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STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS IN COLLEGE LEVEL GEOSCIENCE COURSES

STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS IN COLLEGE LEVEL GEOSCIENCE COURSES. Robert C. Thomas Department of Environmental Sciences The University of Montana-Western Dillon, Montana r_thomas@umwestern.edu. DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM?. Bible thumping and yelling during class

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STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS IN COLLEGE LEVEL GEOSCIENCE COURSES

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  1. STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS IN COLLEGE LEVEL GEOSCIENCE COURSES Robert C. Thomas Department of Environmental Sciences The University of Montana-Western Dillon, Montana r_thomas@umwestern.edu

  2. DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM? • Bible thumping and yelling during class • Fundamentalist literature placed under the professor’s office door or in their mailbox • Comments on evaluations that “the professor was not open to alternative theories” • Students who get geology degrees for the sole purpose of legitimizing their opposition to geologic time and biological evolution

  3. CAN WE AFFORD TO IGNORE IT? • Students need to understand why science is a methodology, not a belief • Students need to see how they use this methodology in every day life • Students need to understand how science and faith are different, but not necessarily incompatible • Students need to understand why the scientific method can’t be utilized to test the existence of a creator

  4. TEACHING THE SCIENTIFIC METHODFINDING THE CLASSROOM Use examples from common experience How did you find the classroom? • Gather information - get a map • Construct a model - plan of action • Test the model - go find the class • Reject the model - didn’t work Place heavy emphasis on the need to reject the model • Give examples from the history of geology (continental drift) • Be willing to give examples of your own difficulties rejecting models • Point out that if you can’t reject your model, someone will reject it for you!

  5. TEACHING THE SCIENTIFIC METHODTHE STOPLIGHT ANALOGY The data show • Green = go • Red = stop • Yellow = “go like hell” Option #1 • Choose the time-tested model and go when the light is green Option #2 • Have faith that red means “go” even though the data don’t support the model

  6. TEACHING THE SCIENTIFIC METHODTESTING FOR THE DESIGNER • Provide a reading on Intelligent Design • Pose the following questions: Using the scientific method, design a scientific experiment to test for the existence of an intelligent designer. Based on your results, is Intelligent Design appropriate for inclusion in the science curriculum of a public school? Why or why not?

  7. COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU! “Although there are scientific reasons for accepting a young earth, I am a young-age creationist because that is my understanding of the Scripture. As I shared with my professors years ago when I was in college, if all the evidence in the universe turns against creationism, I would be the first to admit it, but I would still be a creationist because that is what the Word of God seems to indicate. Here I must stand.” ….Kurt Wise “we believe students should be taught HOW to think, rather than just WHAT to think.” ….UMW fundamentalist student

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