Colby, Kansas, is a typical small town in western Kansas. Much of its social life revolves around the high school football and basketball games, churches are abundant and well-attended, and the local community college brought in a strong supporter of evolution to speak on Tuesday evening.
No, that wasn't a typo. Colby Community College was host to Dr. Jeffrey Kieft on Tuesday evening for the new year's first installment of the Dr. Max Pickerill Lecture Series.
From college's website:
Dr. Jeffrey Kieft will be the first speaker of the new year hosted by the Dr. Max Pickerill Lecture Series at Colby Community College. His lecture, "Teaching Evolutionary Theory: Why it Matters," will be Tuesday, Feb. 3, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Northwest Kansas Cultural Arts Center.
Raised in a conservative Christian household but curious and drawn to science from a very early age, Dr. Kieft has never found a conflict between his faith and evolutionary theory. In recent years he has become increasingly active in promoting the rigorous and undiluted teaching of evolutionary theory, to include lecturing in various Christian churches in the Denver area.
In his lecture, Dr. Kieft will tackle the subject head-on, addressing questions such as: What is evolutionary theory and why is it important? Is evolution really anti-God? How can we redefine the discussion to embrace a society that desperately needs science, but respects religion? How does evolutionary theory fit into science in general, and what should we be teaching our kids?
"In the last few years, we have witnessed a growing anti-science movement that is undercutting the ability of educators and scientists to prepare our children to compete," said Dr. Kieft. "Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the anti-evolution/creation movement that has gained footholds in many communities. The debate surrounding this subject is both rancorous and angry, but is fundamentally misguided and self-destructive."
Raised in a conservative Christian household but curious and drawn to science from a very early age, Dr. Kieft has never found a conflict between his faith and evolutionary theory. In recent years he has become increasingly active in promoting the rigorous and undiluted teaching of evolutionary theory, to include lecturing in various Christian churches in the Denver area.
In his lecture, Dr. Kieft will tackle the subject head-on, addressing questions such as: What is evolutionary theory and why is it important? Is evolution really anti-God? How can we redefine the discussion to embrace a society that desperately needs science, but respects religion? How does evolutionary theory fit into science in general, and what should we be teaching our kids?
"In the last few years, we have witnessed a growing anti-science movement that is undercutting the ability of educators and scientists to prepare our children to compete," said Dr. Kieft. "Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the anti-evolution/creation movement that has gained footholds in many communities. The debate surrounding this subject is both rancorous and angry, but is fundamentally misguided and self-destructive."
It's encouraging to know that the Colby Community College folks are reaching out to the public. Colby, like Hays, is in the part of Kansas which elected Connie "evolution is a fairy tale" Morris to the state school board in 2002. We need to help inform voters about the facts of evolution instead of relying on others to trumpet the talk-radio version of evolution.
The bad news is that this event wasn't well publicized in this part of the state, and I only happened to learn about it after the fact. So I'll rely on the Colby Free Press to summarize the event and update after that info is available.
The good news is that is that signs for the event were abundant at Colby High School, so here's hoping there was a good turnout.
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
