Should schools teach Darwinism or Creationism?

[Gurck]

Agree that religion has a place being taught about, but not taught (that make sense?). Also should not focus on Christianity any more than other major religions. It certainly has no place in a science classroom.

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
everything should be taught / presented / explained / analyzed / questioned. and everyone should decide for themselves where the truth lies.

Yeah... you go and figure out a lesson plan that'll teach/explain/analyze and question everything.

 

[digitalsm]

There is no science backing up creationism. Creationism should not be taught in a biology class, other than very briefly at most.

 

[nakedfrog]

They should teach all available theories with a certain degree of acceptance, and with a disclaimer beforehand, and in the appropriate classes. This seems obvious to me. Even if christians don't believe in evolution, does that mean they shouldn't be taught what a large portion of the populace believes? Conversely, even if scientists don't believe in creationism, does that mean they shouldn't be taught what a large portion of the populace believes?
Label evolution science, rightly so, and creationism religion, rightly so.

 

[zzzz]

creationism is not a theory. At best it is a hypothesis with no supporting data.

 

[Babbles]

One is a science, the other a fallacy. I think most know which one is which.

 

[everman]

Summary: people will debate the issue for a very very long time. So I think outright refusing to be willing to debate such things in a learning environment is wrong. We learn a lot through such discussions over time.

 

[AFB]

Seems like Darwinism is winning

 

[BurnItDwn]

Well, since Darwinism has tons of physical evidence to back it up and Creation has none what so ever, I would say the answer is obviously only Darwinism.

I would say it should be required for all schools to Teach Darwinism as the form of how we came to be. This includes All public and private schools.

Creationism absolutely must not be taught in public schools obviously since it is a religious belief, and religious beliefs are not scientific in any way shape or form.

If any school wishes to teach Creationism, it should be in a theology/mythology class, and they should teach various versions of it, not just whatever christian version they want to.

 

[n0cmonkey]

I say either both or neither. I don't think either has been proven or disproven to the point where the theories should be ignored. Hell, even the Catholics and pseudo-Christians have absolutely no evidence against darwanism.

 

[gopunk]

people that insist creationism is somehow equivalent to evolution and should be taught side by side are simply delusional. one is part of science, one is not, get it? and btw, how come no one advocates teaching the stories of any other religions, only christianity, next to evolution? if we're so obsessed with presenting every remotely possible theory, even if it has no supporting evidence whatsoever, why aren't we teaching the creation myths of every religion in recorded history? i don't recall ever hearing the native american myth of Raven opening a clam shell containing the first people ever being disproved.

previous posters have gotten it right... teach evolution in biology class, where it belongs, and creationism in history, social studies, or "world religions" class, where it belongs.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Catholic and pseudo-Christian beliefs in creation and evolution are not mutually exclusive. I guess teaching evolution as a theory without mentioning how the original life forms were created, or came into being wouldn't be too difficult (or mention varying possibilities in passing).

 

[Eli]

Who are the geniuses that voted for Creationism?

It doesen't even have any basis in.. reality.. It boggles the mind.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Eli
Who are the geniuses that voted for Creationism?

It doesen't even have any basis in.. reality.. It boggles the mind.

Proof?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Eli
Who are the geniuses that voted for Creationism?

It doesen't even have any basis in.. reality.. It boggles the mind.

Proof?

There is no proof.

There is only supporting evidence.

I'm sure you can see where this is leading.

Edit: I see what you're saying, though.

To me, it's the only thing that makes any sense. I can't believe that a mystical being created everything just because he was bored one day, it doesen't make any sense. Let alone that he's a malicious being(ie: do as I say.. or else). From my point of view, living under such a being would be far worse and is much more alarming than the idea of there being no such being in the first place.

I used to believe, but not because it's really what I thought.. but because it was what I was tought. It never quite made sense to me. It doesen't fit together in the grand scheme of things unless you have an extremely simple mind(not meaning that in an insultive way), but I believe that to be true.

We(humans) have always turned to the unexplainable to explain things. It is somehow comforting to put it our of our own hands. The reason it clashes with modern society so much is because we don't need the unexplainable to explain most things anymore.

When you look at it, modern religion is no different than any other ancient cultures' belief system. Yet we look at them like their beliefs were insane(Indians, Greeks, etc). Why is that? LOL

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Eli
Who are the geniuses that voted for Creationism?

It doesen't even have any basis in.. reality.. It boggles the mind.

Proof?

There is no proof.

There is only supporting evidence.

I'm sure you can see where this is leading.

Of course. I just don't see why so many people think that god and evolution are necessarily incompatible.

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Since this is a topic for science class, all of the scientific theories should be taught.

QFT

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I just don't see why so many people think that god and evolution are necessarily incompatible.

