A True Teacher Seeks and Imparts the Truth

Passed on by Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D.
Email Received From a Teacher

This morning, I received an e-mail from a young female teacher in a public high school. She wrote what follows: "I became a Deist several months ago. I am convinced that the physical designs in nature required and presuppose Intelligence, called by many people "Nature's God". Being a teacher by profession, I have wanted to share this truth with the students under my care.

In school, I teach literature. When discussing American literature, I call attention to the writings of Thomas Paine, especially to his "The Age of Reason". There he denounced the errors of religions reputedly revealed by God to ancient prophets. He proposed the truth about the Intelligent Designer responsible for the physical designs in nature. I also tell my students that, in the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers called this intelligent designer: "Nature's God".

I have discussed this matter with several other teachers in high schools. One of them remarked that, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many writers celebrated the power of human reason. They shared the image of the universe as a clock wound up by God and ticking along with its gears governed by the laws of physics. This she tells her pupils. 

Another teacher, this one of biology, told me that when she discusses the intricate structure of DNA, she tells her pupils that some people observe these designs and conclude that they presuppose Supreme Intelligence whom they call God.

When I am asked why teachers in non-literature classes mention the Supreme Intelligence, the Designer of the designs in nature, I tell them that a true teacher is impelled to impart her knowledge to her students. Why not share with them her knowledge of Nature's God?