Evolutionism? or Creationism? or both? (Poll)

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It is also certain that total evolution (evolving from one species to another, like a monkey into a human) has no proof to have ever happened. I think that as a *public* school people should be allowed to learn different things; it's not excluding the idea of evolution if one believes in creation; lots of people have weighed the two. So if someone weighs the two, why not allow them to learn more about the one they think is the best? It's not a matter of exclusion, it's a matter of choice. What if someone did find scientific proof of creation? Would they still be treating it as a religion? Probably not. Scientists have not had any solid proof of total evolution, so why not teach both to give people a choice.

Here's an article by Daniel Dennett on the intelligent design debate.

http://edge.org/documents/archive/edge166.html

That's a really great website if you are into cutting edge science and such. It's like a monthly newsletter and they email you when they update. Actually there are several articles there on this debate.
http://edge.org


The issue here is primarily a corruption of science, and the misleading of children who are supposed to be getting an education. People like the president say "teach the controversy" but there is no controversy, not within the scientific community at least. Evolution by natural selection is much more than just another theory.
Dennett sums it up nicely when he says, ....teach the belief in a flat earth if you want..but teach it in a history class..

reading this thread, I think my views on this matter are rather unusual in some ways, but the same as many of you in others. I believe in creation by evolution, meaning that I think God created the animals, plants, etc. by making them evolve. That said, I also think evolution is just a theory, and that it should be taught in schools as such, not as a proven fact. I don't think creation should be taught in public schools because if it was, all the other creation theories would need to be taught, too, and that would be way too much. As for the parents who don't want their kids to be taught evolution? they should homeschool their kids. If you want to send your kids out into the world everyday like that, fine, but you(or more accurately they) will have to deal with the consequences. Although I have a very low opinion of public school, it is there for a reason. The curriculums used should always teach the middle ground
Just my opinion

Although teaching creationism in public schools (ah, the beauties of private schools and/or homeschooling) is a bit too controversial, I think the teachers should at least mention that there was probably some sort of "intelligent design" by someone or something.

Neither creation nor evolution can be proven by the scientific method (not that the scientific method is all-important), because neither is repeatable. So I don't think it would be a good idea to teach this in any sort of science class. A better place for this would be a class about world views and beliefs.

Let's say I had gone to a public school when I was younger and I had learned about evolution. The fact that it was taught to me does not mean I have to believe the teacher is right. I could choose to accept what the teacher was saying as the truth or regard it as any other information that we would need to know for the test on the unit.

My personal belief on creation/evolution? Species in the world are much too advanced to have evolved out of bacteria and pond scum. If you really want to know more, PM me.

from Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne

Have you ever put water or the like into an enclosed glass and super heated it? the glass sweats does it not? not all of it is from external condensation, some of it comes from the moister within trying to get out from exited molecular exchange, evolution is the same way, you have billions of microbes trying to evolve in a short span of time, humans are no different, some of us escape to the next level and evolve, those that do expand to the next generation, those that do not,- stagnate.

evolution happens, faster then you think, besides, how much time do you think it takes to evolve? our world has been with life for at least 4 BILLION years.

A mutation doesn't know well enough to keep it's effect at a minimum. So in Evolution you have both small mutations and larger ones.

I've never understood why some people feel threatened by the idea of evolution. I mean, the Bible says plenty of things that no Fundamentalist Christian thinks are literally true, like the earth being flat etc. Evolution is not "just a theory" (or rather, it is a theory in the same manner that continetal drift, gravity, and atomic structure are theories). It is a simple observation of biological processes on a grand scale. It has nothing to do with astronomy, cosmology, whether or not there is a creator, or whether or not we have souls, nor do I see how it would cast reflection on any of those issues.

So no, creationism should not be taught in public schools as an alternative to evolution. It is not science, and has no scientific ground whatsoever (those who doubt this statement should see the link below). It would make about as much sense as teaching people that the Holocaust may or may not have happened, depending on your belief, in history classes.

Just about all of the creationist's arguments against evolution are nonsense anyway, even though they are sometimes interesting. Go to www.talkorigins.org for a thurough debunking of creationist arguments.

Still, though, I'm not saying that the book of Genesis has no place in the public sphere. It would probably be important to study in classes pertaining to literature, theology, philosophy, and the like.