The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

Creationism should be taught alongside evolution

Even today there is little agreement on teaching children in school about how life developed. You would think the matter would be settled by now.

The theory of creationism – that God created the earth and humankind – was once thought to be the only true origin of us all. This was taught in churches, along with the consequences of sin and the afterlife.

According to the constitutional division between church and state, the question of whether God was involved should have been left to houses of worship and Bible study groups – not to schools. In 1859 Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species,” the foundation of modern biology, which holds that all species developed from earlier forms of life during millions of years through chance mutation and the process of natural selection.

Darwin’s introduction of evolution shocked the church and confused the state. Which one of these two theories explains the origin of humankind? Today, evidence proves both theories to be plausible, yet there is not an agreement on which should be taught in schools.

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So why not teach both?

As soon as the theory of evolution was taught in the classroom, it was banned. The thought of defying the church and actually teaching this new scientific theory was seen as radical.

It was supposed to be known that God was the creator of humankind. To defy the church was a sin.

Regardless, it still remained that there were those who took Darwin’s theory of evolution into consideration and found it to be acceptable. One of those people was a science teacher from Tennessee named John Scopes. He was guilty of breaking Tennessee law for teaching this theory of evolution in his classroom.

The verdict of his trial remained to be a victory for the theory of evolution – because it caused enough controversy that the federal courts debated the verdict further – even though John Scopes failed to persuade the state courts to legalize teaching this theory.

Thus, the court battle ensued. In 1963 all books in Tennessee (except the Bible) were required to contain a notice that any portrayals of origins of human kind are not scientific fact. This led the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968 to overrule any state’s ban on teaching evolution.

Creationism cannot be defined as a science because it is based on an inflexible presupposition. Science is characterized by the willingness of an investigator to follow evidence to wherever it leads. Accusations of creationism not being a science has spurred the race for “scientific” evidence supporting creationism: Creation Science.

The debate between teaching creationism in schools or not is more complex than the idea of leaving the faith-based theory of creation to the church.

Or is it?

Scientific theories are not facts, but constitute scientific explanations of scientific information. Such theories are ideas and are continually under study as they are used in the search for new facts and explanations.

No one was around to see the evolution of organisms. No one was around to see God create the earth and humankind.

Without eyewitnesses, any talk of origin is only a matter of faith. Creationism and evolution are still only theories.

Does it matter the amount of science or faith involved? These theories are not opponents in the game of life. Creationism and evolution are contradicting theories on the origin of humankind – they are equivalent.

The reason creationism has not been taught in schools may simply be due to a misunderstanding of the parallelism between the theories. It all may be due to a hunger for the power of influence – teaching the “truth.”

Until one theory is proven, let both theories rouse our children’s minds.

Our books do not carry notices reminding us what to think.

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Creationism should be taught alongside evolution