Should Creationism be taught in schools?

[outside looking in]

Public schools that is.

What about evolution? How do you compare those two?

 

[Luis G]

religious creationism ?? (sorry i'm not familiar with the word)

 

[unclehobart]

Luis, Biblical Genesis with Adam and Eve rather than evolution.being taught as the start of man.

 

[Luis G]

thanks Unc !!

I think it should not be taught, mainly because not all kids share the same religion.

 

[MitchSchaft]

same reason why evolution shouldn't be taught don't ya think?

 

[outside looking in]

Evolution isn't a religion, it's a part of science, and is supported by countless observations and facts.

The same can't be said for Christian creationism or any other creation story. I've heard of plenty of creationist arguments, but they all eventually get back to simply trying to poke holes in Evolution, instead of offering scientific evidence and reasoning to support Creationism as a "science."

 

[Gonz]

^^^what he said^^^^

 

[Luis G]

Originally posted by MitchSchaft
same reason why evolution shouldn't be taught don't ya think?

OSLI beat me to say it....

If you want to learn science you should go to the school, if you want to be religious go to the church.

 

[freako104]

i think they both should be though when i was in HS evolution was taught to us in our bio class although the teacher did mention creationism and i asked her what she believed and she said evolution and our tests and quizes were based in evolution though out of respect for kids of religious backgrounds it should be taught. but i will stick woth science over religion and say that should be taught more.

 

[MitchSchaft]

Well, this is one of the reasons why our Constitution states the separation of Church and State. To keep people from throwing their ideologies onto others that don't want to hear it. Those bastards who wrote this thing were geniouses. And, no, you don't go to church to be "religious".

 

[outside looking in]

I've had heated arguments with some individuals that believe that "separation of church and state" was never intended to keep religion out of the classroom, but rather to prevent a state setup and funded church... a National Religion of sorts.

I agree that the latter was certainly an intention, and though the founders may not have intended to keep religion out of the classroom, I think that is a valid application of the constitution presently.

Perhaps our forefathers didn't intend it, but they should have, and we should keep it that way.

 

[Gonz]

Originally posted by outside looking in
Perhaps our forefathers didn't intend it, but they should have, and we should keep it that way.

They didn't empirically have that in mind but they also didn't intend to have every possible religion & a few made up ones along the way either.

One of my few lasting memories of school (2nd grade) was a Jewish kid ( I didn't know this until later) being asked to step out of the classroom when we said our morning prayer. I thought it odd then & I had no clue why & the teacher didn't explain it very well either. I always felt bad for him & I didn't understand why.

 

[outside looking in]

grrrrrrr

 

[MitchSchaft]

His parents probably had that arranged.

 

[Gomez Addams]

I fully agree with you OLI.

A couple of other points :

Science has nothing to do with respect. Science is about facts unlike faith and beliefs.

The text of the Constution can be found here :

http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html

The amendments can be found here :

http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html

Here is the text of Amendment 1 :

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

It seems to me that its interpretation is not exactly literal.

 

[Gonz]

Originally posted by MitchSchaft
His parents probably had that arranged.

Looking back, I'd imagine that's the case. That is exactly why religion should not be in schools. Evolution, on the other hand, has some basis in science-still theoretical though.

 

[MitchSchaft]

That's how I feel. Religion is too personal to be in schools like that.

 

[outside looking in]

Historical evolution is not theoretical. It has the same validity as the "round Earth theory" or the "heliocentric" theory.

The molecular processes of biological evolution are not completely understood. This doens't negate the validity of historical evolution however.

 

[MitchSchaft]

Bleh.... I'm not gonna argue with you

 

[Gonz]

Damn, we can't even agree to agree. I only discuss evolution in it's purely biological sense. Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalensis, Homo Sabilis..et al