UPDATED: Mon Nov 20, 2000 01:28 AM

Pseudo-science behind Day's creationist beliefs

Peter Van Harten
The Hamilton Spectator

Context The debate between creationists and evolutionists is older than On
the Origin of Species -- the 1859 turning-point book by Charles Darwin.

Mainstream religious thought is reconciled to the notion that God's
creation of heaven and Earth in six days is regarded as a question of
faith, not a matter of fact.

Andrew Dreschel: A3

Evolution is regarded as science and taught as such in the classrooms of
schools. Creation as set out in Genesis -- the first book of the Bible --
is seen as a matter of religious belief.

The news that potential prime minister Stockwell Day appears to believe
creation is both science and fact has brought controversy for the Canadian
Alliance leader.

Day has said politicians' beliefs are private and has promised he will not
impose those beliefs on Canadians through government policy.

He says his beliefs shouldn't trouble us any more than the belief in the
virgin birth held by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who is a Roman
Catholic.

But should we be troubled that he views his beliefs as science, worthy of
being taught in the classroom?

It's not clear what Day believes, but if it's what he told students at Red
Deer College in 1997, his beliefs are a nontraditional Christian view
known as Young Earth Creationism.

Day reportedly told students that the Earth is 6,000 years old, humans and
dinosaurs roamed the planet at the same time and that Adam and Eve were
real people.

Young-Earth advocates, or science creationists, believe in a literal
interpretation of the Bible and the Earth being created in six 24-hour
days.

They believe God did it with a snap of the fingers, as opposed to a more
traditional creationist view that a day could be thousands of years long.

Most scientists -- even devout believers -- see creation science as
pseudoscience or bad science.

The creation science movement has blossomed in past decades as religious
conservative movements have grown in strength.

There have been numerous and recent court battles -- especially in the
southern and midwest American states -- to ensure creationism has equal
billing in science classrooms; or that mention of evolution is stripped
from curriculums.

The political muscle of science creationists is demonstrated by the
positions taken by U.S. presidential candidates. President-in-waiting
George W. Bush believes creationism should be taught alongside evolution
in public schools.

President-in-waiting Al Gore says school boards have the right to teach
creationism, although he personally favours the teaching of evolution.

With Day coming from Alberta's Bible Belt and being a Pentecostal lay
minister, it shouldn't surprise anyone that he takes literally the Bible
and Genesis's account of creation.

He seems to accept, when the Bible's Book of Job talks about a great beast
"that moves its tail like a cedar tree," that a dinosaur is being referred
to.

Day has said he believes there is scientific support for creationism and
there should be room for teaching both evolution and creationism in
schools.

In Ontario, evolution is taught in Grade 12 biology classes with
creationism sometimes being taught in religion, English and mythology and
native studies classes.

But at the discretion of school boards, creation can also be taught in
biology classes, said Ministry of Education spokesman Rob Savage.

David Harris, of the Creation Discovery Project in Scarborough, said from
what he has read about Day's views, he considers the Alliance leader as a
Young-Earth creationist.

Harris is chairman of a project that gathers and promotes evidence for a
scientific interpretation of creation.

Believers in a young Earth belong to various religious denominations and
aren't necessarily Bible adherents, said Harris, whose interest is in
astronomy.

"We don't want the Bible discussed in the classrooms but only the
scientific evidence," said Harris, who spoke Thursday at Redeemer
University College in Ancaster.

At the privately funded Christian university, he talked with adherents of
both old-Earth and young-Earth creationism, he says.

Jitse van der Meer, at Redeemer University College, feels there is value
in teaching creationism in science classes.

It puts science in the context of everyday life and lets students of all
faiths realize they can work together to observe and resolve scientific
problems, he says.

Van der Meer teaches biology and philosophy of science and believes the
Earth is 4.5 billion years old because the weight of independent
scientific evidence proves it.

"Science is open-minded," he says. "You can't be dogmatic about it because
of religious reasons," he said.

But as a Christian, he values the dominant dimension of faith in science
creationism and how it interprets the natural world, he said.

Day certainly has the right to keep his religious beliefs private but van
der Meer says, as a voter, he wants to know about politicians' beliefs.

"It's important because it tells you how that person will deal with other
issues," he says. "I appreciate knowing what a person believes."

Michael Ruse, a McMaster philosophy grad, has established a reputation as
one of the top anti-creation scholars in North America.

"I'm not saying that high school kids in Ontario should come out
pig-ignorant about creationism," he says. "What does worry me is if they
come out thinking it is a viable scientific theory," he said.

There would be an uproar if McMaster University taught Christian Science
medicine in the name of equality, and creation science shouldn't be taught
in Ontario's science classes, he said.

Ruse, who used to teach at the University of Guelph but now lectures at
Florida State University, says the views and beliefs of politicians are
fair game for voters to examine in their entirety.

"Religion may be none of my business," he says. "But if a person is going
to be a leader you do have to look at the whole package."

It probably came as a surprise for Canadians to learn, after his death,
how deeply held Trudeau's Catholic beliefs were, he says.

"Tommy Douglas (former NDP leader) sure as hell didn't keep his religious
and social beliefs separate," he says.

Ruse says those two politicians didn't push their religious beliefs on
Canadians, but that voters should have the right to determine for
themselves if that will be the same for Stockwell Day.

Oryginal: http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/news/324400.html