I tend to watch L.A. Law reruns on A&E on weekday mornings. They’re in the last season now, which was actually better than the couple of years before it. And it had the advantage of the character of Jane Halliday, a fundamentalist Christian who brought a lot of interesting religion-related cases to the firm.
This morning, a high school science teacher was suing after he was fired for teaching “creation science” alongside evolution in his class. The students thought it was interesting, they liked the teacher and wanted him to continue. The school board, of course, wanted him to stick to teaching science, as they defined it.
Much to my surprise, I found myself siding with the teacher quite a bit. After all, the teachers I remember and the ones who influenced me the most were the ones who challenged me, who pushed me to think in new ways. I found myself thinking it would have been interesting to discuss what creation science advocates believed, as long as it wasn’t presented as “the truth.”
My reaction was a shock to my good liberal, separation-of-church-and-state attitude. I know it’s a slippery slope, bringing religion into the classroom. But I also believe opening your mind and considering many viewpoints is what leads to real education.
“good liberal”???
😉