Teaching Creationism in Public Schools

Here is a paper that I wrote for my Publicity Workshop class at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. We were instructed to pick an issue that has inspired a lot of debate and argue, as a Public Relations firm would, in defense of one side of the issue.

Topic: Should Creationism be taught in public schools?
Stance: No, it should not.

The men responsible for the establishment of the Constitution of the United States of America explicitly stated that The United States was not a Christian nation, and was in no way erected on Christian ideals. Moreover, nowhere does it say that America was founded on religious principles belonging to any particular religious faith. The First Amendment to the Constitution mandates the separation of Church and State, therefore requiring that public schools do not teach that one religion is superior to any other religion or that religion is superior to a secular lifestyle.

Creationism, creation science and intelligent design are ideas that are based on varying interpretations of the Bible. It was judged to be not a true science because it could never be falsified. This means that it was firmly held as a religious belief by its adherents and that no amount of contradictory physical evidence could change it. Consequently, any attempt to replace or even to supplement the teaching of evolution in public schools with Creationism would have the effect of advancing religious views. This, naturally, is unconstitutional. If our goal is to protect the right and ability of students to learn science that is not molded by religious doctrine, we must fulfill the promise and purpose of the First Amendment.

The theory of evolution is a fundamental concept of biology and it is supported by an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence. In fact, statistics show us that 95% of the general scientific community and 99% of scientists in the fields of biology and earth science accept the theory. Conversely, a 2008 Gallup Poll indicated that 44% of all American citizens believe that God “created life more or less in its present form less than 10,000 years ago” (Dawkins). This statistic alone shows us how far we have to go in terms of educating our youth about the theories that, after having undergone the scrutiny required for them to hold up under the scientific method, are still widely accepted. Simply eliminating evolution from the public school curriculum in order to ease community tensions would do a great disservice to all students. It would deny public school students an adequate science education, the need for which is becoming an absolute necessity for success in our high-tech world. According to the aforementioned statistics, the percentage of children who are receiving a scientific education of adequate caliber is only 56%. This earns the United States a failing grade, and to continue teaching Creationism as a viable alternative to evolution will prevent this percentage from increasing anytime soon.

It isn’t that “creation science” should not be taught at all. To be fair, the stories inherent to religion have a place when discussed in the proper context. Examining creation from a philosophical or allegorical perspective can certainly be positive for students, but there are churches and Sunday schools and Bible study classes where students can learn about it. The public school classroom is not the place. In fact, according to B.A. Robinson, “…this approach [to not teach creationism in public schools] makes sense and is ultimately good for religion because it leaves religious instruction to parents and to properly trained clergy. It also keeps government out of religious controversies, preserves quality science education, and ensures that public school classrooms remain hospitable to an ethnically diverse and religiously pluralistic society.” Children of all different religious faiths and belief systems attend public schools, and creation is not a story that is relevant to all of them. Evolution by natural and sexual selection, however, is indeed relevant. We are all products of it and it is the best method available to us in order to help us understand the world.

The Constitution refuses to acknowledge the United States as a government that upholds one religion over another because religion is not quantifiable. It is impossible to draw conclusions that would support one religion being better or truer than another. This is why we have freedom of religion in our country. A Dover School board member in Dover, Pennsylvania tried to make the same argument in relation to the theory of evolution. The board member said: “it’s a downright fraud to perpetrate on the students of this district to portray one theory over another [when it comes to the teaching of evolution as opposed to creation science].” Unfortunately, this is like comparing apples to oranges. While religion may not be quantifiable, the scientific method is, and evolution is a theory that holds up much better than Creation. The goal should not be to teach all ways of thinking about an issue; the goal should be to teach the best way of thinking about it, and right now, evolution is it.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_school.htm
www.adl.org
Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth