An amazing post from Harry Brighouse over at Crooked Timber:
I think that some Christians (the ones whose adherence to Christianity I respect) have genuine faith in God, which, though not rationally supportable, is not excluded by straightforward canons of rationality, and their faith is sincere and would survive testing and careful reflection. In that respect it is not unlike my belief in the basic decency of most human beings and our ability radically to improve the quality of social institutions.
Amen to that. Heh. By the way, Dina and I went to see Brighouse speak at U of R a while back. I remain a big fan after that evening. I believe I asked him a question about this very issue. He addresses religious education quite in depth in his book On Education. Seriously, that’s what it’s called. It’s really quite spectacular.
Coincidentally, I had a few conversations with kids today about the age of the Earth and the evolution of life on Earth. I had a great (respectful) conversation with a student about the book of Genesis and the diversity of creation stories. It’s a great way to talk about the nature of science too. I’m getting much better at being respectful of what my students are bringing to class. Still, subversion remains important. I did learn something from Postman.
Oh, and my research. Let’s not forget about that. It’s on whether or not students struggle and overcome their initial conceptions about scientific phenomena. Let me know if you want a final copy of the research. I’ll probably post it here when I get around to it…