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Recommended: Science vs religion
There have been many court cases and debates over the teaching of evolution in schools. The argument isn’t only from Christians, but also from school officials, scientist and parents. For more than eighty years, people have fought for evolution to be taught properly, if at all. Some fight for equal treatment; some want disclaimers placed on textbooks; while some fight for what should be included in textbooks. The courts hold the decisions on what is allowed and what is not. When the people of America fight for equal treatment, freedom to teach, or critical thinking, they are shot down in the name of religion. The law doesn’t allow teaching creationism, sitting separation of church and state, but this law is not being defined correctly. Creationism is science, and evolution could be considered a religion. Both creationism and evolution should be taught in schools, because textbooks and teachers are censored and biased when teaching just evolution in the class room.
The courts rule against the teaching of creationism in the classroom, saying the First Amendment calls for separation of church and state. This term is used quite often and is taken out of context and not defined correctly. It is twisted by a secular society to suit its needs. To find the true meaning, we need to look at the origins of the term. Thomas Jefferson was the first to speak of separation of church and state, in a letter to the Danbury Baptist. During this time, the government held controlled of churches. Our founding fathers feared a church ran by the state, as they were trying to get away from the churches of European history. Jefferson made the statement in reference to getting the church to be governed by itself, and not so that religion would not be a par...
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...dents, so they understand. While others don’t think, evolution is an important part of biology. However, other teachers feel the need to teach Creationism, mostly because they believe in Creation and reject evolution. These teachers believe strongly that both sides should be presented.
In conclusion, I think students will have a more rounded education if the complete facts are allowed to be presented in the classroom. The law needs to be considerate of both theories and interpret them in the best interest of everyone. Creationism can be considered science just as evolution can; while creationism can be considered religion, just as evolution is religion. Teachers and textbooks need to be able to include both theories in a classroom without bias. Both should be taught so the student can choose for themselves and develop an educated opinion and not a one- sided view.
Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron, “Teaching Theories: The Evolution-Creation Controversy,” The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 44, No. 7 (Oct…1982). This article, written by Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron sheds light on the controversy of evolution vs creationism in schools and the validity of each being called a scientific theory. The work was created to answer the questions, “Which of these theories is truly scientific and which is a religious belief? Which should be taught in schools?” The article concluded in favor of evolution as a valid scientific theory that should be taught rather than creationism, but also mentioned the worth of understanding the latter.
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.
In a modern civilization, all three—religion, democracy and international good faith—complement and support each other” (Franklin D. Roosevelt: State of the Union message). This statement supported the idea that religion is associated with a well-functioning government. However, in the case of Everson v. Board of Education it was stated that, “The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach” (Hugo Black).
A popular notion among many religious conservatives is the rejection of what is commonly referred to as the separation between church and state. They maintain the United States was founded by leaders who endorsed Christian principles as the cornerstone of American democracy, and that the First Amendment prohibition against government establishment was not intended to remove religion from public life. As a result, a number of disputes have made their way through to the courts, pitting those ready to defend the wall of separation, against those who would tear it down. Two recent cases have brought this battle to the forefront of political debate. The first involves an Alabama Supreme Court justice, who, in defiance of a Federal judge, fought the removal of a granite display of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state courthouse. Also, a California man has challenged the constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in an upcoming Supreme Court case involving student recitation of the pledge of allegiance.
In his brief response, President Jefferson sympathized with the Baptists in their opposition to the state of Connecticut’s established religion. The question of this assignment is “What do you think the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution thought about the separation of church and state or about the separation of God from government?” While devoutly committed to religious liberty He deeply opposed established churches as existed in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but recognized that, as President, he had to respect them. The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," that expressed his reverence for the First Amendment’s “wall of separation between Church & State” at the federal level. This became the short-hand for the Establishment Clause that we use today: "Separation of church and state." President Jefferson put much thought and intense scrutiny into the letter, and consulted New England politicians to assure that his words would not offend while still conveying his message that it was not the place of the Congress or of the Executive to do anything that might be misconstrued an establishment of religion. The now well-known the phrase "wall of separation between church and state,” lay
The reason Jefferson choose the expression "separation of church and state" was because he was addressing a Baptist crowd; a church of which he was not a member. Jefferson wanted to remove all fears that the government would make laws to the church.
