The decision to remove the evolution of the horse and archaeopteryx from Korean science textbooks is proving to make quite a stir on the internet, attracting thousands of comments within hours on web portal site Daum, leading netizens to condemn what they see as the Christianization and falsification of education.

From Seoul News:

The theory of Evolution to Disappear from Science Textbooks

‘The Committee To Revise Evolution From Textbooks petition removal of archaeopteryx from 6 textbooks.

A number of core references to the theory of evolution contained in the science textbook such as archaeopteryx and ‘the changes of horse over time’ have disappeared from the textbooks. This was the result of the Christian organization’s petition. The bio-science community hitherto remained dismissive of the Creationists’ challenge to the theory of evolution express dismay. As the calls to ‘defend evolution’ among a number of university students and biologists are getting more vocal, there are others who chime in to significantly update the ancient science textbooks that have not been revised for decades.

According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST), of the seven science textbook publishers, three of them have decided to concede to the petition that called ‘the depiction of the evolution of horse is the product of imagination’. Chonjae Education publishing house decided to replace the ‘evolution of the horse’ with the ‘evolution of the whale’ and the rest decided to remove the reference altogether.

‘The Committee to Revise Evolution In Textbook’ (CREIT) also submitted for the removal of the reference ‘archaeopteryx is not an intermedium between reptile and bird’ found in the six science textbooks and as a result all of them had to be revised or removed altogether. The CREIT also plan to submit petition to remove other references to the theory of evolution such as ‘the evolution of human’ and ‘the adaptation of finch beaks based on habitat and mode of sustenance’, admitting that their end-goal is to change the educational structure that teaches the Darwinian evolution as the orthodox.

The textbook publishers in question are said to have responded in adequate procedure. The textbooks are written independently but in conformity with the core-teaching materials defined in the educational structure guideline. One of the publishing companies named Kyohaksa said ‘after some discussions the authors admitted that there is some scholarly controversies and as such decided to revise it.’

The biological science community is concerned about the removal of the iconic bird-reptile together with the depiction of the evolution of horse, which was portrayed as the best model for demonstrating the evolutionary process. Some scholars have initiated the counter-petition to ‘recognize the paleontological significance of archaeopteryx.

The experts blame the passive and reactive approaches by the scientific community. The professor of genomics at Seoul National University Jang Dae-ik said ‘the problem is that the writers of the science textbooks have neglected the new materials on the theory of evolution over the several decades. It even contains the references to Ernst Haeckel’s recapitulation theory (ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, get it?) which has been disproven a long time ago. This kind of lapse in up-to-date knowledge invites such an attack [from the CREIT].’

Comments from Daum:

황상석:

I thought the whole purpose of religion was to suture up conflicts and make peace with each other, but why does the Christian church cause so much conflict? They are trying to form tighter group by attacking other religion that does not conform to their own gospel… True religion, where is it? Instead I just wish all the religions to disappear.

ll00:

Gaedok, pay tax… We are breaking our balls here… Gaedok begets gaedok…

bluesky:

You think the entire universe is just created randomly???? ke ke ke The origin of universe, the origin of the Earth, the origin of human, the origin of living creatures, none of which we know for certain, right???? Science cannot tell you everything. Cannot prove everything. So it takes a lot of belief to believe in science. HAHAHAHAH~

큰마을:

The country that does not allow criticism against religion…

불사:

Science is science and religion is religion, why try to change the context by petitioning??? Should we petition to change the Biblical storylines??

lamb:

Oh my, this is going overboard… I believe in God too… but this is not the way to do it…

생떼쥐패리:

The next edition might include creationism. Is this biology or theology…? Shit or soypaste…?

이지적인간:

Maybe creationism is a product of imagination? Give me some provable evidence.

칭구야놀자:

Catholics do not deny evolution. Evolution is simply a part of creation plan as well. So it makes no sense for the Protestants to reject evolution on the basis of creationism.

메신저:

Scary gaedok groups are trying to distort the theory of evolution, the science. If this is not the end of the world, what is? The gaedok organizations are trying to manipulate the masses and start the end of the world.

바보소나무:

A friend of mine is a Christian and he thinks God created this world, and what he says makes me skin craw, and made me realize that he was beyond help. The gaedoks really do believe everything in the Bible as truth and forces that onto others. I don’t mind them being crazy but don’t make others go crazy as well. His grandfather passed away not too long ago and I expected him to have cried his eyes out but instead he was worried that his deceased grandfather was sent to heaven or not.

사람 사랑 삶:

If there is a legitimate ground for revising the theory of evolution on the basis of new evidence, it ought to be done. The case of archaeopteryx is a case in point, which was rejected by scientific community in the eighties.

제트기:

The theory of evolution has too many holes.

UKA:

This does not surprise me anymore…

산골사람:

The textbook should only publish theories or hypotheses that are proven by science and make mention of anything short of that as tentative. If anything that is presented as evidence of evolution does not have the scientific evidence, it must be removed or revised.

정세진:

Real gaedok, there is no answer

SSEM:

This is exactly same as the modification of the history textbook in Japan by the lobbying of the far right elements ke ke

주의눈물:

You evolution-believing morons… If you accept that the population of mankind doubles every 500 years, in 500,000 million years (according to evolution theory) of our existence, our physical bodies [170cm*40cm*17cm] would have filled the entire universe with our bodies. You stupid humans… The history of mankind is exactly as described in the Bible, only 6000 years.

다나와:

Religion should just stay religion. It should be a place for rest for those who are tired and exhausted, do not try to tell the world what to do and how to do it.

머리통:

Just because one denies the theory of evolution does not mean creationism will be accepted as science.

양촌리의 현자: