Theories vs. Evidence

In the article Evolution Debate in Education, Chelsea discusses the dilemma in education regarding whether or not creationism should be taught alongside evolution and if evolution should be portrayed as absolute fact or a theory. I agree with Chelsea that intelligent design ought to be talked about in school but maybe not science class. It should be mentioned in social science classes such as history much like it currently is. As a scientific theory, intelligent design is not much more than a starting point that does not have to conflict with evolution.

Currently, evolution is taught in schools as a fact. The meaning of the word evolution is a change over time. Science believes that over millions of years life has changed from almost nothing to what we see today. Evolution can be shown to occur, every human has on average 3 genetic mutations in their DNA. A mutation is the vehicle for evolution; a genetic mess up not inherited from either the mother or the father but accidentally acquired when genes are crossed, only sometimes do these mess ups move the resulted organism in a positive direction. Evolution becomes a theory when scientists expand these mutations to explain every change between single celled organisms to humans. Evolution is a theory in the same way the molecular orbital theory is. Both are taught as the best known explanations for something we know to occur. But no one complains about general chemistry classes teaching M.O. theory.

I say the way we teach things now, at least throughout my education, is pretty good. The only thing that should be considered is science teachers telling kids that while evolution may be likely, it is still only the best known explanation for our current situation. Though I am religious, Baptist, I don't believe that scientists are cheating us out of anything. If anyone is cheating us, it's the whack-jobs in religion who attempt to control people through religion (much like the catholic church has been known to do throughout time) asking people to asking people to disregard evidence and take their word that the Earth is 6000 years old, which is false. The Bible never says this.

Guns Guns Guns

Everyone who lives in Texas knows that guns are one of our favorite toys. You also know that the 12 gauge shotgun is the state flower. Of course not everyone is as enthusiastic about guns as the stereotypical Texan and many wish that guns were not around. Some will say that beyond hunting, guns have no purpose and only create violence. To some degree, this is true. More often than not, if bad people didn't have guns then good people wouldn't need guns either. But sometimes a person defending their self needs a gun to overcome a physical disadvantage. For instance, a woman or elderly being attacked must have at least some type of weapon to fend off the attacker. In this case, I don't see any argument for outlawing either rifles or handguns.

In other states, when someone breaks into your house, you might not necessarily be allowed to shoot the person unless you are in real danger. This is why I love Texas. When someone is so completely out of line that they are breaking into your house, you can shoot them on the spot. No messing around. There is no justification for robbing a person especially at their home. As long as the castle law allows people to protect their homes and cars with deadly force, a burglar is much less likely to rob you. Once we make crimes not worth it, criminals will start finding other hobbies.