The term "creation-science" was first conceived in 1972, when Henry Morris established the Creation-Science Research Center in San Diego, Calif. Since then, debate has raged on between the scientific establishment and prominent biblical literalists about the teaching of evolution in the classroom. The latter group believes that evolution should be struck off the high school curriculum, whilst the former proposes that creation-science is mere hogwash. "Does it have any scientific basis?" they ask, and most controversial is the question of whether it should be included in our children's educational syllabi.
Does creation-science have any scientific, logical basis? The answer to this is a simple no -- biblical literalism so far has proven to be inconsistent with the scientific record. Theories of "catastrophism" (i.e. that a massive flood engulfed the Earth, and when the waters magically receded the world as we know it came into being), the creation of the world in seven days, claims that the world is around 6,000 to 10,000 years old and similar theories are all incompatible with evidence indicated by the fossil record, which suggests that Darwin was indeed correct. Carbon dating places the age of the bones of our ancestors out of such a time scale, and the presence of a cosmic microwave background actually supports the idea of a Big Bang as the humble beginnings of our universe. The scientific method indicates that creationism is unfalsifiable (i.e. facts cannot prove it to be wrong) and largely untrue as its theories do not correspond to the observations and evidence that we have. Although a large majority of the scientific establishment has dismissed the presence of an omnipotent-directed force in evolution, some individuals continue to believe in this idea, and that is certainly their right. The more pertinent issue, however, is whether it should be taken out of the confines of Sunday school and taught in the classroom environment instead.
The battlefield between these two parties indicate a long history of clashes dating back to the 1920s, when Oklahoma offered free textbooks to public schools on the condition that teachers did not mention evolution in their instruction of children. In 1925, Florida passed an anti-evolution law, and in that very same year John T. Scopes, a substitute teacher, was found guilty of teaching evolution in the classroom and was summarily fined. An important legal battle won by the scientific establishment took place in 1987 when the Supreme Court voted 7-2 that the teaching of creation-science was a direct violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. However, the controversy did not stop with that ruling. Recently, Kentucky replaced the word "evolution" with "change over time" in state school standards. Last year, Oklahoma legislation required textbooks to state that "human life was created by one God of the universe." It would then appear that the notion of creation-science is here to stay, despite the best efforts of the scientific community to exorcize it legally.
Would the teaching of creation-science in the classroom hamper the development of children's thinking skills? I think that it would, simply because it goes against the logical, rational scientific method that the teaching of science in part attempts to cultivate in young minds. Personally, I'm not the greatest scientist, but I strongly believe that teaching a child how to think and access the things they observe rationally and logically is too important to put at stake. Indeed, that is the basis behind a liberal arts education, even at the college level -- by taking an eclectic range of courses, one would cultivate the analytical thought process that can be applied to any career or professional field.
However, should it be taught? In my personal capacity as a Roman Catholic, I struggle to answer that question. On the one hand, I believe that an omnipotent being has had a role to play in how our universe has been shaped, although I am unsure about the capacity and consequences of such a influence. However, the blanket teaching of creationism creates too many problems, one of which is the discrimination against individuals of a different religion with very different beliefs in the classroom. Logistically, one could segregate them into different classrooms for science lessons, but that would have the net effect of reducing the interaction between different groups of students, which would be a blow against diversity.
After much thought, I find that I still don't have a definite opinion to whether the tenets of creation-science can be categorically dismissed as untrue. However, I tentatively believe that creation-science has no place in the classroom due to logistical and educational reasons. The blanket imposition of creation-science would add to the plethora of problems our administrators are already facing vis--vis the educational curriculum of our children. Having said that, I'll say a prayer right after this -- I just hope that God isn't frowning at me in disapproval.
