“I feel like we need to be teaching both ends of the spectrum when we’re teaching things in school as well….What I mean by that is if we’re teaching the Big Bang Theory then we need to teach creationism as well.” — Barbara Evanson
On October 31, the Colorado Times Recorder highlighted a locally-made video interview with District 51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson in which Evanson says that if schools teach what is scientifically known about the origins of the universe, then they should also have to teach creationism alongside that information so kids can decide on their own what’s true.
Creationism is the religious belief that God created the universe. It is a wholly religious construct with no scientific proof behind it,
The idea of mandating creationism be taught in public schools alongside scientific information has been declared by U.S. courts to be illegal.
The 2005 U.S. District Court case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District was decided in favor of the plaintiffs, who charged that a mandate that creationism be taught in Pennsylvania public schools was an unconstitutional establishment of religion. The ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover firmly established that creationism was a religious teaching and not an area of legitimate scientific research.
Before that, a 1987 United States Supreme Court ruling in Edwards v. Aguillard, said that mandating the teaching of creationism alongside other scientific findings, in this case evolution, violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The push to teach creationism alongside established theories of the origin of the universe is an assault on public education and students. It comes from the same place as former candidate Keenan’s assertion that “In today’s world we don’t need to send kids to four-year colleges anymore, we need to get them one-year certificates out there in the industry, where they’re needed.” It is a plan to develop a compliant semi-skilled workforce that lacks the means to reach higher.
The physics theories responsible for the theories on the origins of the universe are responsible for the convenience and safety of our current lives. Think electricity, computers, GPS, mobile and satellite communication (even nuclear bombs).
In order for the US to lead the world in technology, public-school students must learn current scientific theories that prepare them for higher education and critical thinking. If we don’t have students that follow this path, we will continue to import our tech workers from those countries that do, leaving our own with a lowered set of expectations. That is not what any parent hopes for their children.
Evolution is NOT science: it is a theory – that has been disproved over and over. But people don’t want to hear the truth, and they want it to be quitted. Actually, the Bible was the main textbook in schools in our country in its beginning, in one-room schools through-out our country. But it, or actually, God, has been thrown out of classrooms in our country.
Why can’t creationists learn what a theory is? It’s not just a guess. It’s an explanation for a body of facts and observations.
Evolution is probably the most well-supported theory in all of science. It’s better supported than the “theory” of gravity or germ “theory”. No, ithasn’t been disproved over and over. That’s just what creationsts tell the rubes. Evolution is not only science, it’s good science. It has been observed over and over for decades. Of course, you won’t find out any of this from those who told you it wasn’t science. They’re lying to you. And I can prove it.
Evolution has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt by the scientific fields of paleontology, zoology, genetics, molecular biology and many other fields. Having to update flu vaccines every year is one example of evolution in action, proving it as an established scientific fact. I would urge you to read this article to get educated on this topic just a bit before you weigh in here further: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/15-answers-to-creationist/
What people like Evanson and Frank fail to understand is that creationism had it’s chance. Creationism was the dominant paradigm for hundreds of years. When we started being able to look at the world in a consistant way, we found that the story the evidence was telling did not match the biblical account.
Creationism failed as a scientific idea hundreds of years ago. There is no “both sides” to teach. There is just science.
I suppose that, if both ends of the spectrum are to be given equal weight, then Nazism and fascism is just one end of the political spectrum, and democracy is the other. Students should realize they have equal value and be allowed to decide for themselves which one is best. Seriously, what rocks do these people live under, and who let them crawl out and run for public office?
Candidates for office are self-selected, which is why they need to have in-depth interviews and backgrounds checks done on them. After all, they are applying for a job. But it is rarely or never done.
To the contrary, Anne. The vetting function historically has been done by newspapers. But now that papers are a ghost of their former selves, bloggers and even a teevee type or two have to fill in. The political parties are worthless as far as vetting is concerned. Good for you keeping after these scary candidates.
Exactly what I was going to suggest, you just outlined it better. Include in teaching creationism at least a half dozen other cultures. Our own indigenous habitants, would be a good convincing expanded and familiar perspective.
She’s kidding right?
I have already voted for Barbara. She will be a very good board member. I am glad to not having voted for Chavez who is OK with males and females competing together in all sports activities. How ridiculous.
Not nearly as ridiculous as wanting to teach religious mythology as science.
“Creationism factual substantiated evidence” ahh no, not at all. But by all means come up with dumb argument why all these dinosaur bones are 6000 years old. You have every right to learn this in Sunday school. You have no right to force this religious belief (and that’s what it is) to have equal time in a public school. I’m sure she’ll get elected in this backward town. I’m just glad my children are now away in college and away from the clowns running the school board.
I’d be willing to compromise by teaching the Judeo/Christian creation myth alongside other creation myths (Hindu, Zoroastrian, Native American etc.) as part of an anthropology (or ancient history, or comparative religion, or ???) course. But choosing one such myth and teaching it as equivalent to or competing with science is utterly inappropriate. More than that, it deprives students of what we can learn about who we are (and where we come from) from the ancient myths. By requiring that these myths compete with science destroys any value that they may have to modern humans.
Exactly what I was going to suggest, you just outlined it better. Include in teaching creationism at least a half dozen other cultures. Our own indigenous habitants, would be a good convincing expanded and familiar perspective.
I am very religious and live my Faith every day. Isn’t science the explanation of how “God” created the world? I put quotation marks around God, knowing there are different names or words for the Creator.
Keep church and state separate. Feels like we’re back in the era when Darwin was on trial. Please do not vote this woman onto the schoolboard.