By Daniel Nardini
In the U.S Supreme Court case of Edwards vs. Aguilard, it was ruled that creation science, which is the concept that all life on Earth was created by an intelligent force (i.e. “God” as in the Bible), was in fact not science but in reality religion in disguise. Nothing in creation science could be scientifically proven, and no concrete evidence for creation science has ever been peer reviewed and consequently cannot be shown to have ever occurred. Creation science was quite simply the Bible narrative for how the world was created, and nothing within the Bible could be scientifically proven. Because of this, creation science was legally proven to be unscientific and hence Christianity which is a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. This ruling was made because the State of Louisiana made it mandatory to teach creation science alongside evolution. This ruling, made in 1987, should have ended the whole issue. It sadly did not.
Those institutions and individuals who believe in creation as taught in the Bible have tried other means of foisting their religious dogma in other ways. They have been able to either elect extreme political officials who then enact legislation to force creation science to be taught in the public schools, or give “school vouchers” to parents who then pull their children out of the public schools and then send them to private or charter schools where they believe their children will get a better quality education only to have their kids taught creation science. There are public, private and charter schools in states like Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Arizona and Utah that teach creation science. I am sure there are parents who believe that creation science is science and is simply confirmation of their religious beliefs. However, there are parents who simply do not know that creationism is religion in disguise and they think they are giving their kids a quality education. Tennessee and Louisiana are especially bad because just about every public school teaches creation science. The problem here is that since creation science is not accepted by almost every college and university in the United States as science, those young people taught this will be automatically invalidated for any science program(s) they may apply to. They have been taught bogus religious non-sense as “fact” without having the proper learning tools to distinguish truth from fantasy. They have been indoctrinated in religion (Christianity to be specific), and this will rob them of a basic understanding of science they will need if and when they go to college.
Sadly, the states I have mentioned above have made creation science an “alternative” subject which skirts around the Supreme Court decision which invalidated mandatory teaching of creation science. This does not mean that kids are not forced to learn this. There are districts in these states that may require children to go to, and because of this low-income families may be forced to send their kids to schools that force creation science down their throats. I can only tell the parents if they live in the above states to be careful what school you pick. Fortunately, Illinois is not one of the states that teaches creationism. I find it truly pathetic that something that should have been legally overruled over a generation ago is still very much around now. Like a good idea, there are truly bad ideas still out there that are almost impossible to kill—especially when there are too many adherents to it.
Why the Creationist Controversy Remains
By Daniel Nardini
Those institutions and individuals who believe in creation as taught in the Bible have tried other means of foisting their religious dogma in other ways. They have been able to either elect extreme political officials who then enact legislation to force creation science to be taught in the public schools, or give “school vouchers” to parents who then pull their children out of the public schools and then send them to private or charter schools where they believe their children will get a better quality education only to have their kids taught creation science. There are public, private and charter schools in states like Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Arizona and Utah that teach creation science. I am sure there are parents who believe that creation science is science and is simply confirmation of their religious beliefs. However, there are parents who simply do not know that creationism is religion in disguise and they think they are giving their kids a quality education. Tennessee and Louisiana are especially bad because just about every public school teaches creation science. The problem here is that since creation science is not accepted by almost every college and university in the United States as science, those young people taught this will be automatically invalidated for any science program(s) they may apply to. They have been taught bogus religious non-sense as “fact” without having the proper learning tools to distinguish truth from fantasy. They have been indoctrinated in religion (Christianity to be specific), and this will rob them of a basic understanding of science they will need if and when they go to college.
Sadly, the states I have mentioned above have made creation science an “alternative” subject which skirts around the Supreme Court decision which invalidated mandatory teaching of creation science. This does not mean that kids are not forced to learn this. There are districts in these states that may require children to go to, and because of this low-income families may be forced to send their kids to schools that force creation science down their throats. I can only tell the parents if they live in the above states to be careful what school you pick. Fortunately, Illinois is not one of the states that teaches creationism. I find it truly pathetic that something that should have been legally overruled over a generation ago is still very much around now. Like a good idea, there are truly bad ideas still out there that are almost impossible to kill—especially when there are too many adherents to it.