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intelligent design vs evolution thesis and resesrch
tension between religion and science
tension between religion and science
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Evolution and Intelligent Design being taught in public schools is a growing controversy. Both supporters and augmenters have been clashing over different perspectives on wither intelligent design should replace evolution as part of the scientific curriculum. The controversy has lead to multiple court cases and religious dispute. The main issue when it comes to teaching this idea of science in our schools is the idea of conforming to an idea without solid evidence. Students whom are required to learn intelligent design rather than Darwin’s idea of evolution will be directly confronted on their moral and religious beliefs. In addition, students will develop a less understanding of science.
Intelligent Design is the theory that states that certain factors and living things are best explained by some higher intelligent cause, rather than an indirect cause like natural selection or evolution (Ayala, 2006, p. 72). The idea of intelligent design provokes great controversy due to the conclusion of a higher intelligent cause being related to religion. The theory claims that there is a higher intelligent cause because life is too complex to happen at random and therefore needs some greater power to explain the complexity.
Intelligent Design is not a science but rather a religious movement. This can be seen according to the main principals of what science stands for. In order for a theory/ hypothesis to be accepted as scientific virtue, the theory must be testable (Hills, 2012, p. 3). Intelligent Design is not testable and states that organisms appear abruptly however, Darwin in “An Origin of a Species” explains the commonly accepted idea of how organisms came about through the idea of evolution. According to Michael Berkman the U.S. N...
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...e to get into timid subject areas such as explaining the idea of Plato, or Christianity. In addition, teachers may not even have the educational science knowledge to teach such highly complicated theories. According to Plutzer “Teachers in all states are expected to meet certain minimum requirements for certification. But this does not mean all science teachers are equally knowledgeable about evolutionary theory or science generally” (Plutzer, 2011, p. 620). The quote further emphasizes that teaching intelligent design may be highly stressful and too advanced to be taught in public schools.
In Conclusion, intelligent design is unscientific and religiously based. The theory should not be taught in public schools because it directly confronts religious viewpoints, develops a less understanding of science, and puts an extra stress on educators to teach the subject.
Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron, “Teaching Theories: The Evolution-Creation Controversy,” The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 44, No. 7 (Oct…1982). This article, written by Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron sheds light on the controversy of evolution vs creationism in schools and the validity of each being called a scientific theory. The work was created to answer the questions, “Which of these theories is truly scientific and which is a religious belief? Which should be taught in schools?” The article concluded in favor of evolution as a valid scientific theory that should be taught rather than creationism, but also mentioned the worth of understanding the latter.
The Dover Area School District of Dover, Pennsylvania is seeking approval from the General Assembly of Pennsylvania House to include the theory of intelligent design in the instruction of biology. Intelligent design, also known as I.D., is a theory that seeks to refute the widely-accepted and scientifically-supported evolution theory. It proposes that the complexity of living things and all of their functioning parts hints at the role of an unspecified source of intelligence in their creation (Orr). For all intents and purposes, the evidence cited by I.D. supporters consists only of the holes or missing links in evolutionary theory; it is a widely-debate proposal, not because ?of the significant weight of its evidence,? but because ?of the implications of its evidence? (IDnet).
An argument is defined as presenting reasons for a conclusion in order to convince an audience of a certain point of view and an explanation as a clarification of why something has happened. An argument contains some form of an opinion while an explanation holds only facts, this does not mean that a well-constructed argument is not without facts. The second piece, Lisa Fullam’s, Of God and the Case for Unintelligent Design is evidently the argument. The title itself, “unintelligent design” proves this reasoning, she provides facts/reasoning for her audience to believe that the notion of intelligent design is unintelligent in and of itself because nature has too many flaws. Fullam provides facts about rabbit digestion, horse digestion, mammalian testicles, and human back ache followed by her opinions. First, to Elizabeth Bumiller, who doesn’t take a side while providing facts for each side, Fullam feelings strong about her opinions, her sarcastic questions help the audience tap
John Polkinghorne’s The Universe as Creation does its best to not convince the reader of Intelligent Design, but rather to dissuade the reader from the notion that although the is intelligently designed, but in this way, it has made science possible.
Jones states that intelligent design is a religious view, based of creationism and not a scientific theory. He adds that the Dover school board’s claim to be examining an alternate form of science is simply, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom. After the judge decision the school board, consisting of newly-elected, pro- science members. The federal courts have ruled that creationism, creation science, and intelligent design are not science, but instead endorse a specific religious belief. Therefore, these topics are not appropriate content for a science classroom. Neither Intelligent design nor any other form of creationism has met any of the standards of science and cannot be tested by the scientific method. On the other hand, evolution, like all other sciences, is founded on a growing body of observable and reproducible evidence in the natural
Evolution and Creationism are both fact and theory but the question is which one should be taught in schools? Only a few school distracts have approved the teaching of evolution because it has more senitific evidence than creationism to prove that it is true. According to a new Gallup poll, just 39% of Americans believe in evolution. The Gallup polls also show that those Americans with higher education believe in the theory of evolution as opposed to those with only high school diplomas. The polls found that 74% Americans with post-graduate degrees believe in evolution theory compared to 21% of Americans with only high school diplomas. The Gallup polls suggest that the belief in the theory of evolution is associated with education. Evolution should be taught in schools because it has more scientific evidence to support it than creationism does. Also, public schools should not teach things that have to do with God, such as creationism, because the Constitution requires the separation of church and state. Finally, if we do not allow schools to teach evolution it would be a form censo...
