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 We are on the brink of destroying our planet by global climate change caused by greedy, materialistic, self-indulgent, and "anything goes" human behavior, and I claim that the main reason for this behavior is an ever-increasing poorly educated superstitious faith based human mindset -- not understanding how the real world works -- allowed to rule and control interaction with the planet. Dr. Jan A. Nilsson
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Except for this page the reading you must do for the evolution discussion in General Biology is in your textbook. Evolution is the "red thread" of biology so you will notice that about half of the textbook chapters deal with evolution. The major segments for General Biology I are in PART III, Chapters 15 - 19, and for General Biology II in PART VI, chapters 28 - 30. (Mader Ed. 10.).
This page is a philosophy statement by the instructor -- your opinion might differ...
 A discussion about evolution does not necessarily have to involve the question if God exists or not. So, we are not going to discuss that question here...
 However, a discussion about evolution must -- unfortunately -- involve religion. This is because many religious denominations are spreading pseudoscience based on nothing or based on some religious persons poor education about how the world works.
Education -- that is what is at stake -- our kids' education, quality education. I for one will not allow my kid to grow up to think that the world is 6000 years old, that humans originated with the creation of Adam and Eve, that humans lived together with the dinosaurs, and that there was a great flood during which a person named Noah filled an boat full of animals (including dinosaurs, ticks and tapeworms) to save them. All which is uneducated nonsense -- which all educated persons understand. The problem is that a big portion of the uneducated masses -- a product of religious indoctrination and an education system that has failed them, do not understand this and believe that these are real events.
Again and again we read in the newspapers or hear on TV that in comparison with other countries scientific literacy in the Unites States is low. Students graduating from college today are said to have about the same level of scientific knowledge as students who graduated from high school in the 1950's.
Newspapers, TV programs, and opinion polls, also show that an increasing number of Americans believe that humans were created within the last 10,000 years, and that there is no scientific evidence for Evolution. School boards in state after state are being high-jacked by uneducated parents, pushing a "teach both sides" faith based pseudoscience curriculum or demanding that Noah's Ark (apparently carrying dinosaurs) and the Biblical Flood, in addition to other creation science areas, at least should be given "equal time" to Natural Selection and Plate Tectonics. Religious schools are even suing universities because the universities are claiming the right to set academic standards, and not accept students' work from religious schools that don't adequately teach the subject (such as evolution). Something "is going on" beyond biology education and science discussions in the United States (if the "is going on" article is not available click here).
Teachers are told that we should give the students (the parents?) a choice to select schools that reflects their values and worldview -- even if that worldview is based on superstition and lack of education. Knowing that there are still people who think the world is flat, and that biology teachers go through a long rigorous training in their field, including mechanisms of Evolution and Continental Drift, is it really clever to let untrained students (or whiny parents?) be able to decide what they want to hear in the classroom? I thought the teacher was in charge of the classroom and that the reason students come to school was to learn new things from trained masters in the field? In the case of biology, students should learn FACTS about the natural world -- not pseudoscience. Is the parents' worldview more important? Then don't bother coming to class -- ask your whiny parents to home school you and teach their fantasy worldview instead!
 In addition to reading about evolution in the textbook, we are having class discussions, and one reason is because the U.S. is at the bottom of the "the graph" (below) (right between Cyprus and Turkey). The U.S. is at the bottom of the graph for two reasons: 1. Poor quality education (starting in childhood). 2. Religious indoctrination (starting in childhood).
Adults were asked to respond to the statement: "Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals." The percentage of respondents who believed this to be true is marked in blue; those who believed it to be false, in red; and those who were not sure, in yellow. The question was just whether humans evolved from earlier animals. It said nothing about evolution being by purely natural means, via natural selection, or without participation by a deity. It's just: "did humans evolve?"
As many as 60 percent of Americans do not believe humans have evolved, or are at least not sure. Compare that number with Japan and with countries in Europe. The poor educational level and lack of science knowledge in the United States is terrifyingly chilling.
"The graph" is used for educational purposes by Dr. Nilsson, South Texas College. Downloaded from http://www.pastpeak.com/archives/2007/04/unevolved_1.htm#comments. For fair use comment see bottom of this page.
Since so many in the U.S. think that humans did not evolve, are people in the United States better educated about the REAL world than people in other countries?
 Or is it the other way around?
The study found that adults with some understanding of genetics are more likely to have a positive attitude toward evolution. However, fewer than half of American adults can provide a minimal definition of DNA. Poor science education, or lack thereof, is clearly at least one reason why the U.S. is at the bottom of the graph.
Americans who cannot even explain in simple terms what DNA is, think that they are in a position to say that evolution didn't happen, and think that they have the right to impose their uneducated opinions on what our kids should be taught in school! 
The Austin American-Stateman editorial to the left below, was published in the Monitor October 10, 2008. To those of you with strong religious opinion about evolution: This is not published in an evil, blasphemous science publication, this was in the Monitor. For this reason, could it be of serious concern for quality education and the "dumbing-down-of-America"? Non-acceptance of evolution is just one example of a declining educational quality. Should we perhaps do something to stop this dumbing down? Or should we just keep marching into the future, like in the cartoon to the right below, without any concerns? Comments?
Based on more than a few reactions from previous semesters I can already hear someone saying that, "your faith and your belief that evolution didn't happen has nothing to do with education." Hmmm!!!??? This was discussed in a blog (Past Peak, scroll down to "Unevolved", April 27, 2007). One of the blog statements informed that when Ronald Reagan was running for President, when he gave speeches in certain religious states where the majority do not accept evolution, he would slip in the sentence, "I have no chimpanzees in my family," poking fun at the idea that apes could be the ancestors of humans. "It would be funny, in a sick sort of way, if it weren't so downright scary, considering the belligerence and military power of the US. People who have flipped the mental switch that lets them ignore the evidence of physical reality so they can be accepted by the herd are people who can be led into all sorts of mischief. And they're armed to the teeth. Superstitious primates with guns."
There is an obvious need to promote an educated discussion about this, in order to stop the spread of pseudoscience, to counter attempts of certain elements in society to highjack biology education (and more?) in the United States.
 Jan A. Nilsson, Ph.D. Biology, South Texas College.
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