May 17, 2011
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Two Christian students and two atheist students squared off Tuesday night in a 90-minute debate about the existence, role and relevance of God.
Focusing on the philosophical implications of believing in Christianity vs. atheism, the students explained to an audience of about 125 why their beliefs make logical sense and attempted to poke holes in the other side's arguments.
"I'm living for something that has eternal significance," Christian student Hannah Schaller said during Conversations About God in San Juan Capistrano.
Capistrano Valley Christian Schools seniors Andrew Sears and Hannah Schaller, both 18, represented the Christian side; Redlands High School senior Devin Leaman, 16, and UC Irvine senior Daniel Buehler, 24, presented the atheist side.
"I was raised in a religious family, and over the years, things never made sense other than the basic answers I always received," said Leaman, who will attend the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith this fall.
"I believe it's a very reasonable faith," said Schaller, who will attend Biola University in La Mirada this fall. "The more questions I've asked, the more questions I've found answers to. ... Christianity provides a way to deal with real emotional problems in my life."
The goal of the debate at Capistrano Valley Christian in San Juan Capistrano was to bring young people of divergent viewpoints together to discuss issues rationally and thoughtfully, organizers said.
The Orange County Freethought Alliance provided the atheist debaters, and Capistrano Valley Christian teacher and author Sean McDowell provided the Christian debaters. It was the second high school debate at the school to focus on Christianity vs. atheism; the first was in 2009.
Neither side was declared the winner of the debate, which was moderated by McDowell in conjunction with Freethought Alliance founder Bruce Gleason.
"It just occurred to me we're having the most sophisticated student conversation in the world right now," McDowell told the audience during the forum.
The students began Tuesday's debate by tackling the issue of how Christians can have free will if God is an all-knowing deity.
"God's knowledge is not causative," said Sears, who will attend Biola University in La Mirada this fall. "It is reflective of human decisions. Just because he knows doesn't mean he causes this."
"It's not free will," responded Buehler, a philosophy major. "Even though he's not causing it, the foreknowledge presumes a certain view of time. ... When you break it down, you cannot separate time from space."
The students also delved into the issue of why evil exists in the world.
"We believe he created the world with love, in consistency with his nature," Schaller said. "That's consistent with his nature. God had to create us with the option not to love him. Murder is evil – it's an instance of not loving God. Humans chose to do evil, but that is just off the basis of our free will."
"It makes God less powerful," Buehler argued. "There's no reason he could not create a world where he chooses always good."
Also up for debate was what might have triggered the Big Bang and what existed before that cosmic event.
"Generally, it's accepted there is no first instant, because each instant is infinitely divisible," Buehler said. "You get close to zero, but you can't get to zero. ... We can't figure it out until we figure out a better way (to study the universe). We say we reserve judgment."
Said Sears: "It's a very large problem because if you have an infinite number of moments in the past, you can never get to the present. Our definition provides for God being outside of time and space. God is the cause of the first instant."
About $800 was raised via admission fees from Tuesday's debate. Proceeds will go to two charities – Invisible Children and the Speech and Language Development Center in Buena Park.
FLORIDA ANTIEVOLUTION BILL DIES
When the Florida legislature adjourned sine die on May 7, 2011, Senate Bill 1854 died in committee. If enacted, SB 1854 would have amended a section of Florida law to require "[a] thorough presentation and
critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution" in the state's public schools. In 2009, before introducing a similar bill, SB 1854's sponsor, Stephen R. Wise (R-District 5), announced his intention to introduce a bill requiring "intelligent design" to be taught in Florida's public schools. In 2011, discussing SB 1854 with a
reporter for the Tampa Tribune (March 13, 2011), he asked, "Why would you not teach both theories at the same time?"
According to the Tribune, he was referring to evolution and what he called "non-evolution." Wise further explained, "I think it's a way in which people can have critical thinking ... what we're saying is here's a
theory, a theory of evolution, a theory of whatever, and you decide." SB 1854 was vigorously opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Florida Citizens for Science, the Florida Academy of Sciences, and newspapers across the state, including Florida Today and the Orlando Sentinel.
CONTINUING SUPPORT
FOR LOUISIANA REPEAL EFFORT
Adding their support for the effort to repeal Louisiana's
antievolution law are the New Orleans City Council and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Senate Bill 70, would, if enacted, repeal Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:285.1, which implemented the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act, passed and enacted in 2008. The American Institute for Biological Sciences, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Society for Cell Biology, the Louisiana Association of Biology Educators, the Louisiana Science Teachers Association,
the National Association of
Biology Teachers, and the Society for the Study of Evolution together with the Society of Systematic Biologists and the American Society of
Naturalists, as well as forty-three Nobel laureates, have already endorsed SB 70.
At its May 5, 2011, meeting, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed Resolution R-11-207, supporting SB 70. According to the summary
of the council's meeting, "This act [the LSEA] undermines the teaching of the scientific theory of evolution in the Louisiana public school science curriculum. This theory of evolution is a widely and commonly accepted scientific study and the basis for biology, medicine, biochemistry,
agriculture, ecology and other scientific studies." Council member Gisleson Palmer was quoted as saying, "The Louisiana
Science Education Act inhibits science focused students of all ages and inadequately prepares them for jobs in the science field. With the New Orleans Medical Corridor poised for tremendous growth, this law
also profoundly impacts our ability to fill jobs in the cutting-edge science fields with students educated in our state's public schools."
In a letter to the sponsor of SB 70, Karen Carter Peterson (D-District 5), dated April 19, 2011, the American Association for the Advancement
of Science's chief executive officer Alan I. Leshner wrote, "I write in support of your effort to repeal the Louisiana Science EducationAct (LSEA). The LSEA features language that could be used for the
insertion of religious or unscientific views in science classrooms. The bill disingenuously implies that particular theories,
including evolution, are controversial among scientists. In reality, the science
of evolution underpines all of modern biology. The principles behind it have been tested and retested for decades, and it is supported by tens of thousands of scientific studies. Evolution informs scientific
research in a broad range of fields such as agriculture and medicine, work that has an important impact on our everyday lives."
Visit NCSE's website --
http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution education and threats to it.
