I was saddened to see Michael Reiss step down today as the Royal Society’s Director of Education. I have been following the furore over his supposedly pro-Creationist remarks — noting the complete absence of incriminating direct quotations in any of the reports. The reality, obviously, is that Reiss is no Creationist. He thinks Creationism is a “worldview“. He’s right. Like a Fascist “worldview” or a sexist “worldview”, it can be wrong and still exist. He does not think it should be taught in schools. He does think it should be discussed when there are doubters of Darwinian evolution in the class.

So what? If a scientific theory cannot win out in a rational discussion, it isn’t worth having. And if a science teacher isn’t prepared to advocate evolution against its rivals in such a discussion, he or she shouldn’t be teaching biology. Darwin’s theory of evolution is a great theory precisely because it stands up to rational scrutiny in a way the Book of Genesis does not. It doesn’t need to be a dogma, or a tenet of a secular religion. In running scared from the “threat” of Creationism, scientists betray a needless lack of confidence and do science a disservice.

Filed under: education, jonathanbirch, religion on September 16th, 2008