Freedom's Truth

Here is where a little autodidactic training in philosophy has served me better than any kind of scientific tutoring could have done. For I am able to spot the premise upon which the logical argument sits: and therefore grasp the argument’s circularity. Working from the premise that only strictly material causes are admissible in the study of biological effects, the Darwinians then demonstrate that all biological effects can be explained from strictly material causes.

It's unfortunate therefore that the mass media is taking up the false dichotomy with full gusto and presenting materialist philosophy as "Science". We ought not confuse the theory of evolution itself with materialist philosophy, something the atheists and creationists both are wont to do in their attempts to make this debate an either-or one. That is a false dichotomy: Who's to say that evolution of the universe and of life itself is not part of the "Intelligence Design" of the Creator's Universe? Certainly the Catholic Church has accepted evolution as compatible with Christian thinking.

It's also unfortunate that a judge decided such philosophic questions and points don't belong in a school, because it points to the most important questions we ask. (That being said, it may also be said that Intelligent Design was a Trojan Horse for creationist input, and if it is philosophy, ID belongs somewhere else besides a biology classroom.) At root, the basic questions we ask are about origins, existence, and destiny - our past, present and future. Science itself is not "truth", it a tool and method for finding truth. Undergirding that search for truth are some axioms; those axioms can be Christian or materialist at root, but do not confuse the roots with the branches. Further, don't assume materialist roots are required for scientific branches; the compatibility of science and Christianity is proven by among other things, the fact that many of our great scientists were also good Christians, among them Isaac Newton, Copernicus, etc.

There is more than one answer to such questions of origins, existence and destiny. If we bar not only God but his philosophical kin, we are in danger of closing minds. A better answer to shutting the door to either evolution or responses to it is Choice and Freedom: Freedom to teach more sides to the story; educational choice so such debates are left to the marketplace of ideas and not in the hands of Federal judges. In an era of a science scams and science frauds like the scandal in Korea over stem-cell research, what we are told today may be wrong tomorrow. All the more reason for open-ness in how we teach. Just as the truth will make you free, freedom to explore multiple theories will lead you to truth.