Politician Has Loose Grasp on What Scientific Progress Is

I have been greatly burdened hearing the news that is coming out of my homeland of Australia. Taking on the language of Bill Nye’s YouTube video, “Creationism Is Not Appropriate for Children,” Greens politician John Kaye is arguing that homeschooled children learning young-earth creation will grow up with “a very loose grip on the scientific process.” The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper further wrote that Kaye claims, “a cohort of homeschooled children would not be able to tell the difference between religious belief and scientific theory. ‘Their ignorance will impose costs not only on themselves but also on the society they will grow up in.’” This politician is using fear tactics and teaching regarding the issues of origins (historical science) in an attempt to denigrate the homeschooling movement—all part of what is actually an anti-Christian agenda.

Now, what these legislators don’t realize is that they are simply replacing one belief system—young-earth creation and Christianity—with another belief system—evolution, millions of years, and naturalism (which is atheism). Telling parents they can’t teach biblical creation to their kids is not going to help kids “tell the difference between religious belief and scientific theory”; all it’s going to do is replace one belief system with another.

And teaching creation to students does not harm scientific progress! As I demonstrated in my debate with Bill Nye in February, creationists can be—and are!—great scientists. No one in their right mind would argue that Sir Isaac Newton, Kepler, or Francis Bacon (inventor of the scientific method) hindered science. Nor would they say that Raymond Damadian, the inventor of the MRI scanner, can’t do science. Observational or experimental science—the kind of science that deals with the present and is testable, repeatable, and observable—does not require a belief in evolution! That’s why both creationists and evolutionists can do amazing things like being involved in building space shuttles and finding cures for diseases. However, when you move into historical science—the kind of science (knowledge) that deals with origins (beliefs about the past), and is not directly observable, repeatable, or testable—your model of origins will determine how you interpret the evidence of the present. It all depends on your starting point! Is it man’s fallible opinion about the past or God’s infallible Word?

This news further highlights the ongoing battle between two worldviews—naturalism (in reality, atheism) and Christianity. But what we need to keep in mind is that people like John Kaye or Bill Nye are not the enemy. They are simply people who have been blinded from the truth just as any Christian once was, and they’re desperately in need of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work to open their eyes. This is a spiritual battle we are fighting and our enemies are not flesh and blood but “principalities . . . powers . . . the rulers of the darkness of this age . . . [and] spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Be sure to check out the full-length article I wrote on this news item, which further highlights the spiritual battle raging in Australia (and across the world).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken