Pastor Gets Partial Credit on Teaching ID in Schools But Fails on Evolution

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I am giving Western Oklahoma Presbyterian Examiner Thomas Spence partial credit for his reason why creationism should not be taught in public schools but a fail on how evolution should be taught. Spence says that intelligent design or any version of creation should not be taught in public schools, which is the way it should be. However, his reasoning is that, "Any version of creation that could be agreed upon by a state department or local board of education will certainly be a sanitized, politically correct version..." Spence then says, "The real issue must be that evolution should be taught only as a theory".

I agree with Spence that we should be teaching our students logic and reasoning but I disagree with his statement that the theory of evolution is based on a broad application of a proportionately small number of facts. Although, I am not an evolutionary scientist even I know that there is a preponderance of facts to support evolution. In Spence's last paragraph though, he tries to sound reasonable with his thoughts on teaching thinking and reasoning skills but that is after he says evolution is based on assumption or premise. Funny, I thought belief was based on assumption and premise, the assumption there is a god and the premise that god is good and loving.

Should intelligent design be taught in public schools? As a Christian and as an American I say without hesitation, absolutely not! Any version of creation that could be agreed upon by a state department or local board of education will certainly be a sanitized, politically correct version of what should be taught by individuals, families, and churches in accordance with the faith and insight of each.

The real issue must be that evolution should be taught only as a theory. It is not a fact. It is an intelligent guess based upon the broadest application of inductive reasoning applied to a proportionately small number of facts. We need to teach our students logic and reasoning before introducing them to theories. The most elemental component of logic is that if the premise is false, then everything that follows can be proven to be true.

Evolution is based upon an assumption or premise. Belief in a divine creation is based on faith. We should address this issue at the core by the direct teaching of thinking and reasoning skills in our schools. When our students can effectively discern what is based in faith, assumption, fact, emotion, theory, or guesswork; then we have better prepared them to use their education regardless of the curriculum.