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The influence of religion on science
concept of academic freedom
The influence of religion on science
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The Arkansas Act 590 is an act that requires balanced treatment of creation-science and evolution-science in public schools, in order to protect academic freedom by providing the student a choice. (State of Arkansas 1981). If one was to look deeper into the Arkansas Act, they would find that not only was it set to protect academic freedom, but also established to guarantee freedom of belief and speech, as well as to prevent the establishment of religion. During a legal case, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the Act by trying to define the status of creation-science. They did not agree that creation-science was a genuine science. Due to this belief, they seeked to remove the teaching of creation-science from public schools, and label it not as a science. …show more content…
During these times, Scientists try to define what a science is and how it should be observed. Some philosophers even created a set of criteria to judge if a so called science could be considered genuine. Creation-science lacked in many of the already set criteria, due to the nature of the creation; that is, the world was already created, and could not be created again in order to test it. Hence, creation-science did not actually fit what the current definition of science was. The ACLU believed that creation-science was nothing more than a religion. A religion formed from taking the Bible literally. This created a controversy within the Act, because the act also stated that it was created to prevent the establishment of religion. With the claim that creation-science is is not science at all but religion, the Act would disagree with itself. The two issues with creation-science were its inability to be proved as a genuine-science, and its appearance of a
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.
One of the most visible critics of science today, and the progenitor of the anti-science sentiment is the religious community, specifically the conservative Christians. One can hardly read the newspaper without reading of one religious figurehead or another preaching on the "fallacy of science," pushing their own brand of "truth" on whoever would hear them. As Bishop writes "It is discouraging to think than more than a century after the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species (1859), and seventy years after the Scopes trial dramatized the issue, the same battles must still be fought."(256) And the loudest rallying cries to these battles can be heard issuing from the throats of the ranks of zealots and their hordes of followers.
The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies “the timeless debate over science and religion.” (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive “the relationship between science and religion in . . . 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 allover to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning. In Summer for the Gods, Edward Larson argues that a more significant battle was waged between individual liberty and majoritarian democracy. Even though the rural fundamentalist majority legally banned teaching evolution in 1925, the rise of modernism, started long before the trial, raised a critical question for rural Americans: should they publicly impose their religious beliefs upon individuals who believed more and more in science.
The concept of creationism has a strong religious history and very deep religious overtones, and the constitutionality of teaching the subject in a public school immediately was questioned. Called to preside over the resulting legal case was U.S. District Judge William Overton. Thu...
The Butler Act in Tennessee forbade the teaching of human evolution as written by Charles Darwin. In its place, teachers were to only teach the story of Creation as found in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. This, and thirty-six similar laws, was seen as an infringement on civil liberties. Upon learning of this new law, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), located in New York, placed advertisements in Tennessee newspapers in an attempt to find a teacher willing to stand up to the law.
In 1819, the Congress of the United States decided to add the state of Missouri to the map. This addition took its toll on both the Northern and Southern states, effecting them politically and financially. The addition of Missouri messed the balance up between the North and South slave states causing much controversy inside Congress. This controversy restricted the South from expanding on their territory to make room for more slaves and more land.
Ever since science began to explain the previously unexplainable, it has caused conflicts with religion. The Scopes “Monkey” Trial of Dayton, Tennessee was one of the most talked about trials in history because it was one of the first and most publicized times that this conflict occurred. The trial showed the schism between the faithful fundamentalists and the newly formed group of evolutionists. Although the jury was reminded that they only had to decide if Scopes had broken the law, the verdict was seen as much more than that. For one of the first times in history, it seemed as if the jury had to choose either religion or evolution. For the time being, there could not be both. The Scopes “Monkey” Trial revealed the ongoing conflict with faith and science and set a precedent for decades of conflict to come.
One of the most relevant compromises during the years leading up to the Civil War was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Various other compromises were made to keep all the states content and amiable as well.The Kansas-Nebraska act was still one of the most important compromises because it pushed the states over the edge of their arguments; they turned to violence to solve their problems. This ruined all of the government's attempts at keeping the peace. The first major conflict was in Kansas from 1854-1861. It was called “Bleeding Kansas”. Eventually, the violence in Kansas grew even more, and it eventually turned into the Civil War.
The case Elk Grove Unified School District versus Newdow came about when a student parent, Michael Newdow, an atheist, has a disagreement with the Pledge of Allegiance. Elk Grove Unified School District is a public elementary school where teachers begin the day by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, but it is considering being voluntary. Under California law, all elementary schools must recite the Pledge of Allegiance once a day unless those student object due to their religion. As stated before, in 1954 the Congressional Act added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. Michael Newdow took it upon himself to review the School District policy referring to the religious portion. This caused Michael Newdow to sue in the federal district court in California, stating making students listen to the Pledge of Allegiance, even if the students do not choose to participate to the word “under God” violates the establishment clause of the United States Constitution’s First Amendment
On March 13, 1925 an act was passed by the state of Tennessee stating, “That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” This act written by Rep. John Washington Butler, calling for a ban of the teaching of evolution, was written after Butler read a speech by ex-Secretary of State and leader in the anti-evolution movement William Jennings Bryan titled “Is the Bible true?”.
In response to the economic differences between the North and the South, the Civil War took place in the mid-19th century. In contribution to the Civil War, the Kansas-Nebraska Act is a significant cause that plays a vital role towards the drastic changes in America. Introduced by Senator Stephen Douglas, it was a bill that divided the land west of Missouri into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. When the U.S. Congress passed the law in 1854, it created tensions between pro- and anti-slavery groups, dividing the nation even more. (Goldfield et. al 396). The eruption of violence and the changes in America that resulted from the Kansas-Nebraska Act would become the prelude to the Civil War.
Arkansas agreed and adopted many of the nation’s progressive reform elements, but they did so still holding on to the racism that existed in the state. There was a great need for change in the state due to the frontier ways of life fading away. People began moving into the cities in large volumes. During this time, Arkansas began to see its first major industries, being that of timber and mining. There were many inventions during the Progressive Era that made the way people lived different. Automobiles, airplanes, electricity, and movies were all inventions created during this time period. There were also major advances in science and medicine. There was a huge urge to adjust institutions to match the modern way of life. The urban middle-class demanded changes. More people had the time and money to devote to civil reforms. The results of the Progressive Reform Movement in Arkansas were very impressive.
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 trial in the movie and historically was cause by a violation of the Butler Act. The movie simply portrays this law as a statute passed by the state of Tennessee that prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. In reality, the Butler Act only made it illegal to teach that humans evolved. During 1925 in the state of Tennesse, one could teach that all species evolved except humans and not have violated the Butler Act. The film also demonstrates that the Butler Act favored fundamentalist Christianity over science in public schools. This is continually emphasized in the movie by the speech and actions, such as the parade when Brady arrives in Tennessee, of the characters who are all clearly fundamentalist Christians. In reality, the Butler Act was intended to actually increase the neutrality of the two views. This is because the Bible could not be taught in public schools, yet this new scien...
In today’s society, many topics create a very substantial amount of controversy between different groups of people. From abortion to the healthcare reform, there are countless topics of discussion. One of the major and ongoing controversial topics in the religious society is the Big Bang theory versus Creation. One side of the controversy is, predominately, the scientific community, with the other end obviously being the religious community.