Was the World Created, Or was it Evolved? This is Something that May Never be Solved!

The idea of how the world was created has been debated sense the dawn of time (no pun attended). Some people purely believe in the theory of evolution, while others believe in creationism. However the theory of evolution has been taught in schools instead of creationism. In this post the first question asked was what Sandra Maxwell should do in the case of teaching “alternative theories”.

Three options that she could do are…

1. Teach both theories like was asked.
2. Voice her opinion and frustration, and try to persuade the legislature (or the school she is teaching), that this goes against the fundamentals of teaching. That way she can get everything worked out.
3. Refuse to teach both sides and go along with her own lesson plans, or refuse until something changes.

Sandra is placed in a very hard situation. If I were her I would not want to go against the legislation’s wishes, but I also would not want to go against everything that I was taught. I would not want offend someone who believes that the world was created by God, but I would not want to offend someone who does not believe that God created the world.

If I was in the legislation’s place, I would oppose the idea of teaching creationism Three reasons why are

1. It goes against the education system all together. It would not be fair to all of those who do not believe in creationism. However it doesn’t sound fair to those who do believe in creationism, to be taught the theory of evolution. Yes, that is true but the theory of creationism is believed by only specific religions, it does not comply with other religions. It would not be fair to teach one view of religion to other students who believe in something else. Here is a list of religions who do not believe that the world was created by God. “Chinese art and culture and Confucianism speaks of the yin and yang or the dark and the light. They are supposed to be the creative power that sustains life and being. Hinduism believes that this is not the first world or universe. There have been and are many more worlds. They are created by Lord Brahma the Creator. (Gaynor Borade, 2012). Even though these religions sound similar to creationism, it’s still not exact. Creationism is “the doctrine that the true story of the creation of the universe is as it is recounted in the Bible, especially in the first chapter of Genesis (Creationism, 2009). When it comes to the Bible, it is the Christian religion that follows it (Fred Williams). So that wouldn’t benefit the other religions, it would just offend them and cause more confliction.

2. It would completely conflict with the idea of evolution. Even if both of theories were taught, the contradictions would be confusing. It’s science, not Bible study. It would be forcing religion which is wrong, I have nothing wrong with believing in God, but I don’t believe in forcing my ideas upon someone else.

3. School is supposed to be a place where students feel comfortable. Forcing religion upon a student is not ethical. Students should not have to be taught something based on someone else’s beliefs. Evolution is a theory (key word theory) of how the world is created, it’s not like the teachers are saying this is how it is. It should not be a huge deal to learn this theory.

When it comes to evolution, students have been taught about it for years. Even in class it is made very clearly that it’s a theory! I know when I was taught about it, I was never told that I had to believe in this, however it plays a big part in science. I do not think that evolution should be taken out of the curriculum. Evolution is “change in the characteristics of living organisms over generations” (Scott, 2007). Without this idea, how could we explain why we have different species of birds, fossils, animals that all of a sudden can live in a climate filled with ice? The answer to this question is, we could not. I feel that this is just a more in depth explanation of how the human race became what they are today. People don’t need to believe in this because it has not been proven, however where would classes like Biology and Earth science be without the theory of Evolution? There would be no true substance in teaching of these subjects without the theory of Evolution.

In this post it is also mentioned that school boards are finding a way out of this problem as a whole. They are given the option to pick the text books in which the school is using. The three options that I would give to the text books to avoid problems with the school board would be…

1. They could create a policy that enables them from producing textbooks with religion. Making the books standard.
2. They could place in optional material with creationism that allows a student to read the textbooks, with parental permission.
3. The textbook board could be made up of all representatives of all religions. (This would allow an equal balance for all religions and all ideals towards how the world was created.)

In this post it also asks to speculate the reasons behind the rulings of McLean V Arkansas Board of Education, Edwards V Aguillard. The Edwards V Aguillard “forbids the teaching of the theory of evolution in public elementary and secondary schools unless accompanied by instruction in the theory of “creation science”. It defines the theories as “the scientific evidences for creation or evolution and inferences from those scientific evidences” (Cornell University Law School). This idea was used to maintain a balance between science and religion. “If either is taught, however, the other must be taught” (Cornell University Law School). If both science and religion are taught, then in this case, it would be a perfect solution to past problems. The McLean v. Arkansas is ruling the same thing. “In 1982, in McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, a United States federal court held that an Arkansas “balanced treatment” statute violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Arkansas statute required public schools to give balanced treatment to “creation-science” and “evolution-science” (National Center for Science Education, 2008). This does not believe in teaching the both science and evolution at the same time, but believes that the curriculum should give them both equal attention. This way it would allow ease between the people who pro-creationism and the people who are pro-evolution.

The debate between teaching evolution and creationism in public schools has been ongoing. I feel that both the Edwards V Aguillard and McLean V. Arkansas Board of Education were trying to mend these problems, but it never worked. Evolution should be taught in public schools and creationism should be taught in private religious schools. Nobody has to believe in evolution, it’s just a theory, but at least it’s not harming other religious beliefs as much as teaching creationism would. In the end, this is a debate that can’t be won.


Resources:

Cornell University Law School. (n.d.). Edwards V. Aguillar (No. 85-1513). Retrieved

January 23, 2013, from Legal Informatoin Institute: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0482_0578_ZS.html
Creationism. (2009).Retrieved

January 23, 2013, from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/creationism
Gaynor Borade. (2012). Creation Stories for Different Religions. Retrieved

January 23, 2013, from Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/creation-stories-for-different-religions.html
National Center for Science Education. (2008, October 7). McLean v. Arkansas. Retrieved

January 23, 2013, from National Center for Science Education (Defending The Teaching of Evolution and Climate Science): http://ncse.com/creationism/legal/mclean-v-arkansas
Scott, M. (2007). Evolution. Retrieved

January 23, 2013, from StrangeScience:
http://www.strangescience.net/evolution.htm
Williams, F. (1999). What About the Other Religions? Retrieved

January 23, 2013, from BibleEvidences.com: http://www.bibleevidences.com/index.htm