Do Creationism and Intelligent Design Have a Place in the Classroom?

I. Acceptance of Creation is growing in spite of overwhelming evidence proving Evolution There is no easy resolution for whats true and evolution or creationism. It is a complex topic with profound scientific, religious, educational, and criticism. How can a student or parent come to grips with this issue? Evolution vs. Creationism provides a badly needed, comprehensive, and balanced introduction to the many facets of the current debates about what should be taught in a classroom or in reality itself. Evolution relies on scientific facts while creationism clings on biblical beliefs. But the legal and

The question as to whether or not creationism should be taught in public schools is a very emotional and complex question. It can be looked at from several different angles, its validity being one of them. Despite the lack of evidence to support the fundamentalist idea of creationism, that in itself is not enough to warrant its exclusion from the curriculum of public schools in the United States. The question is far more involved and complex.

The debate over teaching evolution in public schools is not new at all but the debate has been elevated through the media over the past few years. Conservative Christians and other conservatives serving on school boards (particularly in the South) have been insisting that if schools are going to buy textbooks that have evolution chapters then they should also have a place in that textbook near the evolution chapter for creationism. Progressives and scholars that understand the scientific basis for evolution argue that there's nothing wrong with putting creationism or "intelligent design" in textbooks but that subject is not science-based and therefore should be published in the "religion" chapter (if there is one). Should evolution be taught in public schools? The answer is yes, most certainly; to ignore evolution is to deprive public school students of some of the most important knowledge relating to our planet and our society. Scientific ignorance is unacceptable in a country that calls itself the "greatest nation on earth."

The Dawkins chapter speaks about the debate between religion and science and how religious people refuse to even give science teachers and professors the time of day. Most of the time people will refuse to listen to what has been proven due to their religious beliefs. Evolution professors have even been threatened with the loss of their jobs. Even though, many professors have tried to explain that evolution is a fact and one of the greatest of God’s works, still their time is wasted. The pope and educated priests and professors of theology have been known to no longer have a problem with evolution because they understand that evolution is a fact and not intended to be an anti-religious study.

With the rise of modern science over the centuries came a vigorous attack on Christian theology; most universally recognized is Darwin’s theory of evolution. Although it has been taught throughout schools across the country since the 1960’s, recent legislature entitled “academic freedom” bills has encouraged skepticism of Darwin’s theory due to the inherent contradictions of it. Still, some people challenge Christianity on the basis of a lack of evidence, yet they’ll turn to theories of evolution which lack empirical support without enquiry.

Vanessa Alacantar was a high school student who wrote an argumentative essay entitled “Why creationism should be taught in schools.” As can be ascertained from the title, the author’s position is that the theory of creation should be taught in schools alongside evolutionary studies. She writes the essay with a sure and almost condescending tone, making certain claims out of context in addition to using faulty logic in what I personally see as an attempt to confuse the reader about the view opposite her own.

The debate of whether Darwin’s theory of evolution or the theory of intelligent design is how life and the universe came to be is a very controversial topic that turns people against each other in hatred for the past two hundred years. It is still argued today whether mankind and was created due to evolution, or if an intelligent higher power created them. One significant event regarding this dissension occurred in Dover, Pennsylvania, in the year 2004, leading to the court case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, in which the citizens of Dover argued over the idea of teaching the theory of intelligent design alongside evolution in a 9th grade biology classroom. However, intelligent design is not scientific because there is not enough evidence to support it; therefore, intelligent design should not be taught in schools.

“A delusion is something that people believe in, despite a total lack of evidence.” Richard Dawkins. Intelligent Design and Evolution have long been at odds, from laymen arguments to some of the prestigious minds in the world, all have been debating over this scientific rift. However, the question that has fraught even the most intellectual person; is Intelligent Design a religion or is it science? This issue has held the public school system back since the rising call for Intelligent Design to be in science textbooks. In the scientific field, there is a myriad of convincing evidence for Evolution and because of this many people believe that Intelligent Design is simply a religion. Since Intelligent Design is merely a religion and not a scientifically supported subject, adding it to

One final example of Easton's definition of politics is school districts. Each public school belongs to a school district, which are governed by an elected or appointed school boards. Each school district is unique with their own policies and financing. Policies reflect the values of the school districts citizens. One example is where evolution, intelligent design, or both should be taught in school; also what grade it should be first taught in. Some school broads feel evolution should not be taught and others feel the intelligent design is teaching religion and not science. Parents are advised to see where their school board stands on the issue. Parents are also told to look at their child's science textbook and see how it is taught and where

