Evolution, the New Age, and Your Child's Education
by Richard Bliss, Ph.D.
I wonder how many Christian parents and teachers are aware of the subtle way in which young minds, and in many cases older minds, are being programmed away from truth and Christian values. For example, what would you say if I pointed out that one of the finest video productions on whales, "Voyage of the Mimi," now being used in fourth-grade classrooms throughout the nation, is, in reality,an evolutionary propaganda?
The first three segments tell the beautiful story of whales and their habitat, and the children have a wonderful time observing and talking about these great mammoths of the sea. We could praise this fine production for children if it weren't for the last segment that tries to answer the question: Where did the whales come from? At this point, an expert (from the Smithsonian Museum) in the study of whales shows a fourth grader how the whale's "blow hole" evolved from the nostrils of a small dog to this monstrous beauty of the sea, where it wound up on top of his head.
It seems that no cost was spared in the producers' lavish efforts to program fourth-grade minds in this outlandish and unscientific idea of the whales' supposed evolution. Few children could come away from this fabrication without being thoroughly convinced that a dog-like creature was the whale's ancestor. The reader should keep in mind that it is not science that the parent and teacher must fear, it is the manipulation of the child's mind through semi-truths and outright fabrications labeled as science that give us reason to fear.
While the "Voyage of the Mimi" draws obvious conclusions about evolution, there are other programs that also claim to teach scientific truth, of which parents and teachers must take note. One of these programs is called Project Wild, endorsed by such New Agers as singer John Denver, which claims to develop environmental literacy. Instead, however, in it we find the most subtle training imaginable in humanism and New-Age philosophy. Project Wild teaches the child "what to think," rather than "how to think" about the environment. Once again, this is done in a most subtle and convincing manner and is not always easily detected.
For example, who would say that mammals and other organisms are not vital to our ecological well-being? Or who would say that we should not be considerate of our pet's comfort, as well as that of wild animals on Planet Earth? This truth is extended out in Project Wild to blind the reader, and makes him more vulnerable to thinking about himself as an animal, rather than a very special creation of God. This is precisely the essence of New Age philosophy.
In Project Wild, man and animal are equal entities in the environment. Anthropomorphism goes on throughout the curriculum, and, by any standard, there is no pedagogical reason for this approach to environmental awareness. What we see in the Project is the antithesis of science as it relates to critical thinking in regards to environmental awareness. Parents and Christian teachers would do well to inform themselves of the new and ever more subtle attempts at capturing the minds of children, as well as ways to combat them. Commitment to the creationist world view is the place to start.
Cite this article: Richard Bliss, Ph.D. 1990. Evolution, the New Age, and Your Child's Education. Acts & Facts. 19 (4).
