evolution.

Instead of learning about evolution, children in extreme Christian environments are taught creationism. This is wrong, and immoral. Children have a right to a science education. Denying children a science education

But we don’t want our kids, our science students, to be indoctrinated into that weird worldview, because our kids are the scientists and engineers of the future. They need to be the innovators that drive the U.S. economy in the coming decades.”

And speaking to Popular Mechanics about the problems of teaching children creationism, and why evolution is key to a science education, Nye declared:

“Science is the key to our future, and if you don’t believe in science, then you’re holding everybody back. And it’s fine if you as an adult want to run around pretending or claiming that you don’t believe in evolution, but if we educate a generation of people who don’t believe in science, that’s a recipe for disaster. We talk about the Internet. That comes from science. Weather forecasting. That comes from science. The main idea in all of biology is evolution. To not teach it to our young people is wrong.”

Nye is not alone. Top scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss also advocate for children, arguing children should be allowed to develop as critical thinkers and be protected from religious

The fact is, for many, once biblical creationism is rejected, Christianity unravels: there is no Adam and Eve, no original sin, and no need for redemption through the blood of Christ.

In addition, once one biblical account of supernatural absurdity is rejected, all other biblical accounts of supernatural absurdities become suspect, including the absurdity that is God. Indeed, implicit in evolution is a powerful argument for atheism. And this drives some Christians to ridiculous positions, like clinging to the untenable claim that the earth is only 6,000 years old, that human beings and dinosaurs lived on the earth at the same time, and that the story of Noah’s Ark is true.

To conclude: Forcing children to accept the religious superstitions of their parents is a form of child abuse. And it follows that teaching children Biblical creationism as a legitimate scientific alternative to the theory of evolution is an example of such child