by Bo Paul

Created on: November 30, 2008

One of the longest lasting arguments in both the religious and educational spheres has been the issue of whether to teach the theory of evolution or the theory of creationism.
While much of the debate within the last century has been over which theory should be taught in the American school system, it has previously been the issue of teaching one at the expense of another. Within the past few years however, the issue has changed to whether creationism (often under the term intelligent design) should be taught alongside evolution as equal scientific theories in this country's various school systems. It is this issue that needs to be addressed when the topic currently comes up in a debate. Thus, in order to determine whether creationism should be taught alongside evolution, it is fitting to briefly explore what the proponents of each believe.

Proponents of creationism (or intelligent design, as it is sometimes called by its supporters) claim that evolution is merely a theory and shouldn't be regarded as the sole manner by which life came to exist on Earth. They also believe that the creation of this planet was guided by what they consider an intelligent designer who left nothing to chance.
Proponents of evolution claim that while evolution is in fact a theory, it has more often been proven correct in showing how various species have evolved over the ages. Their concern about creationism is that it could potentially substitute a religious theory of the origins of Earth and its various forms of life that may be difficult to prove scientifically. While both theories actually go deeper than this brief overview, these brief summaries should offer a glimpse into what their proponents believe and how their beliefs differ.

Some people may look at this as a non-issue. They may think that if both evolution and creationism are theories, then why shouldn't they be taught next to each other?
Some would go to the point of claiming that they take different paths to trying to explain the same topic: the origins of life. However, while these questions can bring up some valid points regarding this thorny topic, the actual reality of it isn't as simple.

For example, while creationism can explain how certain faiths may have believed how life began, the issue isn't whether it should be taught within a religious setting but in a science class where there may be a number of different belief systems among the students. This brings the issue of which religious creation stories would be taught

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