by Lon Elliott

Created on: February 14, 2009

Of the top thirty four countries in the world. Ranging from the United States to Latvia, there is only one country that has less acceptance of evolution as the scientific standard. That would be Turkey with roughly twenty eight percent of its population believing that evolution is the answer to how humans came to be. Here in the United States, roughly forty percent of the population accept evolution as the true meaning of origin for humans.

Take a second and think about this. To decide whether creationism should be taught we need to first examine how the rest of the world approaches the subject. Thirty two other countries have a majority of the population agreeing that evolution is the accepted theory. The fact that we do not accept this as truth is amazing.

Its as if the United States is saying that the world is flat and everyone around us screaming, no, that is not the case. Think of it as a puzzle. If we have most of the puzzle pieces assembled, and are missing a few scattered through the middle. Can we not see what the picture is? Do you really need the piece in the middle to see that its a sailboat, or what ever the puzzle may be?

By not accepting this as the standard we are falling further and further behind the rest of the world with regards to science. This will have an enormous effect in our ability to compete globally in the future with regards to science. By teaching something that is not the globally accepted standard, we do a disservice to our students and hinder their future.

To look at the situation objectively, which has more scientific standing. To this day, there is absolutely zero scientific proof on the side of creationism. However, we can induce evolution in moths and other animals by manipulating their environment.

This debate should not be about who is right between scientists and religions. This debate should be about what is in the best interests of our children's education, and by proxy, the scientific future of our country. If we look at this issue without emotion, or preconceived notions, the answer should be an obvious one.

A study performed in 2007 showed that the United States science education as compared to the world is below average by roughly seven percent. I find this very saddening considering we are the country that landed on the moon first. We have always been at the for front with regards to science. However, if we do not teach science, we can not return to our former place of glory.

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