Bill Brady is horribly confused about the Catholic take on evolution as witnessed on Jim Leach’s show (please get streaming audio there Jim)
?I think we should teach the Bible in our schools,? Brady said. ?One of the basic, fundamental voids we have in our school system is bringing God into the system.?
Asked if he would teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution, Brady said, ?I think we should teach everything that educates our children, and I think bringing God and the Bible into that is critically important.?
That ended the telephone interview with Leach, but I contacted Brady later to get more on what seemed a pretty strong view.
He said any teaching about the Bible ?should be left up to local school board, but I don?t think there should be a prohibition against them teaching the historical significance of the Bible or any religion. ??
?I believe in school prayer. I believe in the Pledge of Allegiance. I believe there ought to be the freedom for local school boards to make those decisions.?
Asked if the biblical story should be taught as an alternative to evolution in science, Brady said, ?The Bible is the single largest-selling book in the history of the world. ? It?s historical value or interpretation I think should be left up to local school boards. I mean, I certainly believe that local school boards should have the opportunity to teach kids about the Bible, just as they ought to be able to teach them about the Koran.?
?I don?t know if it?s science,? he added. ?It?s certainly history.?
About evolution, he said, ?I guess I?m not an expert on the difference between science and history, in terms of what that is. I just think that local school boards should have the flexibility to teach about religion.?
?I believe in school prayer,? he added. ?I think that local school boards should be able to dictate that they start the day with prayer.?
I asked if that might not isolate some kids of a different religious belief than the majority.
?Whatever the local school board wants to do,? Brady said. ?I think the school board should ? understand the delicacy of that.?
He said it?s just like saying the Pledge of Allegiance, with God?s name included.
Brady is 44, I’m 34. The only useful thing Brady has done is send Gordon Ropp home for retirement. Gordon was a nice enough fellow, but the state soil being his big deal kind of tells you where his priorities were.
We both grew up in Bloomington-Normal. I went to Normal Community. He went to Central Catholic.
The bit I don’t get is how the hell he went to Central Catholic and thinks that prayer made a better school.
I seem to remember I enjoyed spending time with the folks from Central Catholic, and not because they were more Godly or better behaved–in fact, quite the opposite so if I don’t take this bit of cognative dissonance seriously, forgive me.
And, of course, the Catholic Church has no problem with evolution in general despite the weird ranting of the current Pope.
As long as he is saying that aspects of religion should be presented in a HISTORY class, I am OK with that. As soon as they start crossing over and trying to teach religion as SCIENCE–under “intelligent design” or any other name–I get itchy.
Or maybe that’s just because I need to wash my sheets more often.
Did you know that Central Catholic isn’t so central anymore? It’s gone rural on us …
— d.a.
I made a point elsewhere that NCHS taught a Bible literature course and there weren’t any problems with that while I was there.
And yeah, I think that just means more CCHS students driving under the influence farther.