One evening a group of homeschool families went to the local synagogue (temple?) where someone there was kind enough to allow us to ask questions. One dad asked how Judaism deals with the Creation vs Evolution issue and I will never forget what followed.
The kind patient man said, "I'm no rocket scientist; I'm just a brain surgeon....?....trying to explain creation to a human would be like trying to explain the internet to a roach...?..." (That's the only part I remember.)
That's not an exact quote, but to this day that statement has taken much of the burden off of my shoulders and freed me to understand that as a mom or as a teacher I do not have to know all of the answers. To pretend that I do would be a lie. It's ok to simply be amazed and in awe with your students or with your children.
The only way you can explain some truths would be to reduce and cheapen them to the point of meaninglessness (or bumper sticker) and I don't want that.
If I have all of the supposed answers my children might stop asking questions. I don't want them to lose that "holy curiosity of inquiry" as Einstein put it.
I am ok with knowing something out there can't be explained or comprehended. I am also ok with knowing there are some conflicting explanations as to how it might have come to be. I don't mind being aware of those explanations - conflicting as they are.
And "God did it" doesn't fully quench the wonderment. I want to know "how" and that's when creationism turns more to Physics for a poor roach-like explanation.
I tell my children, matter of fact, here is what people believe to try to explain the "hows." I also tell my children that if you weren't there when it happened - this goes for history too - you don't really know. No one, not even the "experts," really know. We may have some accepted theories but the more information we acquire over the generations the more those theories will need be changed. If we are touting one as the only one not subject to question or doubt then we are creating a religion and doing science a disservice.
I thank God for Science! If it wasn't for science we would have our "educated" spending much time contemplating how many angels fit on the head of a needle.
Sure, we can do some experiments to prove some truths about the physical world around us but when it gets down to it our labs here on earth will never be an exact replica of the conditions found hundreds of millions of light years away because YOU WEREN'T THERE.
We are like bugs staring at a porch light amazed at its allure...
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For me, it goes back to what the Jewish brain-surgeon said: trying to explain these concepts would be like trying to explain the internet to a roach. Now we humans are good at fighting about things we don't understand but we are terrible at actually understanding them. Did that sound like a deep thought from Jack Handy?
Does anyone know what I am trying to say? Where are my people? Am I the only person in the world like me? I'm totally ok with that. =D
November 24, 2009 at 8:28 p.m.Inherit The Wind is on MGMHD channel right now if you have DirecTV.
" Inherit the Wind (1960) portrays, in partly fictionalized form, the famous and dramatic courtroom "Monkey Trial" battle (in the sultry summer of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee) between two famous lawyers (Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan) who volunteered to heatedly argue both sides of the case (over 12 days, including two weekends).
Its story centers around the issue of evolution vs. creationism, in the prosecution of 24 year-old Dayton High School mathematics teacher and sports coach - and substitute science teacher - John T. Scopes for violating state law (the 1925 Butler Act) by teaching the Darwin's theory of evolution in a state-funded school. The film's title was taken from the Biblical book of Proverbs 11:29: "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind.""
November 24, 2009 at 3:31 p.m.Thank you guys for your comments. This post wasn't a summation of our family's experiences with nature and the universe, science and it's theories and hypotheses, or experiments, just quick thoughts on how we are enthralled and in awe of it. In my "classroom" we handle all the explanations in a matter of fact manner without controversy and in an atmosphere of peace.
November 24, 2009 at 8:43 a.m.Here is the truth revealed in The Revelatorium!
November 24, 2009 at 7:46 a.m.http://www.revelatorium.com/
"You weren't there" explains nothing and offers no meaningful guidance, especially for curious children who deserve to be informed by the best science can provide as well as by the best (most uplifting) other viewpoints available, including that of a healthy religious perspective that affirms scientific discovery.
November 24, 2009 at 6:42 a.m.whom or what created the big bang? when we know that answer then we will know if it was god or not. every age of scientific advancement proves some of the old science and dis-proves the rest. most of histories great scientists were very religious men. some were priests. The quest for god and how we became to be has been one of the main driving forces of science. So maybe teaching both is not so bad after all until we do know that answer.
November 23, 2009 at 9:24 p.m.In the case of evolution, Scripture is very clear that God made man in His image (not as a primate). He made him and all the animal kingdom as male and female ("Evolutionary biology is unable to reveal why animals would abandon asexual reproduction in favor of more costly and inefficient sexual reproduction."), and He gave them (and every living animal) the ability to reproduce "after their own kind," and not to evolve in time into other "kinds" or species of animals. We see the truth of all of the above both in the fossil record and in the creation that surrounds us.
November 23, 2009 at 8:04 p.m.Free, I was remembering an Apologia Biology text that dedicated a whole module to the macro-evolution micro-evolution debate.
November 23, 2009 at 3:17 p.m.Kind of like how science changes.
November 23, 2009 at 2:37 p.m.I have the oringinal Compton's set my parents bought my brother and I back in '58.
Going through them sometimes it is amazing how some things known as "fact" back then have been changed some what.
I just asked for the names of the science books you mentioned! I thought the books dealt with both sides? I was just interested in reading how a creation based book dealt with the secular theories.
November 23, 2009 at 2:26 p.m.I live by these words from a Christian song, "everything rides on love now, everything rides on faith somehow." Third graders used to ask me if I believed the Darwin theory as true. I honestly answered no, and that it was a theory, yet to be proven. I remember when God dealt with me personally on this issue. He showed me that I didn't need to understand everything, but I did need to have faith in my Creator. This had a phenomenal impact on my life then, and how I handle my little part of the world, now.
November 23, 2009 at 1:45 p.m.Loved your blog, especially the statement "I
thank God for Science! If it wasn't for science we would have our "educated" spending much time contemplating how many angels fit on the head of a needle."
I have often refered people to the following website link to get a brief understanding of various religious in the world. Beware many of the other pages on this site are somewhat radical.
http://www.crossroad.to/charts/religi...
Another rather long detail is at this link:
November 23, 2009 at 1:35 p.m.http://www.ewtn.com/library/NEWAGE/CU...
Abeka books do that, but only contain a small amount of secular theories and from what I remember about that class (it has been years), the secular theories are presented as wrong. They could have changed the books in the 10 years since I had them. Maybe Rebecca uses a different curriculum...
November 23, 2009 at 10:56 a.m.I deleted the P.S. just in case that became the focus of the post because I wouldn't enjoy that. I Apologia for that, Freethinker.
November 23, 2009 at 10:27 a.m.Hi, could you give me the name of some of your science books that are creation based and explain secular theories? thanks
November 23, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.