Creationism

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Recommended: Impact of media on public opinion

In a typical American high school, Mr. Doe, the science teacher begins his discussion on the theory of evolution. John, a student opposes the idea the humans came from apes and evolved. John believes that men came from God and that man was created in 6 days. Jane hears this and argues against John, “How could anything possibly be created in 6 days? This sort of project would take millions of years!” By using up all 45 minutes of class time discussing creationism and evolution, this is a metaphor to the eternal debate as to the origin of the human species. The question of how man came into existence is one of the great debates of this century. There is not enough evidence to support creationism, yet there is even less to support evolution.
The controversy on the origins of life is still hotly debated to this day. The origins of life can be conceived from the theory of evolution or the theory of creationism. The argument is old earth [evolution] versus young earth [creationism] (Seely 2). An astounding 95% of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, as compared to the 9% who conclude not to have a religion at all (Sheler 2). People have geared towards a more eclectic background on their “spiritual journey to meet our own personal need” (Sheler 2). Throughout history, humans have been through a gradual accretion rather than one “sporadic event” after another (Tattersal 58). It is only in the United States that this debate is such a conflict. Humans have an impulse to look unto a higher being rather than a human leader who has faults similar to their own. The higher being [God] should be one of pure perfection. It is the development or creation of man which is what is so intriguing, it is the mystery of man. As individuals and as a whole, people tend to get uneasy between their “religious compulses and our [their] unwavering commitment to a

secular society” (Sheler 1). As a contradiction within itself, “we [humans] profess fidelity to traditional morality yet champion individual freedom and resist religious authoritarianism” (Sheler 1). Our own manifestations of how we originated and where we came from, the debate of “the chicken or the egg” is just blurred by the ambiguities between creationism and evolution. Was it the egg? If so, where did the egg come from? Eggs come from chickens, but then where did the chicken come ...

... middle of paper ...

...act that we come from something and somewhere, it’s just the fact that we are searching for answers.

Works Cited

“Creationism.” World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 4, 1994:1123.
“Evolution.” World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 6, 1994:436-443.
Graham, Charlotte. “The Eternal Debate.” SIRS. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst- ar…&type=ART&sound=no&key=CREATIONISM. 22 Oct. 1994:1-3.
Gould, Stephan Jay. “Nonoverlapping Magistera.” SIRS. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst- ar…&type=ART&sound=no&key=CREATIONISM. March 1997:1-8.
Marlantes, Liz. “The evolution of a controversy.” ProQuest. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?TS=…&sid=1&1dx=25&Deli=1&RQT=309&Dtp=1 23 Dec. 1999:1-2.
Onken, Michael. “Physics.” Microsoft Explorer. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/dec96/835000890.Phr.html. 18 June 1996:1.
Sagan, Carl. The Dragons of Eden : Ballantine Books, 1997.
Sheler, Jeffrey L. “Spiritual America.” SIRS. http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst- ar…&type=ART&sound=no&key=CREATIONISM. 4 April 1994:1-10.
Sullivan, Robert. “2000 Years of Christianity.” Life. December 1999:50-68.
Tattersal, Ian. “Once We Were Not Alone.” Scientific American. Jan. 2000:56-62.

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