The New York Times recently ran a story about a public school science teacher in north Florida struggling to introduce his students to evolution, knowing that many of them attend churches that espouse creationism.

It was interesting piece, highlighting a dedicated teacher who wants to do right by his students while still respecting their religious beliefs. The story also underscores an issue that has roiled many communities: what to teach about human origins in science class?

The recent revelation that Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin believes creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools is bound to push the issue into the spotlight even more. In a way that’s good – if it will help Americans understand the need for better science education untainted by dogma in our schools.

This is more than a dusty academic debate. It has staggering real-world implications. In the 1950s, Americans feared falling behind the Soviet Union after the launch of Sputnik. Today we are falling behind in biotechnology and cutting-edge medical research. These fields are the wave of the future, holding the promise of new, good-paying jobs. But those jobs won’t go to young people who can’t grasp the fundamentals of modern biology, including evolution, its organizing principle.

Creationism is anchored in a literal retelling of Bible stories. The Bible does not claim to be a science book. This does not mean the Bible has no value, only that insisting on reading it literally makes for bad science lessons.

There is no use in pretending that this is simply a matter of opinion. Our planet cannot be simultaneously five billion years old and 6,000 years old. Dinosaurs did not walk alongside humans. Teaching “both sides” and letting students choose does them a disservice when all of the scientific evidence is on the side of the ancient Earth. Likewise, the claims of “intelligent design” – a stripped-down, leaner form of creationism – have not stood up to scientific scrutiny. We do our students no favors by treating questionable ideas as legitimate science.

More and more states are realizing just how important this issue is. The reason that teacher in Florida grapples with this subject in his classroom is because Florida now mandates the teaching of evolution in its state standards.

Americans celebrate their religious freedom. This means houses of worship are free to teach whatever they want about human origins. In public schools, however, we have a duty (and a constitutional obligation) to teach sound science free from sectarian biases. Here’s hoping both candidates (and their running mates) embrace that point of view.

-Rob Boston, Senior Policy Analyst

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Politics, Campaign, Presidential Campaign .