Re: [Phys-l] The Perils of American Stupidity

["Dr. Keith S. Taber" <kst24@cam.ac.uk>]

At 15:15 -0600 9/11/10, John Clement wrote:
Unfortunately it is impossible to separate politics from education.

Of course. However...

> ...There is currently a linkage between being 
> anti-religious, environmentalist,
> Evolution, research based education, and many other left wing issues such as
> abortion in the minds of many people.  ...

...I'm not quite sure how 'evolution', a 
scientific idea, can be considered 'left wing' or 
indeed to have any other political position?

The USSR was meant to be politically 'left' but 
had some problems with scientific ideas about 
evolution (to the extent that during the 
Stalinist era they allowed millions to starve 
rather than follow Darwinian ideas about plant 
breeding)

I'm also intrigued about anti-religion being seen 
as left wing, but perhaps that is a specifically 
US notion? I think Methodism, for example, is 
widely considered to have acted as a precursor to 
socialist movements here. I think something 
similar might be said about the Society of 
Friends - they are well known for their early 
opposition to slavery and their antiwar stance.

(I had also thought US Baptist congregations were 
associated with the civil rights movement - is 
that an outsider's misconception?)

Š


> I went to Mexico, but when I
> told people in the small town I grew up in, they thought I went to Mexico,
> NY.

(I have a chapter in a book by Springer where 
someone copy editing for the publishers decided 
that I was from University of Cambridge, MA, UK! 
It says that in the list of contributors and on 
the first page of the chapter.)

> Of course in many European
> countries they teach the state religion in the schools so biblical ignorance
> may be lower, but religiosity is also lower.

That claim interests me.

European countries are very varied (both in terms 
of religion and education systems) - similarly to 
American countries - the US, Mexico, Chile etc 
are quite a varied group of Nations.

I would be surprised if within Europe religiosity 
is lower in those (many? perhaps, but not most 
surely) countries that formally teach religion in 
schools* than in those (the majority?) that 
don't*. However, that is just my hunch, and I'm 
prepared to be told I'm wrong if the evidence is 
strong.

* This kind of characterisation would be 
oversimplistic here (UK, not in MA): most state 
schools teach ABOUT the major world religions, 
but do not give religious instruction. However a 
minority of schools are faith schools (and not 
all Christian). This may be similar in some other 
European countries too.

Apologies for the ramblings, but I'm looking at 
student perceptions of science and religion at 
the moment, so these comments intrigued me.

Best

Keith



--
Dr. Keith S. Taber

http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/staff/taber.html
http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/kst24/

Author: Progressing Science Education - 
Constructing the Scientific Research Programme 
into the Contingent Nature of Learning Science 
(Springer: 2009)

University Senior Lecturer in Science Education

Science Education Centre
University of Cambridge Faculty of Education
184 Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 8PQ
United Kingdom

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