Disagreeing with Genesis

Since the 1980s, the United States has passed laws promoting the theory of creationism and intelligent design in public education as an alternative to the theory of evolutionism, or presenting the flaws of the latter. The debate on whether creationism and evolution should be taught in public education has generated extremely separate opinions within the country. I support the education of evolutionism in public schools, and I strongly disagree in teaching creationism as an alternative to Darwin’s theory.

The theory of creationism and intelligent design establishes the Christian God as creator of the universe, while evolutionism offers a scientific explanation and the concept of natural selection. The appeal to include both theories in public education is understandable, as creationism is a firm belief for many Christians, and teaching the two theories allows students to understand separate viewpoints. However I disagree with this position of the discussion, as it presents various flaws.

The mistake within this debate is the confusion of belief with fact. Among the supporters of creationism and intelligent design in public schools was President George W. Bush; on an article on the New York Times Bush said "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought." The inconsistency of this side of the debate lays exactly in how they view the two theories; unlike creationism, which is a mere belief as it has no testimony or evidence, evolutionism is not a school of thought or an opinion, it is a scientifically proven theory on which humankind's progress is based on.

I believe the only theory to be taught at public schools should be evolutionism, as it is the only theory with scientific proof. Another issue with creationism is the Christian God’s role as the creator; including creationism in public education would not be democratic, as not all the population in the United States embraces the Christian religion, and it would be unfair to impose a single religion’s belief on the entire nation.