Re: paleonet Moral Values Means Anti-Science

[Bill Chaisson/Deirdre Cunningham <chaisson@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Re: paleonet Moral Values Means Anti-Science

During the past year I have served as a geology and environmental
science educator for US soldiers stationed overseas.  During this time,
I have encountered both institutional and student resistance to standard
evolution and geologic time lectures, much more then when teaching in
Saskatchewan, Washington, DC, or even North Carolina.

See Robert D. Kaplan's article "Five Days in Fallujah" in the July-August 2004 issue of The Atlantic Monthly.  Members of the US military (the Marines are the subject of this particular article) are disproportionately drawn from the American South and Midwest (i.e., the Bible belt) and therefore the military is rife with evangelical Christians.  Kaplan found this comforting in the context of Fallujah because (he claimed) it moderated the killer instinct with a humanitarian impulse.

However, the military actively encourages the teaching of many sacred scriptures and religious cultures (primarily Christian but others as well).  Such policies can be a positive aspect and comfort for soldiers in hostile
locations.  However, there are the preachers that actively reinforce
unscientific creeds such as creationism or intelligent design theory, as
well as views that promote service without questioning authority in the
guise of education.  Often the top officials take these preachers

message more seriously then those of the university professors.

So the problem may be that we aren't so much completely different from fundamentalist Islamics, as diametrically opposed to them.

Great.  I feel a lot better about the election now.

Although there are many university courses offered on most

US military bases, few deal with physical sciences and the scientific
method (and even fewer on Middle Eastern history, politics, language, or
culture). The reason for this, in my opinion, is politics.  As US
military personnel are increasingly becoming the front-line ambassadors
in many countries, we must ask if this is a mindset that should be

promoted. 

Imagine the average high school student as the only American that an Iraqi gets to meet ...

Bill

-- 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William P. Chaisson
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY  14627