DarthMom

Why is it that creationism can be taught in schools at all? it is strictly a religious belief isnt it? The case i am thinking of is the recent one in Marrietta GA..

theyeti

To the best of my knowledge, it can't. SCOTUS has ruled that creationism is a religious belief and thus its teaching in public schools violates the separation of church and state. The recent flap in GA is unfortunately typical, but the school board ultimately did not allow the teaching of creationism. The creationists main tactic now is to insert ambiguous or suggestive language in the science standards so that they can interpret that as allowing individual teachers to teach creationism, but this still would not be allowed under law. Hope that helps.

theyeti

Bebbo

Is the reality that creationism is taught in some places though? I saw a post on a discussion board or newsgroup somewhere recently that IIRC suggested this.

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Dene

Jobar

There have been stories in the news about science teachers who defy the law and tell their classes that creationism is "true", but it's my belief (and sad experience, from my school years) that mostly evolution is tiptoed around, or held at arm's length like a sophomore schoolgirl with a fish in formaldehyde. So few elementary and high school teachers in the US are qualified to teach even the basics of evolutionary theory, and so many of those are intimidated by the social and professional pressures put upon those trying to teach the subject in a straightforward manner, that the result is- well, look at the results of any poll concerning what average people think about evolution. Negligence and ignorance hurt us far more than open defiance.

DarthMom

thanks for the answers.

Shadownought

I know that's how it was for my high school biology class. I barely remember the subject even coming up. I don't think I learned anything about evolution in that class that I didn't already know- and at the time, I barely knew anything other than "life somehow evolved."