Vista Board on Creationism

In response to “School Board’s Creationist Trend Causes Stir in Vista,” May 20:

That the school board of a district with a heretofore impressive scholastic record would imperil its academic standards by teaching Christian creationism is yet another example of the religious right’s promulgation of ignorance. Our children must not be allowed to be crippled by a disavowal of science in favor of biblical allegories and fables. Creationism is a repudiation of the analytical processes that serve as the foundation for critical examination of the world around us.

To teach biblical inerrancy as an alternative to true scholarship is to venerate the shadow of a deity. To explore science, from evolution to quantum physics, is to fly with angels.

DAN GERRITY

Los Angeles

* I am deeply concerned with the “new bigotry” that so often appears in the media, even The Times. It is no longer considered acceptable to write or speak in derogatory terms about Jews, blacks, New Agers, gays, lesbians or the handicapped, but conservative Christians are fair game.

Evidence of this showed up in your article discussing the volatile issue of creationism vs. scientism. You used the heavy-duty shibboleth “fundamentalist” to describe the Vista school board members who wish the arguments against the theory of evolution to be covered in the curriculum.

The word “fundamentalist” has a clear meaning when used by scholars of American church history. But it has been misappropriated by journalists and broadened to include members of nearly any religion who take their beliefs seriously. Further, the connotations of the word as used by most journalists are clearly dismissive and derogatory.

The term “conservative Christian” is precise, neutral and acceptable by both scholars and the persons so described. I ask you to reconsider the use of the term “fundamentalist” in your paper.

DENNIS McNUTT

Professor of History and Political Science

Southern California College

Costa Mesa

* If fundamentalists get creationism taught in public schools, they will be shocked by the result. Once put forward as a scientific theory, creationism will be questioned and tested. Since the theory is founded on the Bible, the Bible too will be subjected to skeptical inquiry.

Once creationism gets into the classroom, atheists and others will find a public forum for attacking the theory and its foundation (the Bible). Fundamentalists will recoil and try to get creationism out of public schools as atheists mobilize to keep it in the schools. Such is the idiocy of people.

GEORGE MILLER

Pasadena

* Somebody needs to go to Vista and remind the school board that the classroom is for teaching fact; the church is for teaching faith. Not the other way around. Children should not have to be subject to some Bible-thumper’s religious convictions in order to get an education.

KEVIN RUNYON

Studio City