Culture Wars: The Evolution/Creation Debate Rages On

America’s culture war happens in various venues, including voting booths, statehouses, and classrooms. But the courtroom seems to be the final destination for many cultural arguments, including the evolution/creation debate, which has landed once again in a southern court.

Along with the American Civil Liberties Union, parents from Cobb County, Georgia are challenging a local school board decision to alter students’ biology textbooks with stickers that read: "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

The parents and ACLU believe that the sticker violates the separation of church and state -- the establishment clause of the Constitution -- since the disclaimer makes way for religious beliefs in the biology classroom. But school board officials and creationism proponents argue that the school’s biology curriculum violates another constitutional right -- religious freedom.

School officials provided the sticker as a response to other parents’ complaints that the biology text presented evolution as a fact and did not present alternative theories, including creationism. These parents feel that their religious beliefs are being undermined by the scientific account of the origins of life, evolution, which contradict the creation story in the Bible.

Considering "theory"

Creationists say that evolution and creationism are competing theories that should be presented equally and conditionally to students.

Evolutionists explain that creationists are confusing the meanings of "theory." The popular notion of theory is an idea that can’t be proven, but a scientific theory like evolution must be established and confirmed with replicable data. Therefore, they say, evolution and creation theories are not at all equal, the latter having no basis in the scientific method.

Scientific information changes regularly as more discoveries are made, but ordinarily the new discoveries replace old ones. In this debate, newer discoveries based on observable evidence are attacked by older ones based in faith.

Is there a way to satisfy both? Most evolutionists would gladly see creationism taught in religious studies classes. The creationism theory belongs in that context, they say, where the origins of life are explored in a non-scientific way.

But religious groups across the country are fighting to make sure that their ideas are represented in biology classrooms.

And the divided voting public tries to elect officials who agree with them. Majority rule and minority rights are decided, in our system, in the courts.

Battles across the nation

Currently, there are challenges to teaching evolution in at least 13 states. The case in Georgia is simply the first to make it to court.

In Wisconsin, the Grantsburg school district has mandated that various theories of origin be taught alongside evolution.

In Pennsylvania, the Dover school district requires that students be taught that an "intelligent force" is responsible for life’s design, called intelligent design theory. Most proponents of this theory consider the "intelligent force" to be God.

In Maryland, the Charles County school board is considering a proposal that would eliminate textbooks that favor evolution as the primary scientific explanation for the origins and development of life.

School board power

Do school boards have the power to decide the evolution/creation debate?

School board members are elected, and school boards have the right to decide their districts’ curriculum, but they are in defiance of the law if they decide that creationism should be taught in the biology classroom.

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that creationism was a religious belief and so could not be taught in public schools.

Since school boards are elected, they are vulnerable to political pressure, and parents are putting tremendous pressure on school board officials to ignore this ruling and teach students belief-based theories of origin alongside evolution.

In addition, religious groups plan to take advantage of the No Child Left Behind Act. The act mandates a broad review of all curricula, and creationists hope to use the opportunity to change natural science guidelines.

This trend is part of a larger narrative -- America’s struggle with religion in public life. Should religious beliefs guide public policy? How should the government maintain what can amount to two competing first-amendment ideas -- the separation of church and state and the freedom of religion? How much power should parents have over what their children are taught?

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Posted on: 11/22/2004