| Regarding evolution, I believe it is an entirely different matter for it to be imposed on anyone.
If evolution is a Buddhism doctrine and we are learning it in the text book, then I can agree that it is being imposed on the people. However it is coming from the "neutral" parties - the scientific community. Thus to me it is more in line with people teaching me the inhertia theory or the general relativity than a religious doctrine.
In my physics class, a student who was very sure that Einstein was wrong and the general relativity is incorrect, and she used it as an argument to support her not answering the G.R. theory problem on the test that accounted for 20% of the points (reason: if I don't believe that is true, then you are imposing the idea on me, which I have the right NOT to learn). The professor then told her by enrolling in the class, she already agrees with a basic agreement: the test will be used to check how much teaching material she remembers from the lecture, instead of in total agreement.
I am not a Christian, yet I read the bible as it is a very interesting historical and literature work. I have several volumes of books on Buddhism and enjoy reading some of the ideas they have on world view. Learning an idea doesn't mean I have to totally agree with it. If people agree with everything that they are taught, then the world would be a very dangerous place. |