20th Century American Public Schools Essay

Creationism has long been ruled out of public education and science. Creationists reject most of modern science in favor of a literal reading of the Bible. They believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old and God created everything fully formed (including humans). People in opposition against Intelligent Design think that in the eyes of creationists, the so called “intelligent designer” is God. Meanwhile, Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor. Once Darwin had proposed that the natural processes could have produced every species on this planet, including humans, the creationists felt that this theory took God out of the picture. Centuries later, like many people in Dover, many people in the US agree. Somewhere between a third and half the US population doesn’t accept

The riddle of the origin of man has been subject to many ponderings and theories for thousands of years. In America, two theories concerning this timeless question have driven a spike through the general populace. These two beliefs, Evolution and Christianity, have driven a riff through the American populace and fueled several debates and conflicts over which is the truer theory. Incidents such as the decision of the Kansas school board to ban schools from including the Evolution Theory from their curriculum are becoming a tragically frequent and threaten to escalate if not checked soon. However, there is a growing belief in America today in the possibility of believing that evolution is an inescapable fact while still

Through the 1920s, conflicts regarding the teachings of religious values versus Evolution, along with the increasing fight for women’s independence, caused a great deal of tension within America. Prior to the ‘20s schools taught the Bible and Christianity’s principles were stressed. It was in 1925 when Clarence Darrow defended John Scopes, a biology teacher, who was put on trial in the court for teaching the theory of Evolution (Doc C). This document illustrates the dialogue of

The problem in scientific creationism, and what I see as a reason for its exclusion from the science classroom in public schools, is the fact that it looks as if, from the outside, the whole theory that it rest on is simply a contortion of the traditional version of creation described in Genesis, custom-made to fit in with Darwin’s theory of evolution. R. M. Hare would probably say that scientific creationism is simply a modification of the story of creation in Genesis, to fit into the ÒblikÓ of the religious fundamentalist. A blik, as Hare describes it, is a pre-set worldview held by all people, in which they draw from when forming certain opinions on any particular subject. In the case of religious fundamentalist, whose faith in the validity of the Book of Genesis is an essential part of their blik, it becomes necessary for them to contort their literal view of the Book of Genesis into a form that is scientifically acceptable. For this reason, creation science still does not have a place in the science classroom of public schools.

Robinson, in her essay, claims that while Creationism is owned by “Religious Right”, Darwinism is owned by “Irreligious Right”2. She writes that the differences between the two are meaningless and that the people who defend religion make religion seem foolish while the defenders of science attributed to objectivity. Many people believe that Creationism and Darwinism do not belong together and are about as similar as cats and dogs. Just as there are cat people and dog people, there are people who stick to one belief or the other in the creation versus evolution debate. Robinson disagrees, however, and says that Creationism is probably the best thing that has happened to Darwinism. Darwinism, she writes, is “the caricature of religion that has seemed to justify Darwinist contempt for the whole of religion”3.

The feud between creationist and scientist about the origins of the universe dates back to the 20’s during the Scopes trial. Scientist are against creationism because there is no evidence to support the theory. Scientist support Charles Darwin’s theory Darwinism, the theory that organisms evolve from simple to complex through minor adaptations over time, because it has held up for more than a century. Rowe’s article expresses how he believes that creationist created intelligent design to take the place of creationism in public schools after the Supreme Court ruled that

It would be an understatement to claim that the realms of faith and reason rarely conflict. Since the earliest days of scientific inquiry, these two spheres of thought have been locked in a vicious battle, only letting up as religion has gradually modernized to accommodate newer understandings of the universe. But, as is the nature of any age-old debate, the fires fueling this conflict have once again been fed, this time with the controversy surrounding the teaching of Intelligent Design in public schools. The proponents of this alternative “theory” to the origins of life claim that they have been silenced by the Darwinian establishment and support integrating their ideas into the classroom through such means as textbook disclaimers or

The theory of creationism versus the theory of evolution is a controversial topic worldwide. The topic delves further into whether creationism should or should not be taught in public schools. While evolution is a theory that says modern plants and animals evolved by a natural process over time, creationism is the belief that the universe and living organisms originated from specific acts of divine creation. Because evolution and creationism are both theories, creationism should be taught with as much validity as the teaching of evolution in public school. Since the early 1990’s creationism has become more and more a plausible theory. The historical events of creationism dates back all the way to the creation of mankind and the universe. Various evidence, such as the universe, point towards an intelligent designer and should therefore be taught in public schools.

