Creationists only want students to learn to ‘think critically.’ You’ll read this claim over and over in newspaper accounts whenever attempts are made to distort the teaching of evolution in science classrooms. It’s only ‘fair’ to teach ‘the controversy’ over evolution, or to teach ‘both theories’, as if creationism presented a legitimate challenge to the science of evolutionary biology.
But the bottom line is it simply isn’t. There is nothing new in any creationist literature I’ve been able to find that hasn’t been refuted multiple times by credible scientists. The material weekend creationists like Larry and Kevin hand out at the farmers’ market is laughable, and nine times out of ten is easily refuted with some simple web browsing. (The rest of them are just too weird or poorly cited to research.)
Over at Panda’s Thumb Richard B. Hoppe recently does a wonderful job of demonstrating exactly how to deal with the ‘critical thinking’ argument: think critically. Hoppe spends a few minutes fact-checking claims made by a local school board candidate and wring a terrific response.
Dick also demonstrates an important point and something to always remember when dealing with creationists. Don’t waste your time refuting argument after argument or chasing them point for point as they spout claim after claim. Take a couple of creationist arguments and research them to a satisfactory refutation. “At some point one reaches the conclusion that a source cannot be trusted,” Dick said of the reference material presented by the candidate.
The real question for creationists to ask themselves is, once you’ve proven the first two or three of their assertions wrong, not “what proof for a young earth can I throw out next,” but “why am I wrong all the time?”
Check out Dick’s piece. It’s a nice quick piece of work.