Erika Wilhite
Published: September 28, 2005
The Kansas State Board of Education recently eliminated the theory of evolution from the required curriculum in state-funded schools. Teachers will no longer be obligated to teach students about macroevolution, which is still the foremost scientific theory on the origin and diversity of life on Earth.
As the rest of the world moves forward, Kansas jumps back over a century.
Why? Why are certain Americans, alone among all Westerners, still in favor of not teaching evolution? Why do we listen to them? Arguing against evolution is like deciding that Galileo was a quack and Earth must be flat.
Wait, isn’t that what the Catholic Church used to say?
Just because an idea is new and controversial doesn’t make it wrong. However, the proponents of creationism – or intelligent design, whatever they’re calling it lately – seem to dislike the theory of evolution primarily because they perceive it to be “wrong”, i.e. anti-Christian.
But Darwin’s theory only challenges a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible. We stopped toasting witches a long time ago, even though the Bible seems to support it. Evolution doesn’t have to cancel out “God”. Darwin intended for his theories to explain how life evolved, not why it evolved.
Science and faith aren’t mutually exclusive.
Many Americans, however, seem to think so. Apparently it offends their nebulous moral code – which is fine, except that these outraged Christians are trying to force that code on the nation at large. Starting, it seems, with Kansas.
Do they think that teaching evolution is schools will turn their kids into atheists? Are these parents so ineffectual that they want to censor what their kids are taught in school just so they won’t have to bother with actually teaching their kids what they believe?
Withholding information rarely curbs people’s curiosity. People are drawn to the unknown. For example, in conservative Lubbock County, Texas, where school curriculums require abstinence-only sex education, teen pregnancy rates are far higher than the average U.S. rate. So, while the rest of the U.S. has seen a drop in teen pregnancies, Lubbock County has seen a rise.
Exposure to scientific theory only shakes the faith of Christian children if they’re already having doubts. Moreover, it might even strengthen their beliefs. Children who grow up never doubting what their parents tell them will never have a chance to test those beliefs, or decide for themselves what they think.
Parents should stop trying to smother science and start trusting kids to make informed decisions based on all the information, not just one side of a multi-faceted issue.
What parents should be concerned about is whether Johnny can actually read the textbook that mentions the theory of evolution. Now there’s a real problem with our school system.