April 24th, 2014
Why Creationism Should be Taught in Schools Evolution is believed to have been scientifically proven, but really it’s not. It is only a theory. If Evolution is only a theory, why is it the only theory being taught in our schools today? Creationism is another theory about how the world was created. It is just as valid as an idea as evolution, so why is only one theory being taught in our classrooms? Creationism should be taught alongside Evolution because students should be able to think on their own and decide what theory to believe. Both theories cannot be proven, so why not teach different perspectives? Evolution is not a fact, just theory and hypothesis. It is a belief. Some may even say, a faith. It might seem that people claim that creationism is religious doctrine, and it is, but evolution is just as religious as creationism. Both cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Both take faith to believe them to be true. So creationism is just as valid as Evolution. Creationism came from religious views, but not everyone believes in the same religions. Evolution is a worldwide concept that many people have come to believe but they may not been exposed to these religions. “Dr. Bergman then went on to add, ‘If schools are to be a place where students can debate important questions, it would seem that eliminating religious questions would shelter students from an important area of debate which is crucial for living a well-rounded life.’” (Edwords, Frederick. "Why Creationism Should Not Be Taught As Science." National Center of Science Education. NCSE, n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2014. <http://ncse.com/cej/2/1/why-creationism-should-not-be-taught-as-science>.) Students that are not taught a religious perspective come across ideas that they have never heard of because schools are sheltering them from religious ideas or conflicts. Schools do not want to teach the students about creationism because the concept based on a religious belief is not part of the modern education system. The schools do not want any conflicts from differing religious communities or the scientific community. School is a place where students are supposed to develop independent thinking skills and have a mind of their own. Why then are students are being taught only one theory of how the world was created and how it developed? Why should the students be taught the one theory when there are other theories out there? Student should be able to decide for themselves how the world was created. Whether it means that they believe that the world began with a big bang, or that it was created by a supernatural being. Students should be able to learn of different theories, and ideas about how the world began. Public schools have become bias and unfair by teaching just Evolution to students. They have indoctrinated students with modern theories of evolution; not giving them the opportunity to decide which theory they believe. This would not be the case if creationism and evolution were taught alongside each other. Schools decide what not students should believe. Schools should permit and encourage students to be independent thinkers and decide for themselves what they accept to be true. “They say that they want the students to use their minds to solve problems, analyze issues, to critique thesis’s, but how can a student do this if they are taught that the theory of evolution has no alternatives. There are no other options, no other possibilities… This sounds more like a philosophy than it does a science. Children should be at least exposed to or taught other views and be allowed to make their own decisions based upon the information or the lack of information that they have.” (Wellman, Jack. "5 Crucial Reasons to Teach Creationism in Public Schools." Patheos. Avalon Consulting, LLC, 26 Dec 2013. Web. 31 Mar 2014. <http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2013/12/26/5-crucial-reasons-to-teach-creationism-in-public-schools/>.) Students should be exposed to different ideas and theories than just being taught evolution. They should be able to make their own decisions by examining both theories’ arguments and drawing their own conclusions from the facts present. Schools say that students are being taught to develop and create their own ideas. However if there is only one theory that is being presented to students do not have any alternative to decide from. Students should have the opportunity to decide whether or not to believe in evolution or creationism as to how the world was created. Students should be able to choose for themselves what they want to believe, but they cannot choose if they are only being taught one theory. To encourage critical thinking in students, both arguments should be presented and examined; drawing conclusions from the evidence presented. Secondly, if both theories are not scientifically proven why is only evolution being taught in schools today? Both evolution and creationism cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore it would be fair if both theories were taught in public schools to all children, those who do not believe in God and those who do. Students should learn the two theories because the differing ideas of how the world was created are good learning experiences. It gives students different perspectives on how the world came to be. Why can the teachers not teach other ideas instead of one theory? Students should be able to listen to everything that is possible and learn how there is not just one way of how the world was developed. Teaching different ideas to students can help them learn that they do not have to have a one stated mind. They can be well educated on both