35 years ago, I frequently gave talks and put on astronomy slide shows at area schools, up to the high school level. Whenever questions arose that had their foundation in scriptural descriptions of cosmology and/or evolution, I always politely referred those students to their religious leaders for more information, explaining that such questions are out of the realm of scientific research. Garrard, it seems that you are subscribed to the "digest" format. Can you do me a favor and when replying to a comment, please don't quote the entire digest or thread. Edit your reply to include only the comment you reply to. It helps me enormously in not having to pick through dozens of repeat posts. Thanks! On 12/13/10, garrard55@xmission.com <garrard55@xmission.com> wrote:
In recent years I have been involved in astronomy outreach to public schools along the Wasatch Front. I have grown up in Utah. I am aware that, when there are discussions of astronomy, the conflicts beween the big bang and creation arise. In our local communities, there are also ideas discussed regarding Kolob, whether our galaxy is organized into spiritual realms, inhabitants of other bodies in the solar system, etc. Some of the commentary comes from fringe writers, some from ardent religionists, some from credentialed people like John Heinerman and John Pratt. This has given rise to a very confusing situation, which I would like to try to describe and clarify.