Evolution and Creationism are both fact and theory but the question is which one should be taught in schools? Only a few school distracts have approved the teaching of evolution because it has more senitific evidence than creationism to prove that it is true. According to a new Gallup poll, just 39% of Americans believe in evolution. The Gallup polls also show that those Americans with higher education believe in the theory of evolution as opposed to those with only high school diplomas. The polls found that 74% Americans with post-graduate degrees believe in evolution theory compared to 21% of Americans with only high school diplomas. The Gallup polls suggest that the belief in the theory of evolution is associated with education. Evolution should be taught in schools because it has more scientific evidence to support it than creationism does. Also, public schools should not teach things that have to do with God, such as creationism, because the Constitution requires the separation of church and state. Finally, if we do not allow schools to teach evolution it would be a form censo...
Prayer has been banished from schools and the ACLU rampages to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Moreover, “Separation of Church and State” is nowhere found in the Constitution or any other founding legislation. Our forefathers would never countenance the restrictions on religion exacted today." -- Bill Flax, Forbes, 2011. Church and State seem to be two words that are entirely inseparable from each other.
In the United States, the average child goes through public funded schools that have a basic curriculum. According to the Texas Education Agency, some of the subjects include science, mathematics, social studies, English, and more. Nowhere in the subject is religion included. The basic curriculum is made in order to give students skills, knowledge, and to help develop the minds of the future. In science class, evolution is taught either briefly or detailed. It is taught because it is a popular theory that did not seem to choose a certain religion. So why believe that religion and science can be taught together? The evolution of Earth and the universe can be believed in any way an individual chooses.
Teaching of evolution has several issues. One of the main issue is that it is unfair to some students with a background of Christianity. Christians believe in Creationism, meaning God created the whole world or if not, most of the world. Darwin's theory of Evolution is complete contradictory of this. In the Bible, it is stated that God made humans in His image while Darwin's theory says that Humans evolved from monkeys. It is basically proving that God, does not exist, violating the first amendment, Freedom of Belief. The first amendment states "..respecting the establishment of religion..." When Christian students listen and are forced to learn the theory of Evolution, it is restricting them to worship without obstacles and is therefore, disrespecting the establishment of religion by defying the existence of God. "If Genesis were interpreted as symbolic, as a myth, fable or fantasy, then the entire role of Jesus would have to be reinterpreted."(http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_school.htm)
The only theory of creation that teachers are allowed to teach in public schools is the theory of evolution. No other idea is considered and this is not acceptable. Many people think it is closed minded to only teach one religion, but that is a two way street. It is also closed minded to only teach evolution. Someone may argue the reason why they only teach evolution is because if they teach any religion based theory then it forces religion on people. Teaching evolution forces a different belief on religious people. We need to find a way to teach multiple theories.
One of the biggest controversies in schools today is the debate between Evolutionism and Creationism and which should be taught in the United State's science classes. Many Christians believe that Creationism should be given equal time in schools, but others feel that teaching Creationism is teaching religion. Those fighting for equal time say that Creationism can be taught without all the religious jargon. Also many argue that Evolutionism is just as much a belief system as Creationism (Creation vs. Evolution: Battle in the Classroom,1982). Should one of these theories get more time in public schools than the other? Children today should be presented with as much information as possible and then allowed to make their own decisions.
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...
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.
It has been polled that many teachers across the country do not prefer to teach creationism in classrooms. A Plos Biology poll states that only 12-16% of the nations biology teachers are creationist in orientation. It also says that about 1/6 of the teachers professed the “young earth” belief and 1/8 say they teach creationism in a positive light (Plos Biology). This statistic tells the public that creationism is not very popular. Teachers who do teach creationism run the risk of being ridiculed in the way they are teaching their students. Some science teachers do not even know what is appropriate to teach in the classroom, and they are overwhelmed with their jobs. This is just one reason why many biology teachers and others are against creationism.