Public schools no place for imposed theocracy

Public schools no place for imposed theocracy
EDITOR:
It is interesting to read that in the most technologically advanced nation in history there remain some Americans with a proclamation of creationism -- until we remember that at one time in our history the most pious minds in New England believed that there were witches and that they should be hanged.
The aim of these fundamentalists seems to be to install a theocracy in our public school system. They are horrified when scientists say that the earth was formed 4.56 billion years ago from swirling space debris and gases clumped together, the oceans appeared 200 million to 300 million years later, 2 billion years ago their ancestors were microbes, that the cockroach is 300 million years old, and we are all the product of 20,000 centuries of development. To some of us this is creative triumph.
As for the public school science programs, it is the responsibility and duty of education to prepare our youth for the world they will live in by providing them with unadulterated scientific evidence.
Fundamentalist theology derives its scholarship from antiquity and their insight from ancient parables, myths and fables. Fundamentalism's immutable doctrine prohibits any scientific disclosure that seems to threaten these ancient beliefs.
According to a poll in the current Scientific American magazine, 16 percent of Americans support teaching creationism, 83 percent favor teaching evolution, 37 percent favor teaching evolution to the exclusion of all religious doctrine.
WILLIAM B. ROORBACK
Boardman
Sense of neighborhood can be restored to city
EDITOR:
The new trends urbanite developers wish to offer include short blocks and wide sidewalks; well located public space including town squares and parks; mixed land use for working, shopping, learning and other life activities; public transit systems; strong citizen participation to form a sense of community; housing of different architectural styles; affordable housing; and economic diversity. It appears people are longing to recapture the neighborhoods of their past.
For Youngstown residents, these are not new trends, but a way of life we are extremely proud to embrace. It is our diversity that makes us strong and challenges us daily. Our ability to work together, with faith in God and each other, will enable us to overcome all obstacles and restore this city to the proud place we call home.
KATHY KIRTOS
Youngstown
Bush energy bill ignores renewable resources
EDITOR:
Our president likes to talk and show one game and push an entirely different one. The new energy policy is just such a situation.
The other day, the president was standing in front of the White House in front of a shiny red car said to be powered by fuel cells. Now that's the kind of energy policy we can really subscribe to and be proud of and feel patriotic about.
But looking at the energy bill sent to Congress, one discovers that Bush has cut funding for nearly all renewables including wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. Instead of taking a step toward more emphasis on renewable energy and energy independence, our president is pushing as hard as he can for more production of fossil fuels, especially oil. This only postponing the day of reckoning when this nation has to come to terms with the finite nature of our basic energy sources.
If that's patriotic, it's difficult to see how.
MYRON GARWIG
Youngstown