One survey showed that 90% of the public desired both creation and evolution to be taught in public schools. 90% of Americans consider themselves to be of some sort of creation, and about half of that believe that God created humans in their form for the last 10,000 years. Only 15 % of high school teachers teach both evolution and creation, and about 20% of high school science teachers and close to 10,000 scientists reject the idea of evolution.
Personally, I think it is hard to teach any subject like math, science, or literature without introducing the theory of creation. Just because a certain "theory" is introduced in a public classroom does not mean that the teacher is trying to convert or change the mind of their students. You don't have to believe what is being taught, you just have to understand it. I don't think you can be taught one without being taught the other. Both theories are important to be taught and understood by students.
~*~Funky Monkey~*~
24 comments:
I agree with the Funky Monkey, if your school teaches the thoery, you don't have to accept it, just know that thats going to be on the test. It's just a grade, it's not like it's going to try to convert you to change your religious believe. There is proof that monkeys and apes are similiar to us. Am i saying that we evoloved from them? No. That's why it's called a scientific theory, not a absolute rule. If people are so sensitive that they're going to refuse to learn something, they must not be confident in their own beliefs.
I completly disagree. In english, we are learning American literature, which has alot of ties to creationism because of the time they were writing in and it seems natural to understand why they would think this way. But, in science class i would like to learn the theory that has the most evidence. Which would obviously evolution. Creation has very little evidence, and if my teacher has to read out of the bible to teach about something our culture is already aware of, i see no point in teaching it. The goverment pays for our schools, and if our goverment is supposed to have seperation from church and state. Why should our schools be any different. Plus, if you want it that badly, Private schools are a valid opition
I would like to point out that to teach creationism you don't have to read from the Bible. Ok, so what is creationism?? The dictionary says the doctrine that matter and all things were created, substantially as they now exist, by an omnipotent Creator, and not gradually evolved or developed. Did I just read from the Bible? No. Do you understand what creationism is now? Yes. And creationism isn't just God. It could be a higher power of some sort to other people. Like I said you don't need to believe it to understand it!!
I would also like to say that a private school isn't an option for some people. You do know that costs money don't you?
Well...first of all, I think it would be good to define what "theory of evolution" is being rejected.
evolution itself is not a theory. the dandelions in your lawn evolve when they grow back short and stubby to elude your lawn mower.
It is only a theory, however, that the earth was created by the Big Bang and that man evolved from amoebas.
Secondly...okay, I believe, in some form or another, that God created everything, everybody, and everybody's dog. That belief stems from a Christian belief, but if most Americans believe in "some sort of creation", then what do schools teach?
Do you mean that schools should teach the Christian belief of Adam and Eve? According to your statistics, about half believers in creation don't believe in that.
I think that teaching the scientific theory is important, simply because it is a widely-held belief. I also think it is very important for people to understand lots of religious beliefs different from their own, but there might not be enough time to teach in depth so many beliefs...
You're right to say that it is important to teach both theories...but pretty much all the teacher could do would be to explain that the scientific theory is only a theory (which, I think, most do) and outline that several theories supporting that man was created by a higher being.
It wouldn't be unreasonable to give as much attention to the Judeo-Christian-Islamic belief of creationism as to the scientific theory, simply because it is as- or more popular among Americans. It is important that teachers also teach that there are several other theories of creationism by a higher power in America and in the world.
If parents and students want a more religiously specific option, there are private schools.
Creation vs. evolution is a touchy subject, and in a classroom the hubbub of the issue can be raised to new levels. Yet I think both theories are vital. I’m definitely not saying I’d like the bible to be whipped out during class and be preached to, but I do think both should be covered. How can you know what you believe in without hearing the other side? By simply understanding the basic “facts” or “ideas” of both issues, it can do no harm but open your eyes to something new.
New idea: would it be terrible to just ignore the subject altogether in school? If the school teaches creationism, it is endorsing religion; if it teaches evolution, it endorses atheism; if schools teach both then the one that the teacher believes will be favored over the other theory. Allowing students (and parents) to learn about whichever theory fits their religious beliefs at home would be the best idea.
I think do the dew has it right. In the kind of world that we live in, it is impossible to teach creationism without stepping on someone else's toes. Also, our gov't is supposed to abide by seperation of church and state. Therefore, as a public school it is ridiculous to try and teach something that doesn't have much in the way of evidence. If you want to be taught creationism then go to Creighton Prep, and if you can't afford it then home school is always an option.
Definitely agree. It's a matter of choice of believing. Along the way a person mind find it offensive due to his or her religious beliefs. There is creation to everything. Life and nature is the most controversial one. Although it is necessary to let people know the theories of the creation of life just to be aware of what have happened. Even if it's not 100% true.
