Should schools be allowed to teach creationism alongside evolution as part of their science curriculum?

No

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by Lisa H Warren

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It is not the role, responsibility, or right of public schools to teach Creationism alongside Evolution.

Creationis m is based in faith and religious beliefs. Evolution is based in science. While what science knows at any given time is certainly not all there is to know, much of what science knows has been proven and replicated through observation and study. What science understands at any given point in history could be compared to a giant jigsaw puzzle: What has been proved could be compared to yet one more piece of the puzzle. What has not been been proven could be compared to the missing pieces. When there are pieces missing in a puzzle it is sometimes possible to at least know which pieces just won't fit, even without trying them. For example, if there were a perfectly square space to fill we would know not to reach for any rounded pieces to try.

The giant puzzle that is science is today far more substantially complete than it was thousands or hundreds of years ago. Contrary to the idea that Creationism and Evolution are "just two different theories", they are not. Evolution is based in that substantially completed puzzle that portrays enough of a picture of what has been proven to qualify it as a sound, scientific, basis of understanding of how life formed on Earth. "Creationism Versus Evolution" is not the same kind of debate that "Republican Versus Democrat" or "Pink Versus Blue" is. Some arguments are based on nothing more than personal ideologies or preferences. The "Creationism Versus Evolution" argument is based on matters of faith versus science. It is an apples-and-oranges argument. The belief in a Creator does not necessarily rule out acknowledging those aspects of Evolution that have already been proven. In fact, the belief in Creationism doesn't necessarily have to mean not acknowledging or believing what it, so far, understood by Science.

It's easy to understand how someone who accepts the preponderance of evidence that points to Evolution as a sound concept could believe that a Creator was responsible for designing the development of life on Earth (and thereby believing both in a Creator and Evolution). Some people of faith may even be willing to consider the possibility that the story of Creationism is a symbolic one. Other people of Faith may even be willing consider the possibility that the story of Creationism could be about life in the Universe, rather than life on the planet, Earth. A Creator existing in another dimension would not be held to Earthly realities and challenges of creating a world, populating it with one human male and one human female. For example, how did the Creator remove Adam's rib? Was He at a work bench in the sky? Did he leave his workbench in the sky and come to Earth to perform surgery on Adam? Did He "beam up" Adam? Was it just magic? If it was just magic it was magic that can only be performed by that Creator; and, again, it is not the role, responsibility, or right of schools to attempt to teach what they do not and cannot know (one Creator's "magic") to students.

The major matter in the Creationism Versus Evolution argument is that, taken literally and at face value, the story of Creationism cannot be accepted by anyone who sees the preponderance of evidence that supports Evolution. School children need to be taught Science in order to understand their world. Science may not, at any given point in time, know all there is to know; but it is often able to eliminate previously incorrect information by proving it incorrect and/or a preponderance of evidence that strongly points to its being incorrect.

In that giant jigsaw puzzle that is Science, there remains a pile of pieces to study in order to figure out whether they have a place in that puzzle that, when completed, would present a complete and irrefutable picture of how life began and developed on Earth. A good portion of that puzzle that is Science is already complete, with pieces fitting seamlessly next to those around them.

It is the role, responsibility, and right of schools to teach the Science that has made its way into that "jigsaw" puzzles, as a result of pieces fitting seamlessly. Schools cannot and should not attempt to teach whether someone designed that puzzle, where it was designed, who designed it, or whether it just happened by accident. Those are subjects to be taught or speculated on by religious institutions.

Science is the study of life, Earth, and the Universe as man is capable of observing them. It is about looking at that pile of missing puzzle pieces and trying to figure out which ones to discard and which ones appear to have a place in the puzzle. Creationism is not about looking at either the puzzle pieces already in place, or those that remain in the pile yet to be sorted. It is about what may lie underneath the puzzle, who may have designed it, and how and when - if a Creator designed it - those pieces that fit together so seamlessly to form the picture that Science now sees can be reconciled with the beliefs of those who believe that Creationism presents the correct picture. This is not an area into which schools should be allowed or obligated to extend their teachings.

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