Teach The Controversy Analysis

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Dr. David Zyngier stated “Religious Instruction is a private matter and is the responsibility of the family. If the family is unable to do this then they should go to their church, synagogue or mosque for help and not expect secular public schools to do their job.” One would infer that Dr. Zyngier thinks that religious beliefs should be taught in the home and not in realm of academia by his statement alone. There are several other individuals who argue the same point of view. In review of the argumentative essay titled Should Public Schools “Teach the Controversy” About Evolution, the author Gregory Bassham argues several points about the injection of religion into public classrooms. In response to this argument, I believe that the argument states some valid points but is not a good argument. …show more content…
He disagrees that this idea will encourage critical thinking about science amongst high schools students, ninth and tenth grade students in particular. Finally, he argues that academic freedom, should not be geared towards alleging weaknesses in evolution over scientific controversy.
The author’s premises are true in relation to the creation of Teach the Controversy, but the idea of religion not being taught in public classrooms are not true. Bassham argues that creationism should not be taught in public schools, but evolution should be taught alone for students to use their own critical thinking. Bassham reasoning contradicts itself and displays bias towards religion. To reason that it is acceptable to teach the theory of evolution as fact, but creationism cannot be taught, even as theory or intelligent design, displays bias. The theory of evolution has not been falsified and nor has it been proven that there is no God and creationism never occurred. Bassham commits a logical fallacy in his third point of reasoning. He argues that the idea of implementing “Teach the Controversy” in high schools does not promote critical thinking about science