Essay on Creation’s Contest with Evolution - 2006 Words

Creation’s Contest with Evolution It began in Dayton, Tennessee-1925. A high school teacher by the name of John Scopes was charged with teaching evolution, which was illegal at the time in Tennessee. The court found Scopes guilty, and he was fined one hundred dollars. However, the Scopes trial immediately sparked one of the largest controversies in todays public school systems: should creationism still be taught in public schools? In the trial, Clarence Darrow argued that teaching creationism in public schools defies the separation of church and state (which is pulled from the first amendment). Darrow moved on to say that evolution does not disobey the first amendment. The trial denied all public schools the right†¦show more content†¦This particular theory of origination became widely accepted in the scientific community. In 1925 creationism could no longer be taught in schools. Instead, textbooks replaced creationism with chapters on the theory of evolution. Public schools strayed away from teaching creati onism altogether. Furthermore, the first amendment, which states the separation of church and state, became the core argument for keeping creationism out of schools. Many may argue that teaching creationism in a classroom is hinting to religion and, therefore, cannot be taught in public schools under the first amendment. Religion, as defined in the dictionary, is any system of faith and worship (New Webster 188). So cannot atheism be called a religion? Belief in no God is your faith. The belief that fish formed out of amoebas and that humans are the descendants of apes is called humanism-a non-profit religion. In fact, in 1933 the humanist manifesto was written. Within the manifesto lists two core beliefs for the religion: (1) Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created and (2) Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as the result of a continuous process (Evolution Conspiracy). These very same beliefs-evolution and the big-bang theory-are taught in public schools everywhere. Therefore, teaching evolution directly alludes to the atheistic belief of