Reference no: EM133264026

Evolutionism vs. Creationism in Public Schools

The so-called Scopes monkey trial of 1925 marks the beginning of the legal controversy over creationism and evolution in US public schools. The trial of John Scope vs.. State of Tennessee was contrived: the Americal Civil Liberties Union sought someone to challenge a Tennessee statue passed in March 1925 that prohibited the teaching in public schools of theories contrary to the accepted biblical account of man's creation. Scopes, a biology teacher, offered to test the law in court. Clarence Darrow (defense) claimed that the Tennessee statue violated the First Amendment separation of church and state. Scopes was convicted of teaching the law of evolution. The law was repealed in 1967. In 1968, the US Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting the teaching of evolution was unconstitutional. Public school curriculum cannot restrict the teaching of evolution and cannot require that creationism be taught alongside evolution. In 1999 the Kansas Board of Education decided to delete the mention of evolution from the school science curriculum. The decision does not forbid the teaching of evolution; it simply does not require it. In 2002, the Cobb County Board in Georgia approved a policy that allows teachers to introduce differing theories about the origins of life. The policy also had stickers placed on all science textbooks that stated, "Evolution is a theory, not a fact, concerning the origin of living things." Alabama and Arkansas followed suit adding the stickers. The First Amendment to US Constitution guarantees religious freedom to all citizens, in the context of public education, the first half of the First Amendment (Establishment Clause) forbids schools to endorse a particular religious doctrine or activity. The second half (Free Exercise Clause) establishes the rights of students to express their own religious beliefs.

Should a public school offer a balanced curriculum, teaching both nonreligious and religious theories about the origins of life?