sides of the controversy thus, this can increase their abilities to analyze and be independent thinkers to believe whatever they want to believe. It would be much better than brain washing them with one theory and banning the other. “Andy McIntosh, professor of thermodynamics and combustion theory at Leeds University, said: ‘There is room for any scientific position which isn't necessarily from an evolutionary base. We need to follow where the evidence leads and we shouldn't presuppose that the evidence will necessary lead to a naturalistic or materialistic explanation. We must be open to the possibility that information can come from a higher intelligence, but we mustn't assume that.’” (Shepherd, Jessica. "Teach both evolution and creationism say 54% of Britons." theguardian. The Guardian, 25 Oct 2009. Web. 2 Apr 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/25/teach-evolution-creationism-britons>.) Not all information about how the world began and how it was made is all based on evolution. People need to follow where the evidence is leading them whether it is to evolution or creationism. Being open to other opinions and to different theories and perspectives creates better thinkers. The possibility of a higher intelligence creating the universe must be present to people to consider. It should not be ruled out. Creationism should be taught to give students an alternative perspective of how everything started in the world. Students should be open to consider the idea that the world could have been created by a “Creator” instead of having teachers teach that evolution is how the world was made. Finally, evolution cannot be proven and the theory cannot be observed. The idea of the “Big Bang” cannot be proved. The idea of an incredible and miraculous explosion is not scientific at all. There is no physical evidence to support that the world was created this way. We cannot go back in time and prove how the world began but saying that evolution is a fact and it has been proven is misleading. Evolution states that a creature can evolve into a totally different creature. Have you seen a cat evolve into a giraffe? Creatures, such as cats, can only create different species of its one kind when they cross with each other. For example there are lions and tigers, when they cross breed from each other they create a liger. The father of the theory of evolution was Charles Darwin. He came up with a method to record gradual changes in fossil records. However that method was recently proven to be wrong and inconsistent. Evolution states that everything on earth developed from a fantastic, bacterium of life. But where is the proof? What has been proven is the fact that bacteria cannot become anything other than bacteria. Also, scientists have found some errors with carbon dating which are said to supposedly demonstrate the age of the earth. When evolutionists say that the world has been around for billions of years, the evidence of fossils are proving that statement wrong as well. So if evolution is just an idea and a theory, why is this not being called a belief like creationism is? Creationism is just as good a theory as any other theory out there. Just because some scientists say that there is “possible” proof of evidence from evolution does not mean there is actually proof. It is just a hypothesis. People say that evolution is fact but it really is not. It is a belief just as creationism is a belief. “The claim that belief in creation is religious, is, of course, true, but no more religious than belief in evolution. Both are based on similar, but opposite religious assumptions. The two concepts are on equal religious footing, and to mandate the teaching of only one (i.e., evolution), while censoring the other, "establishes" a state religion, and certainly prohibits the "free exercise" of the religious practice held by creationists. To make matters worse, "free speech" is frequently abridged in such one-sided forums.” (Morris, John D.. "Should the Public Schools Teach Creation?." Institute for Creation Research. Acts & Facts., n.d. Web. 31 Mar 2014. <http://www.icr.org/article/should-public-schools-teach-creation/>.) The belief that creationism is just a religion is true, but evolution is just as much as a religion as creationism. Both of the theories are based on the same idea of how the world came to be, but the theories come from two different religions. The two concepts are both on religious beliefs. One theory is believed that the world started from nothing at all and then a big bang appeared out of now where and created everything we know that exists (evolution). Creationism is considered a religious practice and is censored from schools because the theory is considered a religion. A religion is a belief system and evolution is a belief. It is basically confidence in an idea that cannot be proven, but one believes in it because of faith. Just as much as creationism is just a belief which comes from a religion, evolution is just another belief coming from another religion. Teachers shouldn’t just be teaching evolution and saying that creationism is just a belief when evolution is just a different belief.
In conclusion, Creationism should be taught in schools because first students should be able to choose whether or not evolution is true or not by deciding for themselves. Second, Evolution and creationism are both not proven so the two theories should be taught side by side to students to give those different perspectives on how the world came to be. Finally, evolution is a belief just like creationism is a belief. Evolution and creationism are just two different theories coming from two religions so why not teach both of them to students?