Evolutionism and Creationism in Schools Today

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Evolutionism and Creationism in Schools Today

One of the biggest controversies in schools today is the debate between Evolutionism and Creationism and which should be taught in the United State's science classes. Many Christians believe that Creationism should be given equal time in schools, but others feel that teaching Creationism is teaching religion. Those fighting for equal time say that Creationism can be taught without all the religious jargon. Also many argue that Evolutionism is just as much a belief system as Creationism (Creation vs. Evolution: Battle in the Classroom,1982). Should one of these theories get more time in public schools than the other? Children today should be presented with as much information as possible and then allowed to make their own decisions.

Frequently people can not distinguish between the terms evolution and evolutionism as well as creation and creationism. Usually this is the heart of the argument: the two sides do not understand each other's vocabulary. The Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines the terms as follows: Creation is "the act of creating" whereas creationism is "a theory holding that matter, the various forms of life, and the world were created by God out of nothing and used in the way described in Genesis" (1995, p.272). Evolution is "a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state" (1995, p.402). This paper will be talking mostly about evolutionism and creationism, the terms that deal with the origin of the Earth. Another misunderstood word relating to this topic is theory. Francisco J. Ayala states in his "Arguing for Evolution" article that "In everyday speech, a theory is cons...

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