The objection to evolutionary theory and it's teaching began well over 100 years ago. Charles Darwin proposed in 1859 that populations of organisms underwent evolution through a process known as natural selection. Three years prior to the publication of this theory, in 1856, he wrote of "creationists" in a personal correspondence (Darwin, 1856). The notion that scientific theory conflicts with and rejects religious dogma has been a persistent, pervasive one. Religious organizations continue to push for the acceptance of creationism or intelligent design in school today. Despite the numerous legal cases brought to forth to force the teaching of creationism in public schools, we of the school board maintain that creationism has no place within our schools.

The opposition to this theory comes in part from those whose religious beliefs are contradicted by it, those who claim that evolution is “just a theory,” and claim it is not a sound science because of the label. To understand that evolution is true and reliable, the definition of the word theory in a scientific context must first be understood. In Richard Dawkins’ “The Greatest Show on Earth,” this is explained, ”The Oxford English Dictionary gives two meanings… Theory, Sense 1:... a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts… Theory, Sense 2: A hypothesis proposed as an explanation: hence, a mere hypothesis,speculation, conjecture…” It is proposed in this book that scientists and creationists are using these definitions in different contexts. Creationists use the second sense of the word theory, meaning a speculation of no value, and scientists use it in sense one, that of a proven hypothesis. In science the word theory is surpassed only by the word law in the sense of conveying certainty. In science, a theory is a hypothesis that has never been disproven, such as the theory of gravity. Evolution has been proven many times over through both observation and experiment, which is the reason it is taught in public schools. Though it has uncountable examples, only a fraction will be mentioned. Transitional fossils are one of the major concerns on the part of creationists. They use gaps in the fossils record to argue its unreliability. Transitional fossils are the species that lie in between the transition from one species to its ancestor or descendant. When these fossils are missing, it can seem far-fetched for a whale to develop from a land dwelling dog like animal, but when the fossils in between these two species are discovered, the transition becomes clearer. Though

The theory is made in assumption that pure creationism, for obvious reasons, can never pass as unaffiliated with religion, and thus can never be taught in government-funded public schools. As of now, its proponents’ claims for the earth’s age vary between 6000 and 4.5 billion years ago, as long as God did it (Branch). Rather than relying on scientific evidence, intelligent design thrives on the most miniscule of holes in evolutionary fossil records and the unfathomability of a living cell being created from inorganic matter. These holes are then complemented with ignorance of viable proof of evolution; proponents of the field have managed to turn these two elements in a supposed science. However, the yet infantile theory has still made its way to public schools in five states, with as many as twenty states currently debating the validity of evolution education.

Imagine not being able to choose what you learn, this is slowly becoming a problem in the field of science. Evolutionists and other scientists are trying to stop intelligent design from being a field of science to offer in schools. The war between evolution and intelligent design has been long fought, even taken to court and the teens and children who are in school are often stuck in the dark, unable to find a side to agree with. Intelligent design should be offered in schools because it is a type of science, it has plausible theories and it fills in the holes that evolution leaves behind.

Despite great efforts to convince the opposing side, a battle still brews amongst creationists and evolutionists over the beginning of life and the universe, but neither opinions’ palpability can be firmly upheld through scientific manners. Since science can only prove hypotheses that are testable and based on current observations, neither creation nor evolutionary concepts can be proven with irrefutable evidence. However, regardless of the inability to prove either concept, most public school systems promote evolution as a scientific fact. Many students who lack firm beliefs about the origin of life believe what they are taught without giving any personal thought to the matter. Instead of robotically absorbing biased information,

In an article published in the New York times, by Laurie Goodstein, she revealed that a poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, revealed that 64 percent said they were open to the idea of teaching creationism in addition to evolution, while 38 percent favored replacing evolution with creationism. It is important to note by this poll that the idea of teaching our children other theories of how this world was created was supported by more than half of the polled population. It needs to be understood that when these teachings are given the opportunity to be introduced in the public school settings, teachers must maintain a very bias approach as to not sway their students into believing one side or the other but, rather let them decide for themselves through research and study what they will believe in.