Shay Says: Religion in Schools

I have never understood the conflict between Creationism versus Darwinism. There is no reason for confliction. Creationism is the explanation of the world based on faith, Darwinism is the explanation based on observation. The policy of separation of Church and state effectively bans public schools from teaching religion as school is a government run institution. On the other hand, this does not ban the teaching of Darwinism. Though this explanation of the origin of humanity conflicts with Creationism, it is not a religious teaching. As a result it is legitimate to teach, but not legitimate to teach as the only correct version of the story. It must be offered as the scientific explanation of the creation of humanity, nothing more and nothing less. Whether one chooses to believe this version of the story is still of personal choice, but people should be offered the scientific explanation because it is a necessary part of operating in modern society. Evolution is a central part of modern biology and as a result, anyone interested in scientific pursuits must be aware of it. Depriving children of its explanation could put some children at a disadvantage should they be interested in science. The only disadvantage of teaching Darwinism is that it has the potential of shaking a child’s faith in his or her religion. Still, since it is only being provided as an alternative explanation, the child would be making a choice to value science over religion, and thus his rights to religious freedom remain unscathed. Though I understand that parents might be uncomfortable with the chance that their child might make this choice, such choices are part of what being an American is. Freedom to identity is a central American value and providing options of belief only helps make each individual just that.