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Geek and nerd Joe D has in the past studied genetics, molecular and cell biology, worked in cancer research, and made contemptuous amounts of money from incompetently composed photographs. The views expressed on this weblog are not his own; rather, he stole them from you through mind invasion.

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Do the Vardy schools teach creationsim or not?

I just heard the millionaire Christian fundamentalist Peter Vardy say on BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the independent schools he runs in the north of England do not teach Creationism. I wasn't listening to the rest of the news item, but just heard the interviewer ask "your schools have creationism on the syllabus, don't they?".

Vardy replied: "No, that is an absolute fallacy ... spread by The Guardian [Newspaper]."

I don't understand. Within seconds of him saying this I had open a list of pages from not just The Guardian, but The Independent, Daily Telegraph, BBC and the British Humanist Association accusing Vardy of teaching Creationism, as well as one by the American Creationist organisation Answers In Genesis (though their integrity is questionable).

But I also looked up a transcript I have of another interview Vardy did with Ed Stourton on Radio 4's Today Programme just under two years ago. Stourton asked Vardy almost exactly the same question as he was asked a few minutes ago:

Stourton: But critically you direct the way the schools are run and in the case of the Emmanuel School that caused all the fuss last year one of the things the school did, as we said, is to teach creationism alongside evolution in the classroom.

Vardy: We do teach creationism alongside evolution [interruption] - we present both.

So, does Vardy's organisation teach Creationism? Did it used to? Has he changed his definition of "Creationism"? The definition of "syllabus"? I won't even consider the possibility that he lied to millions of radio listeners, but can he explain his apparent inconsistency?

The issue is clearly bothering the organisation, which recently tried an image saving name change, from Vardy Foundation to Emmanuel Schools Foundation, and then lost its bid to take over another school after a campaign from parents and teachers.

Transcript of April 2003 Stourton interview.

Keywords: Emmanuel Schools Foundation, creationism, current affairs, pseudoscience

[Edit] Edit | [Delete] Delete | [History] History | [Version] Last edited by {{{user_full}}}, 2007-11-06 18:07:18 | [Views] Viewed 28839 times |

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{{{nick}}}

Perhaps it is the case that Vardy has realised that the form of creationism presented within the Emmanuel Schools Foundation is not quite so radical as what was presented in the newspapers at the time of the major controversy. In fact the idea that the Lord created the Earth is not what the media cause such hot air about, rather it is their perception that to teach creation means that one has to believe that the Earth is a mere 6,000 years old - and this view is not presented in the Foundation. Anyway, I cannot see the problem with encouraging debate between science, religion and young people. A lot of people do not know the fantastic job the members of the Foundation perform in helping young people to think rather than just believe the tosh that the media presents as fact - I think that if you visited one of the schools (incidentally this is possible by contacting Miss V Boyers on 01642 577577) you would have a much broader understanding of the purpose of the Foundation.

Kind regards.

Posted at 2005-08-11 18:45:27 - [Ban] - [Del]

{{{nick}}}

the Foundation perform in helping young people to think rather than just believe the tosh that the media presents as fact - I think that if you visited one of the schools (incidentally this is possible by contacting Miss V Boyers on 01642 577577) you would have a much broader understanding of the purpose of the Foundation.

Kind regards.

Posted at 2005-08-11 18:45:47 - [Ban] - [Del]

Alan

creationism.co.uk

Let’s say you have just dropped a 10.00 note. I pick it up & put it in my pocket. After a lot of strenuous argument on your behalf, I finally offer to hand back 5.00, which you reject. We start arguing & some passers by suggest we compromise. I say that is a good idea & out of the goodness of my heart give you a full 7.00 back. Would you think this is a good idea?

No? So why should anyone have to compromise with creationists who first tried to ban evolution (as they did in America), then tried to get it taught alongside evolution (equal time)? Why should science teachers compromise with them by allowing them to teach pseudoscientific criticisms of evolution (which is what ID is essentially) alongside the teaching of evolution?

Evolution has nothing to do with this or that religious viewpoint of the world & the people teaching it should no more have to compromise on this point than you would on the issue of the 10.00 note.

Secondly although the Foundation may not teach young earth creationism in science classes, there are pages & pages of information & statements made by its members pointing to its strong association with YEC. If the Foundation doesn’t want these reporting in the press THEN IT SHOULD STOP MAKING THEM.

The students attending biology classes in which they are expected to learn about evolution should be doing exactly that, not having some debate about science & religion. They do not go to these lessons to hear Vardy’s personal & totally irrelevant & unscientific opinions on creationism – views that are in total conflict with the subject they are meant to be learning. Such a course of action could seriously undermine their understanding of evolution.

It is nothing but propaganda to suggest that the Foundation can help students to think. There are many hard working & dedicated teachers working in schools around the country who are as good if not better & yet do not have to make a big noise about it. For a start, the Foundation are working with new buildings & the latest equipment with a new management & a new purpose. In these circumstances, it would be surprising if the exam results did not go up. Besides many schools manage to achieve significant improvements without knocking down the school & rebuilding it or proclaiming their superiority over everyone else.

The only tosh is that coming from the management of the Foundation, who condemn themselves out of their own mouths. Christian fundamentalists should not be given control of schools to indoctrinate other people’s children with their backward views on science, sex, homosexuality & religion. In an increasingly secular country, it is nothing short of amazing that the views of the large numbers of non-religious parents are just being completely ignored.

(This was originally posted on 2005-10-06 00:38 BST, but I accidently deleted the comments database and had to revert to a backup before this was posted, and had to retreive the post from Google's cache --Ed.)

Posted at 2005-12-31 02:29:13 - [Ban] - [Del]

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