<---back to Words of Wisdom index

In 1925 John Scopes was sentenced in Dayton, Tennessee, for teaching the theory of evolution in his biology class. "When science was an infant, religion tried to strangle it in the cradle."

A rapidly growing fundamentalist Christian movement is trying to subvert both modern science and the Constitution of the United States. This movement is trying to force public schools to teach "scientific creationism" (the Biblical story of Creation) as an equally valid hypothesis alongside the well-established sciences of evolution, biology, geology, astronomy, and anthropology.

Creationists, through heavy political pressure at local and national levels, have obtained the support of many government officials (including ex-President Reagan) for creationist legislation.  Their pressure tactics have also caused many publishers of leading science textbooks to censor, greatly reduce, or severely alter their sections on modern biology and evolution. Without legal mandates, some school districts are already using  creationist films, cassettes, and texts in their science courses.

In her book, Scientists Confront Creationism, professor Laurie Godfrey states: "The teaching of scientific creationism as science in the public schools of America represents a flagrant violation of the principle of separation of church and state. Far from opening educational horizons to competing alternate explanations, scientific creationists construct artificial dichotomies that distort and confound the methods and functions of science and religion.  They mold the facts of science according to their needs. They distort the meanings of fact and theory. Cloaked in scientific jargon but uninformed by the scientific developments of the past one hundred fifty years, the arguments of the scientific creationists demand a response."[2 p.14]

What Is Creationism?

The creation Research Society, the leading organization of the Creationist movement, requires its members to sign its members to sign a document specifying that they now believe and will continue to believe in the following:

(1) The Bible is the Written Word of God, and because we believe it to be inspired throughout, all of its assertions are historically and scientifically true in all of the original autographs. To the student of nature, this means that the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths.

(2) All basic types of living things, including man, were made by direct creative acts of God during Creation Week as described in Genesis. Whatever biological changes have occurred since Creation have accomplished only changes within the original created kinds.

(3) The Great Flood described in Genesis, commonly referred to as the Noachian Deluge, was an historical event, worldwide in its extent and effect.

(4) Finally, we are an organization of Christian men of science, who accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The account of the special creation of Adam and eve as one man and one woman and their subsequent fall into sin, is the basis for our belief in the necessity of a Savior for all mankind. Therefore, salvation can come only through accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior." [4 p.86]

Furthermore, the creationists believe that the earth and the observable universe are very young, on the order of only six to ten thousand years old.

Is Scientific Creationism Science?

Creationism is a pseudoscience, a belief system which claims to have scientific status when it does not. It differs from science in several ways.

Science is an open system based on skeptical inquiry, and its ultimate appeal is to experimental evidence. Creationism is a closed system based on belief, and its ultimate appeal is to the Bible.  This is evidenced by the demand that their members sign a statement affirming that they take the Bible as literally true. It is difficult to imagine evolutionists signing a comparable statement that they will never deviate from the literal text of Charles Darwins Origin of Species. Fanatical dogmatism is just not acceptable in science.

Scientists use inductive reasoning to formulate general laws from specific observations.  Creationists base their beliefs on Scripture and use deductive logic to try to explain how the universe must act to conform with Scripture. When scientific findings conflict with the creationists interpretation of the Bible, the creationists ignore the facts and distort the theories. In other words, creationists have trained themselves to shun the unfettered inquiry and hard-nosed skepticism that are the hallmarks of science.

Creationism also differs from science because it is not explainable by reference to natural law.  When the "evidence" for creationism has been subjected to the tests of the scientific method it has been found invalid. Creationists counter that scientific tests are themselves wrong, which is absurd, considering the success that science has had in harnessing nature. Creationists have also made no discoveries or fundamental breakthroughs in science.  Their work is not published in accepted scientific journals where it would be subject to peer review and testing. The prestigious National Academy of Science studied creationism and concluded "It is, therefore, our unequivocal conclusion that creationism, with its accounts of the origin of life by supernatural means, is not science." [5 p.91]

The root of the creation/evolution controversy is the fact that evolution contradicts a literal reading of Genesis. Creationists, however, do not present the problem in quite this way. They claim that evolution offends their "scientific sensibilities." This claim is preposterous considering considering the scientific absurdities they embrace in their creationist beliefs.

The issue of whether creationism is science arose because creationists claim that their ideas qualify as genuine science rather than as fundamentalist religion.  By calling creationism "science" they hope to circumvent the law based on the First Amendment which prohibits the teaching of religion in public schools.

What About Equal Time?

A scientific education which imparts factual knowledge is not a political campaign, it is a learning experience. Science is not determined by a majority vote at the ballot box, but by the merits of the case. If we allow creationism into the science classroom on the basis of equal time, we will have to allow every other crackpot theory to be taught which has enough adherents to start a lobby.

The two-model approach also implies that informed scientific opinion is equally divided on the issue of origins. To teach that this is the case when in fact it is not, and when the evidence for evolution is clearly overwhelming, is to dishonestly mislead students.  Such an act is unethical and a betrayal of public trust. It is the height of irony that creationists profess to do this in the interest of increasing morality in society (evolution in their view promotes amorality).

Anyone who advocates the fairness doctrine for science education reveals a lack of understanding of what science is. Science does not work on fairness but on merit. With the rapid expansion in scientific knowledge, it is simply inefficient to waste time and resources on erroneous theories scientists do not take seriously. The National Academy of Science warned: "Incorporating the teaching of such doctrines (creationism) into a science curriculum stifles the development of critical thinking patterns in the developing mind and seriously compromises the best interests of public education. This could eventually hamper the advancement of science and technology as students take their places as leaders of future generations." [5 p.26]

Is It Legal?

Teaching creationism in our public schools would involve an excessive governmental entanglement with religion. How would teachers avoid religious references? How is the teacher to respond to questions about supernatural creation or explain the occurrence of a worldwide flood, etc? The creationist answer is obvious because the only source of their information is found in biblical, not scientific textbooks.

Without a God and a religious framework, creationism is simply an assortment of assertions that are contradicted by all the available evidence. With God and references to the Bible, it is religious and therefore constitutionally forbidden to be taught in public schools.

Religion, including various creationist stories, should be taught only in a suitable context of its own and not miscategorized as a "science" and forced into the public school science curriculum.

What Must We Do?

It is time we started taking the creationists seriously as a threatening political force. This means it is time to educate ourselves about how to combat them, without apology.  We must inform our Congressmen and Congresswomen and influential educators that the teaching of creationism is simply not acceptable in our public school science curricula.

References and Selected Reading

      1.Futuyma, Douglas. Science on Trial. The Case for Evolution. New York, Pantheon Books, 1983.
      2.Godfrey, Laurie (ed.). Scientists Confront Creationism. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1983.
      3.Kitcher, Phillip, Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism, Boston, M.I.T. Press, 1983.
      4.La Follette, Marcel (ed.), Creationism, Science, and The Law. The Arkansas Case, Boston, M.I.T. Press, 1983.
      5.National Academy of Science, Science and Creationism, National Academy Press, Washington D.C., 1984
      6.Ruse, Michael, Darwinism Defended. A Guide to the Evolution Controversies, London, Addison-Wesley, 1982.

This file may be reproduced and copied freely as long as it is not altered in any way. Copyright © 1983, John Edwards and Al Seckel.

<---back to Words of Wisdom index