We need knowledge of science to solve problems

RE: THE STATE’S proposed new rules on the way science will be taught. ... The state does not want the fact the Earth is about 5 billion years old and that it is strongly suggested by the age of some rocks to be taught to our children. It also wants to downplay Darwinian evolution in the science class. If I recall properly, global warming is also not on the agenda.

I understand the religious concerns with a multibillion-year-old Earth and universe and all life on it a result of natural selection rather than divine fiat. But our taxpayer-funded schools should, must, not allow religion to trump science in a science class. I don’t want the state to force evolution theory into the Sunday-school class, and I don’t want religion of any flavor in the science class. Those teachings belong in comparative religion classes.

We need our children to be prepared to deal with the coming crises now looming large on the horizon. While global warming may or may not be directly caused by human activity, it is difficult to argue it isn’t happening. Ask the people of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and many other islands in the Caribbean if tropical storms aren’t worse now than anyone can remember. Ask the polar bears in the Arctic if their ice-floe homes aren’t shrinking. Even if we aren’t the cause of the problem, it is up to us and our educated children to find solutions to (it).

Finding solutions for any problem becomes difficult if not impossible if one is operating with insufficient evidence. We need to use every bit of our scientific knowledge available in order to solve our many problems. Our children deserve to be allowed as much of that knowledge as they can manage. Those ideas that are well-known must be taught. Wateringdown facts dilutes those ideas that are necessary for our long-term survival . ... ROBERT PATTERSON Albuquerque