Creationism in Public Schools

Charles Darwin had changed the world of science, and society's view on the origin of mankind, in 1859 when he presented his Theory of Evolution. It states that, animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations (HaselHurst,1). Evolution has been taught as a part of the science curriculum in public schools, grades k-12, across the nation for many years now. However, some feel different about the creation of mankind, with the belief of creationism. This theory states that matter, the various forms of life, and the world were created by God out of nothing (Dicationary,1). The debate between the two has been long fought with various groups supporting each side, and has even taken a move to the classroom where there has been strong support for Creationism to be taught in a public school classroom. Despite the opinions of others, Creationism should not be taught in a public school in any relation to science, evolution, the creation of all humans, let alone be acknowledged as a fact.

Charles Darwin had created this theory, along with Natural Selection as a way to define how we have progressed as a species over the millions of years from the start as a simple organism. The Theory has been studied and supported with actual evidence to support these assertions. Creationists would pose arguments, such as that there was no one to actually see evolution take place, let alone how can it be a fact when it's a theory. From a scientific perspective, evolution is considered both. It is a theory in the sense that, it is a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena, which in this case is the origin of all organisms. At the same time, it is also considered a fact, which is defined as any observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and accepted as true (Dictionary, 1). When taking into consideration the extensive research within genetics, anatomy, ecology, animal behavior, and paleontology, there is a large amount of evidence to prove this as a fact. Because of the amount of evidence to support it as a fact, it has been instituted to be taught in public schools as a part of the science curriculum. It should remain this way, with the only it's only subject to modification being with breakthroughs in the science in relation to the theory.

Creationism, on the other hand, is a theory that was created by religious conservatives during the time of Darwin to combat his scientific theory. It was taken straight from the Bible and lacked much research and proof. Initially, in the early 20th century, all public schools were enforced to condone creationism, banning evolution from being taught. However with various court cases being brought to public, this ban didn't last long. By 1968, with the case of Epperson vs. Arkansas, the Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to ban the theory of evolution from being taught. This was the first step for science to be recognized. The fight still continued and about ten years later, in Louisiana, Legislators passed the "Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction Act" which stated that Creationism be taught alongside when evolution was to be taught. But this law, which was created to "protect academic freedom", was temporary and again, didn't last for too long. It was put to heavy debate in the case of Edwards v. Aguillard, where the Supreme Court ruled against the Louisiana law stating that it was unconstitutional since it was specifically intended to advance a particular religion, breaking the Establishment Cause, which is part of the First Amendment (Findlaw, 2-8). With the effect