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"The Serve": 
EDUCATION (or lack of a quality education)
Education (def. Am. Heritage Dictionary) n.1. The act or process of educating or being educated.
2. The knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process.
Somehow from childhood to high school this acceptance of evolution is usually not included in parental guidance and/or in the educational responsibility of teachers in the Rio Grande Valley.
We have established that religious people can and have accepted evolution!
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 Of course, some religious denominations still hold on to the notion that evolution did not happen, that the earth is just 6000 years old, and that the Bible or Koran are descriptions of the real world -- despite being 2000+ years old books written at a time when humans thought the world was flat, ships sailing to close to the edge would fall off the Earth, humans had medical knowledge that allowed them to live to the average old age of 35, and since bacteria had not been discovered humans thought that it was the will of God when people got sick. Click on the pictures of ships sailing off the earth for more. |
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"Creationism is the literal, biblical account of God creating man and the universe in six days." However, the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, states, "Catholics can believe in evolution, just as long as God's involvement is acknowledged." He calls it "theistic evolution" where one can agree with the Darwin's evolutionary theory, as long as one accepts God's guidance in the process. The late Pope John Paul II also held this view, but some religious leaders claim that such views on the origins of man will undermine the 2000+ years biblical authority. Click on the link for more. "Critics, however, warned that such views on the origins of man undermine biblical authority." (The Christian Post. http://www.christianpost.com/article/20050719/7632.htm) |
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Want to buy a flat earth "globe" to use when you educate your children? No? Am I sarcastic? You bet I am!
The fact that we in this country have ADULTS who has gone through a 12-year public education system (and don't live in a cave in the wilderness), actually believes that Adam and Eve are real historical persons (including talking snakes and apples that gives you knowledge and makes you feel that you must wear clothes, as people believed 2000-3000 years ago) demonstrates a serious lack of science education. This, in turn, is a serious problem for our society and a danger to our environment.    The church also used to believe in trolls and witches. But if today the Episcopal Church, Cardinal McCarrick, and Pope John Paul II can accept modern science and EVOLUTION, so can all other religious denominations, their churches, their Sunday schools and their followers, and STC students.
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 Have you seen the movie "The Colour of Magic" where people think the Earth is a flat disk on top of four elephants standing on a gigantic turtle, who fly around in space? (Great movie. I recommend it. But it is a movie -- NOT the real world!)
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 We are on the brink of destroying our planet by global climate change caused by greedy, materialistic, self-indulgent, and "anything goes" human behavior, and I claim that the main reason for this behavior is an ever-increasing poorly educated superstitious faith based human mindset -- not understanding how the real world works -- allowed to rule and control interaction with the planet. Dr. Jan A. Nilsson
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To some students the acceptance of evolution by some Christian denominations comes as a surprise. 
Somehow from childhood to high school this acceptance of evolution is usually not included in parental guidance and/or in the educational responsibility of teachers in the Rio Grande Valley. This is of course not a surprise, considering the low quality of education, not just in the Valley, as you can read here, here, here, here, here, and here, and here, and here and... Since this reading assignment is pretty long, if you only have limited time, or if you have a hard time concentrating on this much material, read this article However, I recommend that you read them all; this concerns you since most of you are going to become teachers. Note in that article figure the number of students not ready for college when enrolling at STC for the first time -- around 80 percent. Yes, you read that correctly! Around 80 percent of you guys are not ready for college when you come to STC -- including this class! Education is extremely important, and it is the solution to this -- in my opinion (and you don't have to agree with it) -- silly discussion between science and religion. You see, a person with good knowledge in science, especially biology, don't question the reality of evolution. It is lack of biology knowledge that is the cause of this sometimes "offensive discussion", which does NOT have to be a discussion about whether God exists, or not. To -- hopefully -- help you to update your knowledge about the REAL world to the 20th century, I will give you a "one-minute" lecture in evolution in a later chapter. Remember Kenneth Miller? Here is again in a 
video. Remember that Dr. Miller is religious. Uploaded by LiberalViewer. Enjoy!: Lack of education is a serious problem in many aspects; one is because the quality of education is better in other countries -- especially science education, including evolution (more than half of the U.S. population do not accept evolution). If nothing is done, the status of the United States as a democracy and as a leading country of the world is at stake. Dr. Reed, president of STC stated that if "we in the Rio Grande Valley as well as the rest of the nation are to retain our competitive edge in the global economy, graduation from high school must truly mean ready for college" and we must "address the challenges before us and in ways we have never done before". A prerequisite for "college for all" to work is that "all" come to college with an open mind. Click on this link! At the bottom of that page are some depressing statistics -- especially note the STC graduation rate!|
The beautiful animated video, below, produced by Sheila Graber, is a piece of art based on biology facts. However, without at least some biology knowledge, the uninformed viewer without enough biology knowledge will probably miss many brilliant points included in the video. But it is worth just watching for the cute animation. Pay attention already during the beginning credits, where we are introduced to the embryological evidence of evolution using tree animal fetuses. The video was uploaded with this information: "Tracks the beginning of our planet right up to 20Cth. The whole 4mins is timed to fit with the actual evolutionary events. See how long we took to get here - and the mayhem we've caused in the blinking of an eye. Animation painted on cel and shot on film - 1980." Uploaded by sheilagraber. Enjoy! |
We have established that education is in trouble in this country. The quality of education is better in other countries -- especially science education, including evolution (more than half of the U.S. population do not accept evolution). If nothing is done, the status of the United States as a democracy and as a leading country of the world is at stake. Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, Jan A. Nilsson. Page created 10.IX.2005, last updated 19.VIII.2009, most likely during the wee hours of the morning on a G3 PowerBook owned by Jan A. Nilsson. Web page layout and design © and intellectual property Jan A. Nilsson. Content on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice may not be used for commercial purposes. All rights reserved. Except for educational purposes and 'fair use' (see below), reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited. If used for educational purposes and 'fair use', including photographs, source must be given. (Some clip art, texts and backgrounds used on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice downloaded for educational purposes and/or 'fair use' from Internet free domain has no source.)
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