Creation and Evolution in Public Schools
On October 28, 2010, Christine O’Donnell, the Delaware U.S. Senate Candidate, posed the question “Where in the Constitution is ‘Separation of Church and State’?” O’Donnell was making a point in a debate that took place in front of a law school audience (Madison). The law students laughed at her seemingly silly question, but the joke was on them. The term “separation of church and state” never appears in the Constitution. In many court cases relating to teaching creation in public schools, the First Amendment is always cited, the separation of church and state is often questioned, and creation is ruled as unconstitutional (Raloff). Evolution has become the only acceptable theory to explain the origins of the Earth and human life. Because of this, students are being indoctrinated with only one idea of how life came to be. To stop the bias and protect academic freedom in science classrooms, creation should be taught alongside evolution in public schools. Until 1963, creation was taught in science classrooms, but when evolution became an accepted scientific theory to explain the origin of life, it became the root of controversy in the system of public education. The state of Tennessee instituted the Butler Act in 1925, which prohibited public school teachers from denying the biblical account of creation. In the same year, John Thomas Scopes, a high school substitute teacher, taught the theory of evolution in his classes and was charged with violating the Butler Act (Pierce). This charge led to the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial. The American Civil Liberties Union came to the scene to back the defense of Scopes in a case that would be the beginning of publicizing scientific evidence for evolution.
The controversy over teaching creationism in public schools has been ongoing for decades. The debate is not just about science, but also about religion and politics. The beliefs of world religions about evolution vary, and some religious groups believe that evolution is compatible with their faith (Robinson). However, many Christians believe that the theory of evolution contradicts the biblical account of creation. The Bible states that God created the world in six days, and this belief is fundamental to many Christians. The case for a Creator: a journalist investigates scientific evidence that points toward God by Lee Strobel is an example of a book that argues for the existence of God based on scientific evidence.
In conclusion, the debate over teaching creationism in public schools is complex and multifaceted. The First Amendment is often cited in court cases relating to this issue, and the separation of church and state is often questioned. Evolution has become the only acceptable theory to explain the origins of the Earth and human life, and creation is often ruled as unconstitutional. However, to protect academic freedom in science classrooms, creation should be taught alongside evolution in public schools.
In the novel Monkey Girl: Evolution, Religion, and The battle for American’s Soul, Humes tells the story of how 11 furious parents in the Dover Area school district decided to sue the school board and the district, because of the new learning objective requirement saying that all of 9th grade biology classes had to be taught Intelligent Design (ID), which is basically a form of creationism as a scientific alternative to evolution. They also believed that it “violated their first amendment right to information and ideas in an academic setting” (Humes, 2007, p. 221). This was the first legal trial to the perception of Intelligent Design. This novel is a narrative that captures nearly everyone’s view point in the Dover Area school District on the issue of Intelligent Design replacing evolution. There were numerous groups and organizations involved the trial including; The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans Unites for Separation of Church and State, Pepper Hamilton LLP, and the National Center for Science Education. This Trial was so major that even that national government was involved. George W. Bush sent a conservative appointee (John Jones) to the bench, which was done because it was “the early handicapping in the trial suggested a
In the uncertainty that the modern world is, there is one law that stays petrified in stone no matter what happens: “Things change with age.” No matter if it is in history, science, or even Pokémon, things change as time passes by and this process is called evolution. The theory formulated by Charles Darwin is the belief that all organisms have come from earliest creatures because of external factors (“NSTA…”). School boards everywhere have accepted the theory of Evolution as fact making it essential to be in the curriculums of science classrooms. However, over the years, controversy has arisen as the fact that is evolution is still only a theory with flaws and setbacks, efficiently making other theories (i.e. intelligent design) a viable alternate in the classroom. The law, on the other hand, had a different idea about these other theories with numerous bans them from schools, claiming them to be against the second amendment. Despite the bitter debate of rather or not it is valid and right for teaching (primarily alone) the theory of evolution lies as being the most reliable and accurate way to teach how the modern world came to be.
In Inherit the Wind, a 1960s film adaptation directed by Stanley Kramer, the battle between religion and science was tested, portrayed through the Scopes Trial of 1925. In the trail, John Scopes, a high school science teacher, was accused and convicted of teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, curriculum that was forbidden by Tennessee state law. It is clear that a focal point of the film was the discussion of whether religion should be the driving force behind education, or if science and empirical study is a better alternative. This discussion is alive and well in 2017, crucial in a time where Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is a known believer in theories of ‘intelligent design,’ a theory that suggests divine guidance in the
Firstly, in the town of Hillsboro teaching the theory of evolution to students was strictly against the law. Bert Cates was in opposition to this idea and, he believed that every student had the right to know about the Origin of species. Teaching the theory of evolution was against the law because it contradicted the teachings
In cases having to do with constitutionality, the issue of the separation of church and state arises with marked frequency. This battle, which has raged since the nation?s founding, touches the very heart of the United States public, and pits two of the country's most important influences of public opinion against one another. Although some material containing religious content has found its way into many of the nation's public schools, its inclusion stems from its contextual and historical importance, which is heavily supported by material evidence and documentation. It often results from a teacher?s own decision, rather than from a decision handed down from above by a higher power. The proposal of the Dover Area School District to include instruction of intelligent design in biology classes violates the United States Constitution by promoting an excessive religious presence in public schools.
The Scopes Monkey Trial was a beginning of independent thought throughout the country. After the trial, it stayed on the books until a 1967 Supreme Court Case overturned the Butler Act and declared it unconstitutional. In the end, evolution can finally be taught; students can examine the research that Charles Darwin did and understand why Darwin came to his belief in evolution. People can study this and decide for themselves.
With countless theories disproving the theory of Evolution still in progress of research, the theory should not yet be taught in schools. It is only a theory and the theory has multiple flaws. There are many aspects that contradict with proven and confirmed scientific laws of nature. Science is said to be logical all the way. Contradictory should not occur. A theory that teaches something which may be a complete false statement should not be taught in schools.
evolution, and religious myths can not be taught in public schools in an officially non
Miller, Kenneth R, and Gould, Stephen Jay. (1984) Science and Creationism. Ed. Ashley Montagu. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
In 1925, a teacher named John T Scopes was arrested for teaching the Theory of Evolution as this contradicted religion and their beliefs that God created the world.
John Thomas Scopes, a math teacher and football coach for Rhea County High School in Dayton, Tennessee, was pressured into taking the challenge by a friend, George Rappleyea, who saw the advertisement. With the school’s biology teacher out for the last two weeks of class, Scopes took over and began teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Soon after, he was arrested and charged with a violation of the Butler Act. Contrary to popular understanding, the worst punishment for this crime was a small fine.
Since the time that teaching evolution in public schools was banned as heresy and taboo for contradicting the Bible, most public school systems today take an opposite approach in which creationism is seldom ta...
The debate on religion in the public school is complicated by the fact that there are two clauses dealing with religion in the First Amendment (Warnick, 2012). The Establishment Clause, which disallows the establishment by the government of any particular religion, and the Free Exercise Clause, which prohibits the state from proscribing the practice of religion, are a source of conflict and tension. The tension stems from the fact that upholding one clause can occur at the expense of the other, and thus, the state is forced to choose between them (Department of Education [DOE], 2003; Warnick, 2012).
simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.” (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU, tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from all over to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet, below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning.
Evolution & creationism court cases - History of evolution court cases. New York Times Company. 2011. http://www.about.com Accessed September 25, 2011.