Evolution: Science and Religion

Evolution: Science and Religion

In 1895 Charles Darwin published a book describing his theory of evolution, and his theory of the natural selection process. This theory caused much uproar in the religious community because Darwin's theory went against the story of creation portrayed in the Holy Bible. His theory claimed that all life currently in place had evolved and adapted from a single organism in the beginning. Over time and by process of natural selection only the dominant species were left over while the other, less dominant species, went extinct. His theory, backed by scientific analysis, had dismissed the idea of a single deity creating all life on Earth. It is not like Darwin had a personal agenda against religion or anything, but he did create what would become the main evidence used by atheists to disprove the Bible. Now his theory is still theory, and is yet to be proven as a fact, but is still believed by much of the scientific society as a fact. The struggle between the religious and the atheistic will rage for many years, but where the battle will cause the most damage is in the American school system. The thesis of this paper is, teachers must be required to teach evolution; which is already in place in the American school system, but teachers cannot be allowed to teach evolution as a fact, or evidence disproving the existence of a god. On top of all of that, they must as well allow the expression of opposing viewpoints.

In the American school system there is a constant separation of Church and State. This separation is undisputedly good for keeping the civil rights of students in order. By not allowing the pressures of church in schools, people of power cannot abuse their power for religious preferences. Richard W. Garnett wrote in an article, "...the 'separation of church and state' is crucial to any attractive vision of religious freedom (Garnett)". Teaching children unproven belief as a fact is just as bad as the forcing of religious beliefs on a student. In the end teachers must learn the importance of teaching evolutionary theories as theory only, and never as actual fact.

The clash of creationism and evolution has begun once again. On one side sits the Christians and believers of the Holy Bible as a literal piece of history; on the other side sits scientists who dismantle any belief in any sort of God. The battles are not fought physically, but in the court systems of America. In the article "Creationists and The Grand Canyon" found in the Humanist, Glenn Branch talks about how creationists and scientists are fighting about the creation of the Grand Canyon. They are specifically fighting about whether or not the flood of Noah had anything to do with the creation of the Grand Canyon (Branch). But the most common hot topic is consistently evolution vs. creationism. Often enough the fanatics of each side are fighting to remove or push evolution as a teaching in the school system. But through the First Amendment the scientific side has found much more favor in the court systems. Because of the separation of church and state in our school systems the religious groups have been shut down numerous times. For one example, in the article "Twenty Questions: What Have the Courts Said about the Teaching of Evolution and Creationism in Public Schools?" Randy Moore, Murray Jensen, and Jay Hatch wrote, "the popularity of creationism is irrelevant to the question of whether it should be taught in public schools" (Moore, et al). This is very understandable to keep religious beliefs and ideas out of American schools, but still teachers push their beliefs of atheism backed by science onto their students, whether intentional or not. Most likely it is unintentional, but most classes lack to reiterate that evolution is still only a theory. Atheism, even though there is no bible or group gathering is still a religion. Pushing the beliefs of atheism is the same as pushing Catholicism or Hinduism onto students. By teaching beliefs of anti-God as fact teachers are teaching their religious beliefs. No one is asking for teachers to stop teaching evolution. Evolution is clearly a great theory, created by one of the world's greatest theorists; otherwise it would have diminished many years ago. The only demand is that evolution is taught as a theory, left to the student to decide on fact or not. Evolution should be studied and examined by many students to help them decide what they believe in.

Evolution, defined simply, is the gradual change of species. These changes occur in the DNA of species, such as uncommon mutations. These mutations repeat over and over again, proving to be useful, creating a new species. The fight from creationists though is not about the creation of new species or even the adaptation of them, rather how humans were created. Creationists rely on the book of Genesis as a literal translation of how humans and Earth were created. The irony is that even the Pope recognizes that science does have its points. For example, in an "U.S. News & World Report" article, "The Pope and Darwin," quotes Pope John Paul II saying, "evolution is 'more than just a theory' and is fully compatible with the Christian faith" (Sheler). He is not denying that Christians can, and do, believe in the theory of evolution; but he is proving that perhaps evolution is an acceptable belief of a religious based person. This is more evidence for the teaching of evolution in schools. Evolution is a great theory, and should be taught, but there are problems. Theories like gravity are easily proven; the apple always falls. The theory that the world was flat and that the Earth is the center of the universe has been clearly denounced by the use of astronomy and space flight. The theory that humans evolved from a single celled amoeba through natural selection has not been proven for many. The only way to ever prove evolution without any doubt would be to travel in time and actually see it happening. We have never seen the progression of single cell organisms into complex structures, into fish, into land animals, and onto even more complex creatures. So evolution will never be proved without its doubters, which is the doubters full American right. The problem is the believers of evolution teaching their beliefs onto students. Teachers cannot decide for their student's fact and theoretical ideology. Every time a teacher does not explain to their student that the theory of evolution is just a theory they are showing atheistic beliefs to a student. It is the teacher's job to teach the evidence, not the jurisdiction.

The largest evidence for the evolutionary theory is the differences Darwin discovered looking at finch birds on different islands in the Galapagos. Their beaks had changed depending on the food available