Evolution: Is it Constitutional?

[SimplyGenius]

I came up with this thread in the Macro/micro evolution debate, and I stated that I would make a thread about it.

The question is whether or not teaching Evolution in classrooms across the nation interfers with the constitutional religious rights of an American student.

I think that if you believe in a God who created the earth, and designed all that we see, teaching that it was all by Nature's mindless genius is ignorant of their beliefs,l even if its scientifically correct (which in in full, it's not but you should debate that in the Macro/Micro debate, not here). Children get Failing grades for openly denying its implications, and that, in my opinion, goes against the constitution. There are all kinds of other things in which kids can get free passes because "it's against their religion". Even if Islam is wrong (which is up to you), you cannot deny anyone's free will to practice it in America. So why can't evolution be dumped just for that reason? What is it that makes it OK?

What's your opinion? Remember: if you want to discuss whether or not Evolution is Scientifically correct, take that to the Macro vs. Micro debate in the Science Section. Here, we are discussing whther or not it is OK to teach Evolution based on the constitution.

 

[Phoenix]

i agree that students should have freedom to belive what they wish. however, i think it would be a good idea to learn about other beliefs and theories that exist, even if those theories/beliefs are not held by everyone. we dont know if any one theory is correct, nor can we say that any one theory is incorrect. therefore i find it appropriate to explore and learn about the different beliefs people hold concerning evolution, creation, and how our world came to be.

 

[MenInTights]

I think you are Simply Genius! I have never thought about this, but it seems like a strong argument. Would love to see someone pursue it. To me creationism isn't faith as much as it is science. I think as a scientific model, it can stand its own against evolution. Still I would love to see someone challenge the faith aspect of evolution.

 

[SimplyGenius]

Thanks, Spence.

however, i think it would be a good idea to learn about other beliefs and theories that exist, even if those theories/beliefs are not held by everyone.

That's exactly what I'm saying. No "however". If we just taught evolution, we wouldn't be teaching about other theories now would we (which is exactly what is happening)? If they taught about other theories and beliefs that existed, then students would learn how to come to their own conlclusions, not that of the curriculum, per se.

But expecting a student to write a paper in support if Evolution is against freedom of religion, if that be the "excuse". If they decide not to write the paper based on their "scientific perspective", then failing them is interfering with Freedom of Speech.

 

[maledoro]

The Bible is not a science book. Even if it was intended to be, it was written by people thousands of years ago who didn't understand the world the way that we do now. Why do the Creationists feel that they have to drag us back to such a pre-medieval mindset?

Also, if everyone is so worried about the rights of Christians, what about the Buddhists? What about any other religion's take on the Beginning? If the Creationists want to teach their kids about Adam and Eve, there's always homeschooling. Homeschooling's wonderful. You can teach your kids about the world in ways that most scientists wouldn't endorse without a bellylaugh.

 

[Van]

Teaching evolution in school is not technically unconstitutional. Separation of church state is not in the constitution. The closest thing to it is in Article 6, which states that no religious test shall be required for a position of a public office.
They should teach other theories in school as well however. SimplyGenius and Spence are right. They need to teach about other theories as well so students can draw their own conclusions.
They should teach all of the main theories, or non of them. Neither way would be unconstitutional.

 

[Hi_Im_Tim]

I think that it is constitutional. They teach religion classes in public schools. However they should not include the Theory of Evolution in a required class.

 

[MegaMike]

It is not unconstitutional to teach Evolution. Evolution isn't a religion, first of all, as much as a lot of people like to suggest it is. It doesn't prove or disprove the existence of a divine being or any such thing. Same for everything with science. However, certain parts of many scientific theories conflict with various religious tenants. Are we required to teach that psychological and physiological illnesses might be caused by something called Thetans? Do we have to teach that natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanos are caused simply by divine will to punish sinners without any natural cause? No, and we certainly shouldn't. A science class is a science class, and though science might interfere with certain religious ideas, science is not a religion, nor is it a place to be influenced by religious ideas.

 

[Dirtybird77]

Evolution is should be taught and is allowed to be taught. There is nothing in the constitution against teaching a scientific fact and theory.

When Creationism gets scientific facts to back it up, then we can teach it. If it does not, then we should not teach it as fact.

 

[Merc]

I don't think I'd have a problem if schools had a "Creationist Science" and a "Biological Science" class as equal credit based on people's beliefs.

But students should never be forced to do one or the other. Forcing students to learn creationism is forcing religion onto people (it's faith, not science because there's no evidence and no, the bible does not count) and pushing evolution is making students believe in a theory that has evidence, but not an incredible amount, when they could have religious beliefs that go against it.

I think the only fair way to do it is to offer students both options that way the student can decide what he/she wants to learn and still get the credit to pass science.