I am writing this topic because I would like to teach myself, what creationism really means, and if it violates any of our rights. Creationism brings the aspect of religion and beliefs into play, and it is a matter of perspective if it should be taught in public schools. There has been little consideration of this issue in private schools, as they are not subject to the public’s control and opinion. However, there are still measures that the private schools have to meet, such as standards to meet the proper accreditation. The main reason that creationism is the locus of controversy is because some Christian perceive creationism and evolution as conflicts to modern day society. These views remained constant over the last few decades, but they originally manifested different times ago. In the early times of public schools,

One of the most contentious issues with evolution vs. creationism or intelligent design is the assumption that one’s personal beliefs cannot be compatible with science. “Today science and religion are more often felt to be in conflict rather than in harmony” and it is often believed that acceptance of one is a complete rejection of the other (Phy-Olsen, 2010). This either/or mentality can be damaging to those coming from religious backgrounds such as: Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, especially when evolution has become synonymous with atheism. But like the film and our textbook have expressed, evolution can be compatible with various religious groups (Stearns & Hoekstra, 2005). Of course, not everything in an individual’s religious beliefs will

“On one hand, you’ve got kids going to Sunday school, and they’re telling them that God created them, and then they go to school and they’re being taught that man evolved from an ape” (White, Gary). The argument has taken the better part of a century, as to if creationism or evolution should be taught in public schools (Vedantam, Shankar); and no closer have we came to deciding which idea or more appropriately which theory should be taught to the youth of America. Roughly twenty to twenty-five percent of public school educators holding creationist views and nearly all the text books used currently contain evolution as their founding principle (Dean, Cornelia). All of the confusion over whose theory is more correct or viable for the

The controversy surrounding evolution largely deals with how to teach it in public schools and if it should be taught at all. There are many people who oppose teaching evolution in schools, instead promoting teaching creationism or the theory of ‘intelligent design’. This is not a new debate, and has been present since Darwin published his theories in the Origin of the Species.

Despite great efforts to convince the opposing belief for centuries, 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, the 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 information, schools should present information about both evolution and creation to students and promote a self-deciding way of learning rather than forcing students to believe one theory over another. Benjamin Franklin stated, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” (Morris 1). Those who already have a firm belief either for evolution of for creation will support their view no matter what is taught in schools. However, the population of people, who lack an opinion, deserve the right to receive information of both theories in school. Devout evolutionists, as well as creationist, connect strong emotion to the controversy of what should be taught in public school systems, yet to

One of the most discussed and debated phenomena in the history of education is that the hypothetical concept of evolution which can be considered as a theory of primordial history, moreover with the belief of creationism. Both have had an astounded impact in the framework of contemporary education should or should not be taught in the public classroom. Evolutionists and Creationists both have their reasons why their beliefs should be taught in the public classroom. The matter of the fact is that both of these are considered beliefs, things that are only backed by faith. Only faith, they are not supported by fact which makes them not a theory or hypothesis. Throughout history the debate between whether it is ethically right or wrong to teach these has been ongoing for too long and must come to a stop. These beliefs should not be taught in public schools due to the years of case law and disputed legislative actions, both of their belief systems, and the irrefutable facts that prove it morally wrong.

In contrast, evolutionary theory maintains that biological life originated by way of a natural selection process over billions of years (Morris 78).The concept of evolution, since its inception as a scientific theory through publication of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species” in 1859, has faced religious opposition (Verma 206). Intelligent Design has been gaining acceptance in the United States. According to a series of polls, conducted during the last 25 years, about 50% Americans believe in the original form of Creationism (Lewontin, 2005). Former President Bush agreed to teaching evolution and intelligent design side by side in science classes (Dawkins & Coyne, 2005). A school board in Dover, Pennsylvania voted against introduction of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in biology classes (Goodstein, 2005). In Kansas the school board accepted intelligent design as part of the curriculum alongside evolution (Wilgoren,