Church And State :: essays research papers fc

Church and State The theory of evolution is at odds with the views of many religions, and many people want to allow a religious view of creationism to be taught in the public school system. The foundation of evolution is based upon the belief that the origin of all ordered complex systems, including living creatures, can be explained by natural laws without the initiation or intervention of God. A person who believes in the biblical model of creation is viewed by some non- believers as a naive, narrow-minded religious fanatic who is not willing to look at the observable evidence with an open mind. Because the evolutionary idea of origins has been so widely accepted by the scientific community, many people have reasoned that the creation model should be completely rejected without fairly examining its claims. Even many Christians who have deep trust and faith in the Bible have never really understood the claims of the creation account (McLean 11). Over the past several years, a great deal of controversy surrounding the creation-evolution issue has been generated by scientists who have based their claims on the creation model and have been willing to let their reputations stand. Creationists have openly requested that when the discussion of origins occurs in the public school system, both the model of creation and evolution be presented side by side. Initially, scientists and educators who have accepted the theory of evolution without question were reluctant to pay any serious attention to creationism; however, it has now become apparent that substantial numbers of people are taking creationism seriously. Many evolutionists view this trend as a serious threat to the advancement of science and have vowed to do everything in their power to stop the teaching of creation in the public school system. Most evolutionists now view creationism as nothing more than a particular version of fundamentalist Christianity with no valid scientific content. One hundred-fifty years ago such a theory for the origin and history of the earth and life would have been termed absurd. Today, however, those who reject the idea of random evolutionary processes being responsible for designing life and shaping the geological features of the earth are termed religious, unscientific fanatics. Today, throughout the industrialized world, the moment children are able to respond to their environment, they are constantly bombarded with the doctrine of evolution. Faith in the biblical concept of creation by the hand of God is ridiculed and rejected by the secular system of education. Humanistic thinking widely accepts evolution as fact, even though "The all-too frequent picture of evolution as a progression from ameba to man, is, and always has been, utterly