Australian Christians Need a Science Lesson

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/christian-schools-angry-over-ban-on-teaching-creationism-20100302-pgjb.html

Australian Christians need a lesson in what science is and is not.

“Australian Christian schools will campaign against what they see as the thin end of the wedge - a decision by the South Australian Non-Government Schools Registration Board to effectively ban the teaching of creationism.
The board said it ''does not accept as satisfactory a science curriculum in a non-government school which is based on, espouses or reflects the literal interpretation of a religious text in its treatment of either creationism or intelligent design''.
The chief executive of Christian Schools Australia, Stephen O'Doherty, said the board statement was too strident, removing the right to teach ''biblical perspectives'' as part of science.”

O’Doherty believes, quite incorrectly that “biblical perspectives” have a place in science. Neglecting the fact that such perspectives have not been peer reviewed by the scientific community and any “research” relating to biblical perspectives has not been published in credible scientific journals. There are people who believe that the world is flat. Does this mean that we need to teach geography students that there is an alternative theory that says the Earth is flat? No, of course not. The idea that the Earth is flat is not accepted by any scientific organization. The South Australian Non-Government Schools Registration Board provides a clear definition of science.

“Under policies published in December, the board said it required ''teaching of science as an empirical discipline, focusing on inquiry, hypothesis, investigation, experimentation, observation and evidential analysis''.

Biblical “science” does not meet this definition. The problem with the biblical point of view is that their answer to any gaps in the scientific literature is “goddidit”. The rational thinker understands that this is at best bad science and at worse promotes outright falsehoods. Teaching children that there is an alternative scientific theory that the Bible can explain everything is downright deceptive. The Board has taken steps towards a compromise that I think is rather reasonable.

“The acting executive director of the NSW Association of Independent Schools, Michael Carr, said: ''Our view is that NSW independent schools must follow the Board of Studies curriculum, which dictates that creationism cannot be taught as science. ''Schools wishing to teach creationism must teach it as part of their religious studies.''
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here is nothing wrong with teaching religious views in the school, provided they are clearly distinguished from the science class and are categorized as religion and not science. This distinction must be made clear lest the lines between religion and science become blurred.