Biblical stories of creation belong in Humanities class, not Science

To The Daily Sun,

It is hard to believe that almost 90 years after the "Scopes Monkey Trial," there are those who still oppose the teaching of biological evolution in our public[ schools. These are almost always biblical literalists who promote a literal interpretation of the creation myth in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Since the courts have ruled that they cannot teach "creationism" as science in our public schools, creationists are now demanding that their view be given "equal time" with real science. Most recently, creation "scientists" have been demanding that the wonderful science show "Cosmos" promote their view as a "scientific alternative."

Neither "Cosmos" nor our public schools has any obligation to present creationism as an "equally valid scientific theory" because it is not. Creationism is faith, not science. Not only do these creationists deny evolution but they also deny such provable science as plate tectonics.

Most teach that contrary to real scientific evidence, the earth is only about 6,000 years old.

They teach that the earth and its life forms, including humans, were created in six literal, 24-hour days. Some go as far as to say Copernicus was wrong and that the earth is the center of our solar system. They believe humans and dinosaurs were contemporaries. At the Creation Science Museum in northern Kentucky, there is actually an exhibit portraying humans riding dinosaurs with saddles. They deny carbon dating and maintain that the reason fossils look millions of years old is that the weight of the flood in described in the Bible made the fossils look old.

I have attended their lectures and read their literature. It is slickly packaged as science, so slick in fact, that even intelligent people that do not understand what science really is will accept it. They have created a "scientific controversy" that does not really exist among legitimate scholars and this has resulted in a large number of Americans questioning real science. Is it any surprise that American students are lagging behind other countries in science?

Actually, the "science" they promote is a lot like that taught in medieval universities. The church had already constructed the models, and God help you if your data did not fit the model.

Similarly, creationists already have what they consider an infallible model — the Bible — and they "cherry pick" their data to fit that preconceived model. The modern scientific method involves collecting and analyzing the data and then creating the model. Creationism is not science.

Science can be empirically proved. Statements of faith cannot be so proven.

Does the biblical story of creation belong in schools? Certainly it does. So do a plethora of other wonderful foundation myths. But, they belong in a humanities class, not in science class.

The truth is that it is not an "either/or." There are many people of faith who believe in a creator and modern science. I know a lot of people who believe in God and in evolution, plate tectonics, and a heliocentric solar system.

It is important to remember that the Bible is a book (actually a number of different books) about faith, not science. For many (including this writer), modern science and cosmology does not threaten but instead strengthens their spirituality. Some creationists (including some writers to the Sun) claim that belief in evolution has led to moral decay, but I know a lot of very moral people who believe in evolution.

It seems that a fundamentalist religious minority is trying to force its beliefs on our students

and on the American public as "science."

E. Scott Cracraft

Gilford