The school district in Rockville, Md., recently decided to gut its sex-ed curriculum because of content considered too controversial by some people, according to The Associated Press.
The content eliminated includes material implying that homosexuality is a biological trait because, in some people's views, it unfairly excludes the idea that homosexuality is only a behavioral trait that can be overcome.
The Rockville argument reminded me of a conversation I had with a kid on a bus several years ago. Somehow, we started talking about environmental issues. I mentioned something about scientific evidence indicating this or that. In response, the kid shot back, "I hate science!" He went on to say that the world is 4,000 years old and that scientists claiming otherwise couldn't prove anything because their conclusions were reached using "machines."
Every piece of evidence I gave him, including the existence of cultures thousands, and even tens of thousands, of years old, couldn't convince him to abandon his absurd belief, which he stubbornly clung to until the ride was over.
In 2003, a former colleague of mine had a similar experience. My colleague and a few others were having a conversation at a bar when the subject of dinosaurs suddenly came up. A man sitting at the table said, "If the scientists can't put the space shuttle back together, then I don't see how they can convince me that the dinosaurs are more than 5,000 years old!"
Unfortunately, neither the kid I met nor the man my colleague met were joking; they honestly believed that the world was created only a few thousand years ago.
I am not against religion; I am a religious person myself. However, when a millennia-old myth concerning the origins of life is preferred over Charles Darwin's theory -- as opposed to hypothesis -- of evolution or when psychological disorders are diagnosed as demonic possession, something is seriously wrong.
All religions concern the supernatural. Be it one or more deities or reincarnation, religion concerns things that are not scientifically testable or detectable by the five senses. It is, therefore, unscientific to argue that life on Spaceship Earth was "created" by some invisible being. I firmly believe in the existence of the Celtic gods and goddesses and even the sidhe, but I freely admit that I cannot prove the existence of Nuadha or Morrigan, just as a Christian, Jew or Muslim can't use scientific means to verify that God exists.
On the other hand, the existence of the aforementioned deities can't be disproved, either. Believing in supernatural forces is, therefore, a matter of faith.
The origin of the world's species (including ours), the age of the universe, sexual orientation and why some people believe they've been possessed by Pazuzu, however, are not matters of faith. Such worldly matters are scientifically measurable. Science shows that species have evolved, that being gay is irreversible and, most likely, a result of the content of one's genes and that all those "demon-possessed" people are merely a few pills short of a full bottle of Haldol, so we must concede the sad-but-true fact that not all the answers to life's questions can be found in the Bible. Likewise, our worldviews should not reflect those of a nomadic desert tribe from 3,000 years ago.
Religion and science can coexist but should never be mixed together.
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