Keep "Faith" out of Science Textbooks!

When my son brought home his 7th grade Life Sciences text book, I was astounded by the following excerpt:

"Could life have arisen from non-living things on early Earth, even though it does not occur on Earth today? The answer is yes."

Since there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support this assertion, I must conclude that the authors of this text-book make this statement "by faith." Faith in a presuppositional framework called "Scientific Naturalism" which insists that there is a materialistic, mechanistic cause for every observable phenomenon. This is philosophical position (materialism), not a scientific conclusion.

Is there any evidence that life began from nothing? "The answer is no!" The scientific evidence we have to date clearly shows that life cannot arise from non-living matter. The Miller-Urey experiments from the 1950's which seemed to hint that it might just be possible are now considered irrelevant by the scientific community. No one can say with any certainty what the atmosphere of early earth was like, or what the "primordial soup" consisted of... unless, of course, they are speaking by faith. Clearly, this text book statement is a "leap of faith."

What the authors, and science educators are really saying is this: "Hey kids, we have no proof that life can arise on its own (in fact, we have proof that it can't), but that doesn't matter! We believe that it simply must have come about on its own, because, you see, unlike the great scientific minds of past centuries, we cannot leave any room for the possibility of a Creator, or any kind of intelligence behind this marvellous world we live in."

This is one parent who is completely annoyed with this kind of double-standard in public education. Will someone please remind these educators that faith is strictly forbidden in the public school classroom!