It’s Time for TIME to Get it Right!

For the past few weeks, TIME magazine has been incorrectly reporting on the teaching of evolution in the public schools of Kansas. Now in the November 22^nd issue of TIME, essayist Charles Krauthammer writes a commentary on the Kansas incident that is riddled with errors.

First, the Kansas Board of Education did not “eliminate” evolution from its science curriculum. Obviously, Mr. Krauthammer did not read the approved standards. Biological evolution, for example, is expected to be known by students in grades 9-12 (p. 79), and there are other references to evolution as well. For example, students are expected to know evolution as it relates to adaptation, natural selection, genetic drift, and mutations.

Second, creationism has not been “injected” into Kansas schools as claimed by Mr. Krauthammer. The curriculum doesn’t even hint of it. Again, Mr. Krauthammer has not read the new Kansas science curriculum.

Finally, we know of no creationist group-and there are hundreds across the United States-that would believe that God fabricated “phony artifacts designed to confound human reason.” The gaps in the fossil record (we noted that Mr. Krauthammer did not bring up one specific piece of fossil evidence for macro-evolution) actually supports the creationist model, and so the evidence needs no “explaining away.”

What really happened in Kansas was only a mild effort to de-emphasize the current intensive, one-sided indoctrination program of evolution teaching in schools. The new curriculum will help students develop their critical thinking skills and then they will decide for themselves whether or not evolution is true or false. What’s wrong with that?

By the way, TIME magazine has been contacted twice by Answers in Genesis since the August decision by the Kansas schools to de-emphasize evolution to correct its misreporting. This included a news release (see associated story) sent to TIME.

While we would agree with essayist Krauthammer that the teaching of evolutionary biology has been used by humanists as a “back door” for promoting their values, Krauthammer misrepresented what really happened in Kansas and lacks a fundamental understanding of the origins’ debate.