Letters and Comments

Teaching Evolution vs. Creationism

By U.S. News Staff

January 26, 2009 RSS Feed Print
  • Comment (19)

Our kids would be very poorly educated if they were taught that evolution was a finished product with no legitimate challenges or weaknesses ["On the Fight Between Evolution and Creationism in Texas Classrooms," usnews.com]. Nothing is evolving faster than evolutionary theory, and pretending that it is some immutable body of facts is absurd. Evolution needs to be taught, but not selectively. Public schools have no right to promote some facts and suppress others simply because of a personal philosophical or religious preference. To do that is simply to replace one religion with someone else's. I prefer not to have anyone's religious ideas taught as a science. That's a teaching best left to families. It is unconscionable for the state to mandate ignorance. That is what the Board of Education does by withholding pertinent facts, such as the failure of evolution to account for the origin of life. Let the theists teach their kids about theism. Let the atheists teach their kids about atheism. But please don't ask the schools to teach either one.

Comment by Gary Isenhower of TX

Whether one likes it or not, scientific progress is the way of the future and bringing us wonders far greater than the belief in Bronze Age creation mythologies. Science welcomes intelligent, well-founded challenges to existing theories. Just have something relevant to add. The worst thing that could happen to fundamentalist Christians would be to examine the creation story with the same rigor that scientific ideas must undergo.

Comment by Sarah Bellum of CA

If evolution is the ticket, why are there no transitional beings between ape and man? Why did evolution cease? Why can we not directly point to current day inferences that the process is legit? If creationism is a fairy tale, evolution is science fiction at its worst. Let all sides be heard good and bad, pro and con, and let everyone make their own choices.

Comment by Jeff of NC

Why do creationists constantly hark about "missing links" and the supposed inability of evolution to immediately and incontrovertibly explain some parts of natural history? The missing link argument as well as many others are almost all clearly described in evolutionary terms through primary scientific papers in any university library. Some people don't seem to know anything beyond Bible-derived literature.

Comment by Tom of CO

Reader Comments Read all comments (19)

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

There is fantastic ignorance on this thread. Fact: Evolution has not halted and is still regularly witnessed (well known example: evolution of finches--just Goggle it). Fact: There are literally dozens of 'transitional beings' so far discovered between ape and man. How do you live on this Earth and not hear of, for example, the being "Lucy"? Fact: Evolution and atheism are not synonymous. Read a little. Fact: Evolution is not the theory for the origin of life--that's abiogenesis--evolution is the theory of the diversity of life...why we have over 640,000 species of beetles. The people posting above don't even know the bare minimum to be commenting.

Brandon Smoot of TX 7:19PM September 11, 2011

Charles Darwin says himself that "fossil records should be full of transitional species" So where then, are all the "missing links"?

Beth of NV 1:17PM December 25, 2009

I'm a little confused as to the question here. While evolution is FAR from perfect, at least there is SOME fact behind it. It's obvious why Creationism shouldn't be taught in school. It is completely without any fact AT ALL and if they were to teach "Creationism" they'd also have to teach the "religious theories" of ALL modern religions including the Muslims, Pagans, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, etc.

That's where the whole purpose of Church and State Separation comes from. Why would we teach our children what is essentially fiction? Creationism is "fictional" and completely without fact Scientifically speaking..... but so are all the other religions and THEIR beliefs.

The only theory NOT based on individual and personal religious beliefs is Evolution. While I think Evolution is FAR from the answer and FAR from a perfect theory, it is the ONLY theory that we have the evidence to back up.

Why should some students feel like they have no "answer" to how the world began just because they aren't Christians? My family is pagan, so should my son be taught a random religious belief that has no evidence instead of his OWN religious beliefs? NO, of course not because religious teachings belong at Parochial schools and Private Religious Schools.

Not at a public school where children of all different faiths attend. Christians seem to mistakenly think that they are the only large religious group on earth and no one else matters. Christianity is a very small portion of the "religious" people in the world.

Teaching Creationism in schools is the equivalent of teaching "The Laws of Santa Claus" in Science Class or teaching "The Tooth Fairy's Tooth Counts" in Math.

Sounds ridiculous, right? Well so is the idea of jamming Christianity down children's throats. If you want a Christian teaching and someone to teach your kids the fluffy theory of Creationism, then send them to a Religious School. I'd prefer MY kids learn things that are actually academically pertinent and important in life.

Children in religious schools are typically behind in their studies in comparison to kids at schools with regular curriculum and I would be extremely offended intellectually if a public school tried to teach "Creationism". I wouldn't allow a school to insult my son's intelligence that way.

It belongs at Sunday School and in Church. Not in our schools where various religions mingle. Ridiculous.

Lady Raine of PA 9:05PM December 18, 2009

Letters and Comments

Welcome to the U.S. News Readers' Letters and Comments blog. Positive or negative, reader feedback provides added perspective to any story. New letters and comments will be posted here regularly. Thank you for your submission.

advertisement

Cartoons

advertisement