This is a terrific story about a terrific teacher in Florida who forcefully but very carefully is trying to pry the minds of his students away from the false dichotomy that there is a conflict between science and religion.
Bryce came to Ridgeview as a freshman from a Christian private school where he attended junior high.
At 16, Bryce, whose parents had made sure he read the Bible for an hour each Sunday as a child, no longer went to church. But he did make it to the predawn meetings of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a national Christian sports organization whose mission statement defines the Bible as the “authoritative Word of God.” Life had been dark after his father died a year ago, he told the group, but things had been going better recently, and he attributed that to God’s help.
When the subject of evolution came up at a recent fellowship meeting, several of the students rolled their eyes.
“I think a big reason evolutionists believe what they believe is they don’t want to have to be ruled by God,” said Josh Rou, 17.
Pity these poor kids being taught this nonsense by their parents. And, to be clear, the nonsense to which I refer is that a) there is such a thing as an “evolutionist”, as if it were a creed and that b) understanding that evolution is a fact need in no way shatter their faith in God. Children being taught this way are crippled worse than someone confined to a wheel chair. It does mean that in order to join the real world or at least have a prayer of understanding how it works they have to let go of the young earth interpretation of Genesis. There are plenty of Christian sects which have made the simple leap to metaphor and are able to let go of all that “6,000 years ago” silliness.
We need a lot more Mr. Campbells who love and respect their students enough to know that the truth will set them free (or at least let them get a job in modern society). It could be said, with only a tiny dose of irony, that he’s doing God’s work. I wish him well. Besides: He’s an ex Navy flight instructor. Perhaps the only guys I respect more than those who land on aircraft carriers are those who teach them how.