As science progresses, humanity loses the need to use imagination to answer life’s basic questions; we know that cigarettes cause cancer, lead is not a good product to put into paint and appendixes have lost their luster. However, for Creationists, the idea of the imagination being the central processing unit is still strong, giving the public school system a real run for its money.
When thinking of evolution, Charles Darwin and his ideas of the survival of the fittest are the first things that come to mind. However, the process of evolution is described as different living organisms being developed and diversified from common ancestors previously on Earth.
Evolutionary beliefs have stood alone since before the 19th century. They don’t need creation science in order to exist. Evolution is science-based and derived solely from the scientific method.
The dictionary describes creation science as the interpretation of scientific knowledge in accord with belief in the literal truth of the Bible, especially in regarding the creation of matter, life and humankind in six days.
This specific interpretation of science is not just another theory that’s out on the Internet, but one that is to be planted in the minds of fourth graders all over the country alongside the teachings of evolution. That’s a grown-up presenting an atlas and globe at the front of a classroom and saying: globe believers to the left, but if you for some reason believe the world is flat and you can fall off, it’s okay, come to the right.
The fight between creationism and evolution in the school system has been a long and just one, from the Scopes “monkey” trial in Tennessee in 1925 to the six new bills hitting New Hampshire, Missouri, Indiana and Oklahoma this year alone.
The State of Tennessee vs. John Thomas Scopes was a landmark case against a lone Tennessee teacher who tried to brainwash students with the facts of evolution. Although Scopes was found guilty he was able to go free.
A later case, Edwards vs. Aguillard in 1987, went to the Supreme Court where it ruled the Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught alongside evolution in public schools was unconstitutional; this, because the law was specifically intended on advancing one particular religion: Christianity.
The support for Aguillard’s case on evolution consisted of 72 Nobel Prize winning scientists who all described this creation science as being composed of religious precepts. As I recall, we are a nation with the separation of church and state.
Now, the public officials moving these bills today blame evolution for Nazism and the events of the Columbine shootings. Jerry Bergevin, a Republican sponsor for a New Hampshire bill, says, “it’s a worldview and it’s godless.”
All of the legislators say the same thing. They relate evolution to ungodly and unholy acts around the nation. To them, creationism is not a science that stands alone, but one that can only stand with the downfall of evolution.
One can only wonder why such bills continue to blemish the legislative system day after day and question what they are really after. The Oklahoma bill isn’t just “anti-evolution,” but also speaks on offense to the “theory” of global warming. This Oklahoma bill, along with a Tennessee bill, aims its vengeance at “scientific controversies.”
Adding fuel to the fire, all of the funding for these permissive bills seems to be coming from the recent public school funding cuts bills. Conservatives are fighting for school voucher systems in the name of “choice,” which diverts money from public to private schools.
For example, the sponsor of Indiana’s anti-scientific controversies bill is Dennis Kruse, also the chairman of the Senate education committee.
It seems if you can’t beat science, deny, deny, deny science, and then just stop teaching it to the public altogether.
Sophia Fazal is a junior majoring in anthropology. Her column runs on Mondays.