The fact is, when you put evolution vs. creation side by side and compare the evidence. Evolution comes out much stronger. People are entitled to belive what they want, but i would want my kids to be taught using the most up-to-date material available. Do we still teach that the earth is flat? No, Because we have plenty of evidence to prove otherwise.
And finally, "The seperatation of Church and State" should be enough of a reason to not learn creationism.
I have an honest question Funky Monkey: What do you want to teach about creation? What would teachers say about it? It sounds like the only thing a teacher could say without reading the Bible is this: Christians and other religions believe that a higher power created all living and non living things. And even if you could recite the Bible, how far do you wish to go? God created day. God created night. God created man. God created woman. God created animals.. Is the ability to say that in a classroom really worth the fight?
As for those that back up their opinions with the separation of state and religion: Is teaching creation not the same thing as teaching the beliefs of ancient Greeks and Native Americans? Consider this. From our perspective as believers in whatever we may believe in, we read about the Native American beliefs and the gods in Ancient Greece as though they were stories, just another page to read in a text book. It intrigues us sometimes to read about another's belief because it is so different from ours. I'll be the first and certainly not the last to say that studying the gods of the sun and moon and waters and land did not change my belief in Christ. The idea of converting to these different beliefs didn't even cross my mind, did it ever cross yours?
Simply put, I think this is a silly argument.
I'm just saying that if the theory of human evolution is being taught in a class then the idea of creationism should be introduced. The farthest it has to go to be taught is that a higher power, some would say God, created the earth and everything on it, which would include man. You can call it a theory if you want because scientifically I suppose it isn't proven just like evolution. With evolution we just learn the basics of what it's about and I don't see why we couldn't so the same for creationism. Yes, to me teaching creationism would be worth it. Personally, the idea of evolution is bogus to me.
And I am just wondering. Why can some classes teach different views and religions from different cultures but when it come to Christianity some people don't want to hear anything about it. It is part of culture as well. I like learning about different religions even if I don't agree with them. If people are that against learning something that they might not agree with then they are very close-minded. I learn things all the time I don't agree with in school, which I think is fine.
no more comments from me =]
Thank you to everyone who commented. I appreciate your opinions. Keep them coming
I don't think learning about the basics of Christianity is necessarily taboo.
When I was in sixth grade, my social studies class studied several world religion as part of 6th grade World History. This included the bigger ones, like Christianity, Islam, Judaism Bhuddism, Hinduism and Confucianism. We also studied smaller and less known religions like Taoism and Jintoism as they pertained to our understanding of eastern culture throughout history.
These things came from the textbook, they weren't simply the teacher's open-minded additions to the course. We didn't just study Christianity as the history of the church, either. We were tested on the basic principles--Christ as the Messiah dying on the cross for humanity's salvation--as we did for every religion we studied.
I didn't go to middle school here, it was overseas, so I'm not sure how much of like materials were taught here.
I think it would be great if our high school offered a world religions, or even a world history course. To know and understand other peoples' beliefs is, I think, a very important part of understanding your own.
dew, you said that "when you put evolution vs. creation side by side and compare the evidence. Evolution comes out much stronger." What evidence? There is no hard concrete evidence that the Big Bang theory is correct and if theres no Big Bang theres no evolution. I did a little research and the Big Bang theory relies on two pretty big assumptions. The whole theory cant be reliably proven. As for teaching it or creationism in schools, why should we teach either. Who cares how the world was created? Its here and hopefully its not going anywhere. Thats pretty much all you need to know. Its not like your future depends on knowing how the world was created. I think the argument of what OPINION should be taught in schools is a dumb one, especially if you have a 3000 year old book that tells you the answer anyways. Even if you dont believe there is a God, you have hard evidence that the world was created with intelligent design and not some far-fetched idea that makes no sense because there is NO PROOF!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah so basically i think neither one should be taught in schools because everybody knows what they are already anyway and a certain idea shouldnt be pushed onto them by the scientific world if they dont even have hard evidence of what they are saying.
As far as public school goes, i think it would be much better if we didn't have to teach either one. What does government have to do with our personal ideology? The reason that the intelligent design(none religious term for Creationism) hasn't been taught is because it has been too closely identified with creationism, and therefore a breach of separation of church and state. The big bang theory is taught because the science world has come to rely on it more as fact rather than theory and therefore is a necessity for a secular science education. Evolution cannot be properly scientifically proven unless we find a way to go back in time and witness it for ourselves. Evidence that connects us to monkeys is in no possible way a scientific method to prove the big bang theory. If you look hard enough you could probably find a link between humans and octopus. Since there is no legitimate scientific proof of a creator or the big bang theory,(you should have scientific proof because it is a science class that this issue is involved with) then neither should legitimately be taught in science classes of public schools. Unfortunately science has overestimated itself and caused an injustice in the public school system.
I agree. Students should be allowed to choose which one they want want to learn. If they just teach one, they are implying that a student who believes strongly in one way is wrong. This is not fair. You should have the right to choose the way you want to think.
Of course there is evidence supporting intelligent design/creationism. Spontaneous Regeneration has been scientifically disproved, meaning that all life has to generate from previous life, which flat out contradicts the big bang theory. However, because public school is meant to be secular, I don't think that it should be taught, as long as Darwinism and similar controversial ideas are recognized as theories only, and that the opposing arguments against them are adressed. Our material seems to always imply that these ideas are fact, which is not the case.
I think it would be great if we taught both, but it would be very hard to find a teacher who wouldn't be in the least biased. Even if they aren't trying, it's kind of in human nature to think that your way is right, or you want to change other people's minds about something.
Ok, First, The Learning about religion in History. Viewing religion in history is a totally different, in science class we don't teach how the indians used "the eagle god" to bless the crops. Or something abstract like that. As for history class it is important to understand why these people thought this way. When someone says evolution vs. creation they are talking in science class.
Second, Yoda, no evidence of evolution? Dinosaurs and fossils, we have found fossils of old reptiles, i.e. lizards, that are remarkably similar to our currrent reptiles. Also, Cavemen. Cavemen skulls are deformed, and look close to ape skulls. So humans thousands of years ago, we hunched, small brained, deformed humans. I'd say we've changed a bit from then, right?
Regarding to the Big Bang Theory. We werent there when it happend, so we can only intelligently guess what might of happened. The LHC will help us understand how it all went down though.
That sounds to me like a bunch of more proof than the bible, which we will have to take its word for it, since it actually has no physical evidence.
One more final note,
If we were not to teach either, that would be like taking chemisty, but never even seeing the Periodic Table of Elements. Bologna i say!
okay. so inoticed that alot of people were talking about teaching a religin in the school, which is why creationism is bad. but do we not get a view of buddism, islamic and a few other religions in our histoy classes. so why is it so hard to take a look at other religions to. and i agree with funky monkey, you dont have to beleive it you just have to understand it. understanding other views will make u a more well rounded person. Schools are only teaching one side of how people viewed the creation of all living things, with the big bang theory. and dont get me wrong things do evovle but some people dont believe that the human being evovled from a monkey. i just think we should take the time to learn a little more about other views.
I definately agree that in order to make an educated opinion on a topic such as this you need to understand both parts of the story.
This discussion is also making it too black and white. What if you believed in evolution and creation both. Could you not argue that a God or higher power through his/its own doing used the Big Bang to bring about the creation of man. Just because evidence points mainly towards evolution doesn't mean God or your own personal higher power (if you believe in one) did not plan to do so in that way. He could have simply created the large explosion mixing with it his breath of life to create the basic lifeforms and from there had them evolve to what we have today.
I think that the theory of evolution should definitely be taught because it is unbiased and factual. There is one theory of evolution, but there are countless theories of creation.
Although I am religious, if I want to know about the theory of creation, I should go to my church that supports my beliefs to learn about it. Teaching creation in the classroom requires choosing a religion to preach about, or they could preach about all of them, which would take a whole class to itself. If creation is taught in school, it should be an overview of all of the theories and not just the dominant one.
I feel that in school we need to hear both sides of the story. Most people have heard about creation, but not all have learned about evolution. It is up to the teacher to give their students a fair amount of information so that they are able to decide for themselves what they want to believe. You may not agree with evolution or creation but it is still a valid topic to learn about and discuss.
Also I would like to point out Yoda's comment saying everyone already knows both theories so they do not need to be taught in school.
I did not know about evolution until I learned about it in school so I am sorry but you are incorrect.
I do not agree with the article. Funky Monkey makes it black and white. There is either creationism or evolution. I feel that there is some gray. I believe that creationism created evolution. I agree with the scientific theories: the big bang, evolution, chaos theory, etc. However, when did time start? There had to be a beginning. But who or what started the very first instant, the next infinitely shortest second after 0, that created the elements on the periodic table that bonds with other elements that created DNA? In my opinion, there had to be a creator of this universe who started the big bang (if that really happened...) that created the universe when there was no time. Then he just stood back and watched the universe change.
While I disagree with the entire evolution theory, there should be no problem with teaching the subject for school science classes. It is an important historical as well as scientific idea that shapes many of the beliefs of our nation today. What a person learns in school should not be able to touch their faith, whatever they may believe. This is why if you believe in something you must strive to learn more about it so that you can always be confident in your faith, whether someone is trying to sway you in another direction, or if it is simply a subject taught in school.
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