The Influence Of Creationism In Public Schools

Since the early 5th century BC, creationism was the leading theory of life in many presocratic European and colonial nations. Today, though millions of people still believe in it, creationism has been a banned subject in public schools since the late 20th century, largely due to controversial debates such as the battle between creationism and free thought in the 1926 Scopes “Monkey Trial”, with the defendant John Thomas Scopes against the state of Tennessee. Evolution and religion were put to the ultimate test during this trial as the court was subject to realizing potential errors in the Holy Bible. In contemporary times, creationism and evolution have been combined to form a hybrid theory of life: intelligent design. Creationism, evolution, …show more content…
It states that God acted as the original creator of the universe and all living things, including Man, within the span of one week. Creationism voids the theory that organisms developed over time and originated from ancestors as it claims that God created each and every organism in the beginning. Some reasons that some people have for not allowing the teaching of creationism in public schools include that creationism limits students’ abilities to learn about proven human biology and archaeology, as well as the freedom to explore other theories about life other than religious ones. Because of these reasons, the First Amendment protects people’s rights to learn about science without the influence of creationism. Creationism was initially the most widely believed theory of life in pre-evolutionist America. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifies that “separation of church and state” shall be the rule of the law in the U.S.A. “Separation of state and church” refers to the exclusion of religious influences on the law and vice versa (religion may not interfere with objective justice, as the law may not interfere with religious activity). This policy was put in place so as to prevent complications between religion and the …show more content…
It is taught under the principle that there are some “gaps” in Darwin’s theory of evolution, and that these gaps can be accounted for through the theory that a designer thoughtfully placed certain organisms or processes into the system of life in the universe. According to this theory, rather than all organisms deriving from a single common ancestor, some organisms may have been spontaneously put into existence by an intelligent designer. Some people say that teaching “intelligent design” instead of creationism is still imposing religion on the science curriculum because intelligent design implies that a greater being is thoughtfully placing organisms into existence without connection to the hypothetical tree of life. Intelligent design, some people may think, is too closely related to theories that support religious influence, such as creationism. Many people think that the theory of an “intelligent design[er]” is simply a way to disguise a religious figure such as God as a being with a higher plan for life. Intelligent design, though it is severely controversial, offers students and communities an opportunity to examine other possible theories of life; for such a long time in American history, man’s existence has been defined largely just by creationism or evolution; people are not often taught to exercise their freedom to think freely and to explore other possibilities. This is