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By Travis K. McSherley Today's society seems to be more and more defensive when it comes to protecting minorities. Whether it be a minority race, minority religion, minority opinion, or minority lifestyle, interest groups and the government are quick to jump to the rescue when discrimination comes against any of these groups. Perhaps, then, it shouldn't be so surprising to discover that the theory of evolution may not be the majority view that one might expect. Darwinist Richard Dawkins has said, "It is absolutely safe to say that, if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that)." Harsh words. Harsh enough, perhaps, to intimidate many people who might share an opposing opinion. After all, evolution pervades all throughout our society. Public schools. Colleges. Movies. News media. Even PBS produced an eight-hour series devoted to the topic in late September 2001. According to a Washington Post article from a couple years ago, "the National Academy of Sciences said ... that the subject (evolution) must be a vital part of science instruction and that lessons on creationism do not belong in those classes." Pretty stiff competition for challengers who dare stand in disagreement that evolution was the way life began. Just ask the Tangipahoa Parish Board of Education in Louisiana, which was unable to place creation science into the school's curriculum as an alternative to evolution. Then, the school board was attacked immediately after filing a 1994 statute that stated that evolutionary material must carry the following disclaimer: It is hereby recognized by the Tangipahoa Parish Board of Education, that the lesson to be presented, regarding the origin of life and matter, is known as the Scientific Theory of Evolution and should be presented to inform students of the scientific concept and not intended to influence or dissuade the Biblical version of Creation or any other concept.Federal courts overturned the rule, declaring it to violate the First Amendment. The Supreme Court denied to hear the appeal. (1) All this was after shooting down a Louisiana statue passed in 1987 that would have required schools to give a "balanced treatment" to both creation science and evolutionary science teaching. The Court ruled that the statute was "held to advance religious doctrine in violation of First Amendment's establishment of religion clause." (2) And who could forget the uproar in 1999 after the Kansas State Board of Education created policy to deemphasize or remove certain evolutionary concepts within curriculums of science classes.(3) Though the board's decision made neither teaching creation nor omitting evolution mandatory, controversy ensued right away, including an ACLU letter to the Board demanding a reversal of the new criteria, citing court cases prohibiting religion being promoted in school. (4) Earlier this year, the newly-elected school board reversed the measure, voting instead to require teaching of evolution throughout the state. And, of course, the political and legal debates rage on, with states and school systems incorporating (or attempting to incorporate) laws to give competing scientific views a platform with which to be heard. That said, those who oppose evolution would seem to have an uphill battle, with an overwhelming amount of support behind the evolutionary theory. Despite the clear hypocrisy in requiring one scientific theory while, in effect, outlawing another, indications seem to give the impression that evolution skeptics are outnumbered. Or are they? At least one Gallup poll paints a slightly different picture. According to this poll, an amazing 47 percent of people claimed to believe that God created human life less than 10,000 years ago. Only 9 percent claimed to believe that humans evolved over millions of years without God's intervention. Forty percent said God played a part in progressing evolution. Those numbers would seem to even up the odds a bit. And perhaps surprisingly, this poll was released in 2001. (5) Furthermore, the poll reveals that 68 percent of Americans feel that creationism should be taught with evolution in school. Incredibly, 40 percent actually believe creationism should replace evolution in the public school. Only 29 percent opposed teaching creationism completely. In a similar USA Today poll from November 2001, 45 percent of respondents said God created humans in their present form, 37 percent said God guided evolution, and 12 percent claimed a nontheistic origin of human life. But if the majority of Americans -- of taxpayers -- are in favor of teaching alternatives to evolution, why is it that we pay for evolution to be pushed in public schools and on public television? Admittedly, a majority opinion cannot be a basis for determining truth (though some might argue that point as well). No matter how many people believe God created the universe and/or life, that does not change whether it is true or false. However, the fact that a plurality of Americans seem to be unconvinced that evolution had any role in the origin or development of life should be enough reason to allow competive theories to at least be presented in schools. Yet, whenever the suggestion that evolution is inaccurate is made in a public forum, the thought seems to be shot down and ridiculed as little more than religious nonsense. But many people would argue that the theory of evolution is little more than a religious belief itself. Thousands of reputable and well-educated scientists exist today who stand by the scientific reasoning behind a belief in the Biblical Creation of the universe. (6) Yet their voices continue to be silenced in the process of informing the public. In a representative democracy such as ours, since when does the majority opinion get so easily pushed aside? Ninety percent of the population claim to believe in God. Seventy-six percent claim to believe the Bible is the Word of God. About 45 percent claim to accept the "theory" of creationism over evolution (with 80 percent claiming to be "somewhat" or "very" informed about each idea). (7) But those who do not accept the evolution theory apparently must be the ones who fight the difficult battle to inform the public. Funny thing too; less than
a hundred years ago, evolutionists were the ones who had to go to
court to have their voices heard.
NOTES:
(2) Edwards v. Aguillard. June 19, 1987. 482 U.S. 578. (3) Kansas State Board of Education. Meeting Minutes August 11, 1999. http://www.ksde.org/commiss/bdmin/0899boardmin.html (4) American Civil Liberties Union, Press Release - August 13, 1999. http://www.aclu.org/news/1999/n081399a.html (5) Gallup Poll Analyses
- Public Favorable to Creationism.
(6) Creation Scientists. Institute for Creation Research. http://www.icr.org/creationscientists.html (7) Gallup Poll Analyses: A-Z Religion. http://www.gallup.com/poll/indicators/indreligion3.asp |
Where wast thou
when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched
the line upon it?
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