Church And State

1051 Words3 Pages

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

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