| | Evolution, the New Age, and Your Child's Education
by Dr. Richard Bliss
I wonder how many Christian parents and teachers are aware of the
subtle way in which young minds, and in many cases older minds, are
being programmed away from truth and Christian values. For example,
what would you say if I pointed out that one of the finest video
productions on whales, "Voyage of the Mimi," now being used in fourth-
grade classrooms throughout the nation, is, in reality, an
evolutionary propaganda?
The first three segments tell the beautiful story of whales and their
habitat, and the children have a wonderful time observing and talking
about these great mammoths of the sea. We could praise this fine
production for children if it weren't for the last segment that tries
to answer the question: Where did the whales come from? At this point,
an expert (from the Smithsonian Museum) in the study of whales shows a
fourth grader how the whale's "blow hole" evolved from the nostrils of
a small dog to this monstrous beauty of the sea, where it wound up on
top of his head.
It seems that no cost was spared in the producers' lavish efforts to
program fourth-grade minds in this outlandish and unscientific idea of
the whales' supposed evolution. Few children could come away from this
fabrication without being thoroughly convinced that a dog-like
creature was the whale's ancestor. The reader should keep in mind that
it is not science that the parent and teacher must fear, it is the
manipulation of the child's mind through semi-truths and outright
fabrications labeled as science that give us reason to fear.
While the "Voyage of the Mimi" draws obvious conclusions about
evolution, there are other programs that also claim to teach
scientific truth, of which parents and teachers must take note. One of
these programs is called Project Wild, endorsed by such New Agers as
singer John Denver, which claims to develop environmental literacy.
Instead, however, in it we find the most subtle training imaginable in
humanism and New-Age philosophy. Project Wild teaches the child "what
to think," rather than "how to think" about the environment. Once
again, this is done in a most subtle and convincing manner and is not
always easily detected.
For example, who would say that mammals and other organisms are not
vital to our ecological well-being? Or who would say that we should
not be considerate of our pet's comfort, as well as that of wild
animals on Planet Earth? This truth is extended out in Project Wild to
blind the reader, and makes him more vulnerable to thinking about
himself as an animal, rather than a very special creation of God. This
is precisely the essence of New Age philosophy.
In Project Wild, man and animal are equal entities in the environment.
Anthropomorphism goes on throughout the curriculum, and, by any
standard, there is no pedagogical reason for this approach to
environmental awareness. What we see in the Project is the antithesis
of science as it relates to critical thinking in regards to
environmental awareness. Parents and Christian teachers would do well
to inform themselves of the new and ever more subtle attempts at
capturing the minds of children, as well as ways to combat them.
Commitment to the creationist world view is the place to start. ../ |