A biology teacher in Arizona, who describes himself as an open-minded skeptic, purposely included a slide in one of his presentations that mocks Jesus and dismisses Biblical creation as magic. Christopher Bang teaches biology and ecology at Arizona State University and his presentation managed to upset a student in his class, who took up the issue with Campus Reform earlier this month.
According to the student, who requested anonymity, Bang introduced his lecture with a slide titled “Evolution versus Creationism”, which featured two cartoons – one of Charles Darwin and apes evolving into man with the words “adaptation”, “genetics” and “natural selection” by their side and another of Jesus creating man with the words “magic” and “zap” by their side. The student captured a picture of the slide and sent it to Campus Reform, complaining about Bang’s lecture having nothing to do with what the subject is supposed to entail. The student also alleged several other students had a problem with the slide used by Bang.
“Quite a few students in the lecture hall were bothered by the picture, and it didn’t contribute to the lecture besides adding spite,” the student said.
Sandy Leander, manager of media relations at the university’s School of Life Sciences, clarified the slide was supposed to initiate a debate about evolution and creationism.
“The image you are referring to is on the title page of a [PowerPoint] and sets the stage for a discussion about the extremes of the public discourse on evolution/creationism,” she stated.
Apart from mocking conservative political figures and pro-life groups on his Twitter page, Bang writes on his personal blog that he tries to cultivate sound skepticism in all of his students.
“In my teaching, I try to engage students using examples from familiar surroundings to increase their awareness of nature,” he states. “We are constantly exposed to examples of bad science in media, so by exposing flaws in ‘sciency’ products I try to teach my students sound skepticism and critical thinking.”
After Bang’s slideshow garnered more and more attention through December, religious bigots started expressing dismay and concern, saying the classroom is not the appropriate place to disparage Christianity.
“All the professor needed to do was state the facts about evolution and move on,” one commenter opined. “There’s no need to attack Christianity in the process.”
“Professors’ opinion on religion has no place in the discussion,” another asserted. “Their only stake should be in the presentation of data and facts. Let students draw their own conclusions about how it will interact and intersect with their faith and understanding of their religious doctrine.”
“Instead of ridiculing the absurdity of Christianity, perhaps Professor Bang should learn a little more about the U.S. Constitution, read the Federalist papers, or take a religion class,” a third commenter suggested. “At the very least he could cite a verse from Genesis in his next presentation.”
Photo Credits: Campus Reform
