I Purposefully Don’t Know Anything.
Dear Science Teacher,
Shane came home from school today and told me that his scientific question for today was, “How was the solar system created?” On his paper, Shane guessed “God.” Then he said that you told the class that the people who guessed “God” just didn’t know how the solar system was created, and that you would tell them how it actually happened.
This concerns me – but maybe not for the reasons you think.
I am not a scientist, and I don’t even pretend to know the current theory on universe development. In fact, I purposefully don’t know anything. The more I know about the way the world works, the more terrified I am that it’s going to end. I prefer to remain ignorant for my own sanity.
That said, I can’t possibly contradict whatever scientific explanation is trending today. I also don’t know the TRUTH. Quite literally, I was not there when the solar system was created. But maybe God had a hand in that creation. Maybe whatever scientific thing happened was actually caused by God. Or maybe it happened completely without the assistance of God, and whatever you taught the class was dead-on accurate.
I have no idea.
Obviously, you have touched on the biggest controversy of our time. No one knows what happened, even though we ALL believe something.
And while I am not the kind of person who wants to quash any discussion about such matters, you are teaching in a public school. If other parents get wind of this teaching – and believe that you actually said, “God did NOT…” – you could end up being quashed in terrible ways.
To me, it is the equivalent of having a Catholic school teacher say “God DID create the universe.” That’s part of the reason my kids will never go to Catholic school! But I believe 100% that there is a God, even if I have no idea who/what “God” is… and I am raising my kids to find their own way and determine for themselves if a belief in God is going to be a part of their lives.
So when a teacher says “God didn’t create the solar system,” and the Bible says “God created the universe,” the teacher directly contradicts Christian and Jewish teaching. (Again, I was not there for the writing of the Bible, so I have no idea how that came about, either!)
I am not sure what you can do at this point – or even if you want to do anything – to remedy whatever statement you made, so that those few kids who still believe in God can – at least – make up their own minds about the creation of the universe. If you were teaching at a college level (which you would probably do very well), this would be a prime opportunity for some serious philosophical discussion.
But for now, I would appreciate it if, at least, you would consider being careful when you talk about God – for your own sake, so that the evangelistic parents don’t come down hard on your head, even if you are 100% right.
Signed… Kirsten
PS-The teacher emailed back and said that Shane completely misinterpreted what was actually said… and Shane said, “Yeah, I was afraid that happened.” (Sigh.)