Teaching of evolution has several issues. One of the main issue is that it is unfair to some students with a background of Christianity. Christians believe in Creationism, meaning God created the whole world or if not, most of the world. Darwin's theory of Evolution is complete contradictory of this. In the Bible, it is stated that God made humans in His image while Darwin's theory says that Humans evolved from monkeys. It is basically proving that God, does not exist, violating the first amendment, Freedom of Belief. The first amendment states "..respecting the establishment of religion..." When Christian students listen and are forced to learn the theory of Evolution, it is restricting them to worship without obstacles and is therefore, disrespecting the establishment of religion by defying the existence of God. "If Genesis were interpreted as symbolic, as a myth, fable or fantasy, then the entire role of Jesus would have to be reinterpreted."(http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_school.htm)
One way to address the question is whether or not creationism, in itself, is a valid idea to be taught in public schools. The answer to this can be yes. Not only should a student in American public schools learn and acquire knowledge in empirical sciences, and other tangible facts both in history and other courses, but he should also learn how to think and make decisions for himself. Unfortunately, as it turns out, creationism is in direct conflict with the biological theory of evolution. Many fundamentalist propose that creationism should replace, or at least be offered as an alternative to Darwin’s theory of evolution.
...hat science courses are evolving, who knows maybe in the next few generations intelligent design will be the mandatory science course for all students, while evolution is only taught in history class.
In 1859, Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking Origin of Species, which would introduce the seminal theory of evolution to the scientific community. Over 150 years later, the majority of scientists have come to a consensus in agreement with this theory, citing evidence in newer scientific research. In an average high school biology classroom, one may imagine an instructor that has devoted much of his life to science and a predominantly Christian class of about twenty-five students. On the topic of evolution, one of the students might ask, “Why would God have taken the long route by creating us through billion years of evolution?” while another student may claim “The Book of Genesis clearly says that the earth along with all living creatures was created in just six days, and Biblical dating has proven that the earth is only 6000 years old.” Finally a third student interjects with the remark “maybe the Bible really is just a book, and besides, science has basically already proven that evolution happened, and is continuing to happen as we speak.” A secular country like our own does and should treat each argument as valid. However, only the third student’s argument cites scientific backing. Is it fair that we are denying that intelligent design be taught as an alternative to evolution in our science classes? When a belief has no legitimate scientific backing, it is not science, but rather a philosophy, whereas biology is in fact science, which is why intelligent design does not belong in science classes in public schools.
In the uncertainty that the modern world is, there is one law that stays petrified in stone no matter what happens: “Things change with age.” No matter if it is in history, science, or even Pokémon, things change as time passes by and this process is called evolution. The theory formulated by Charles Darwin is the belief that all organisms have come from earliest creatures because of external factors (“NSTA…”). School boards everywhere have accepted the theory of Evolution as fact making it essential to be in the curriculums of science classrooms. However, over the years, controversy has arisen as the fact that is evolution is still only a theory with flaws and setbacks, efficiently making other theories (i.e. intelligent design) a viable alternate in the classroom. The law, on the other hand, had a different idea about these other theories with numerous bans them from schools, claiming them to be against the second amendment. Despite the bitter debate of rather or not it is valid and right for teaching (primarily alone) the theory of evolution lies as being the most reliable and accurate way to teach how the modern world came to be.
Intelligent Design is the idea that living creatures on Earth are so complex that, they could not possibly have been created through the natural selection. It is the belief that there must be an ?intelligent designer? that created us all. This creator is usually referenced as God. However, it may also be referenced to as an alien. Intelligent design leaves that possibility open as well. Many professionals feel that intelligent design is not a scientific theory that can be tested. They feel it is more of an opinion, preference, or belief.
Judges concluded in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that intelligent design was in violation of the establishment of religion clause in the first amendment. Intelligent design supposedly violates “centuries-old science ground rules by invoking and permitting supernatural causation”. Frank Turek and Norman Geisler disagree stating that everything either has a natural cause or intelligent cause and since a natural cause for macroevolution is not supported by the scientific evidence an intelligent cause is the only other option. Researchers have also found that students examining multiple perspectives of an argument and making a conclusion from their research enhance the learning process in classrooms. The Illinois Science Standards agree with this thought and ensure students are able to “construct an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources”. The literature reviewed seems to suggest that both students should examine both theories (intelligent design and macroevolution) in order to construct an explanation to how the variety of organisms have
This theory has three basic principles: evolution promotes atheism and should, therefore, be resisted; evolution can’t account for the complexity of life and is flawed; if these are true, there must be an intelligent designer who provided a guiding force. In regards to the first idea, ID did not come from a scientific background and did not start out to understand scientific theory. The second argument rests upon the complexity of cells and the fact that if one thing goes wrong a cell cannot function. Idea number three is straightforward and although the proponents don’t specify God, it is clear God is what they mean by an intelligent designer. There are numerous scientific objections to ID theory, the first being that it fails to qualify as a scientific theory and therefore should not be used to explain science. Additionally, there is no mechanism by which the supernatural intervention ID suggests could have been carried out. Furthermore, science is now gaining a greater understanding of structures that were once thought too complex to make sense of. Theology also has objections to ID theory largely because it is a ’“God of the gaps”’ (193) theory that stick supernatural intervention where science cannot explain phenomena. Eventually, science will fill those gaps and those who attached faith to them will be left with nothing. Given the numerous objections, ID cannot be a legitimate position for much longer.
The Intelligent Design theory of creation has fought against the theory of evolution. The evolution theory was introduced in 1859 by Charles Darwin and is known as the process by which organisms change over time as a result of changes in heritable, physical or behavioral traits.(“What Is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution?” n.d.) Intelligent Design suggests that living organisms on Earth are so advanced that they probably could not surfaced from unguided evolution and therefor proves that there is a God. Many Christians still believe that Intelligent Design prevents human involvement with what God has naturally created. “Even as we are rightly concerned with animals, we best understand this concern as part of a more general hope that in our world