We no longer torture and burn at the stake those who challenge “common sense”, like poor Giordano Bruno, but how tolerant are we of new ideas? Do people still die for their beliefs? Read Robert Bolt’s “A Man for all Seasons”, or Bertholt Brecht’s “The Life of Galileo” for literary exploration of the question.
What about censorship? We may be more relaxed, but Americans can be surprisingly intolerant. They ban books. Explore these websites: http:onlinebooks.library.upenn.edubannedbooks.html www.godless.orghasdBanned.html Why would anyone want to ban these books? What do such bans say about the insecurities of these societies?
Dr Diego would like us to pursue knowledge for its own sake, and to explore with uncluttered minds the big questions about where we come from. Earlier ages, by their own lights, gave us the best answers they could come up with, in the form of creation myths. Perhaps students in the future will look back at the “Big Bang” theory as just another one of these.
Study a selection of creation myths from different cultures and religions. Is there any common ground? How do their explanations square with modern science?
More mature students might enjoy the sideways look at the Genesis story offered by Ted Hughes in “Crow”
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