They're not, but creationism & evolution are, and that's the focus of the thread.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Eli
Who are the geniuses that voted for Creationism?

It doesen't even have any basis in.. reality.. It boggles the mind.

Proof?

There is no proof.

There is only supporting evidence.

I'm sure you can see where this is leading.

Of course. I just don't see why so many people think that god and evolution are necessarily incompatible.

That's just the thing, I don't necessarily. I'm like 10% agnostic, because it's certainly possible that some being started all of this in motion. I wouldn't doubt it. For example, asking the question "If God created us, who created God?" is much like the question "If we're in the universe, what is the universe in?"

The being doesen't necessarily have to be God-like, though.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I just don't see why so many people think that god and evolution are necessarily incompatible.

They're not, but creationism & evolution are, and that's the focus of the thread.

Parts maybe. Old Earth, Day-Age, Evolutionary Creationism, Theistic Evolution, Methodological Materialistic Evolution, and Catastrphic Evolution all seem to support evolution to varying degrees.

 

[Howard]

Separation of church and state, anybody?

 

[slurmsmackenzie]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Eli
Who are the geniuses that voted for Creationism?

It doesen't even have any basis in.. reality.. It boggles the mind.

Proof?

There is no proof.

There is only supporting evidence.

I'm sure you can see where this is leading.

Edit: I see what you're saying, though.

To me, it's the only thing that makes any sense. I can't believe that a mystical being created everything just because he was bored one day, it doesen't make any sense. Let alone that he's a malicious being(ie: do as I say.. or else). From my point of view, living under such a being would be far worse and is much more alarming than the idea of there being no such being in the first place.

I used to believe, but not because it's really what I thought.. but because it was what I was tought. It never quite made sense to me. It doesen't fit together in the grand scheme of things unless you have an extremely simple mind(not meaning that in an insultive way), but I believe that to be true.

We(humans) have always turned to the unexplainable to explain things. It is somehow comforting to put it our of our own hands. The reason it clashes with modern society so much is because we don't need the unexplainable to explain most things anymore.

When you look at it, modern religion is no different than any other ancient cultures' belief system. Yet we look at them like their beliefs were insane(Indians, Greeks, etc). Why is that? LOL

malicious being? you musta read something wrong, or had a money hungry preacher. god is love. says so in the bible. all pain and suffering is of our own choice. god said.... here you go. you can have a concept of only good and live as such, pain free... or, you can understand good and evil, make your own choices based on that, and live the outcome. which is what we're doing.

if you read the bible, it's far ahead of it's time in the matter of science. unlike greek mythology etc., which uses dieties to explain natural forces. the bible embraces scientific fact. the globe is referred to on several occations, cleanliness as far as diseases, washing hands before eating, circumcision, and so on. the bible isn't an explination of scientific events, it's a guidebook and historical document. science is our job, our reason for being. "fill the earth and subdue it." how do you subdue it? by gaining a full understanding of such. doesn't true power lie in understanding?

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: MetalMat
Teaching creationism in a Science class, I repeat the word Science because it is not made up from thin air and a book which may or may not be true, would be stupid.

If you brought up the thought that God created mankind through the forces of evolution most christian zealots I know would just get mad at you and say evolution is a lie.

Actually, not all christian zealots discard evolution... as posted early in this thread, there are many who view evolution as God's creation... I know for fact that the Catholic Church believes in the Big Bang (but, again, science can't explain what caused the big bang, and possibly may never be able to - we just cannot gather data for that far back, we can only guess.... So, creation of the universe and Big Bang are not mutually exclusive.. I'm not sure about the Catholic church's stance on evolution.

As a science teacher, during one of the first few days, I sit there on one of the front desks, bouncing a ball the entire time (a happy bouncy ball). I explain what science is, what theories are, etc. I also explain how theories are revised, or dropped. I make some mention of religious beliefs, but not a lot, and how some are not mutually exclusive, depending on the religion, but some are mutually exclusive. Eventually, with a little slight of hand, I switch balls to one that looks identical, but lands on the floor with a thud and doesn't bounce back. "whoa. we'd have never guessed that that would happen... my bouncy ball stopped bouncing. Must be a defective one. Back to the drawing board for the bouncy ball company."

 

[igowerf]

Both should be taught. Darwinism taught in science class and Creationism taught in Social Studies. With Christianity or the validity of Christianity being such a common topic of discussion, kids should learn a little about it anyway.

 

[nietsni3]

let thing stay where it belongs. if you want to learn and believe creationism, go to catholics school; if you choose darwinism, go to a public school; and dont mess it up. cuz i dont want to go to public school (with the intent to learn darwinism) and then get taught creationism instead.