Friday, September 15, 2006
The 'Evolution' of Creationism (People for the American Way)
Timeline: how creationism has 'evolved'
Pardon the irony, but creationism is evolving. To be sure, the goal of the movement, to force public schools to teach certain religious beliefs as science, has never wavered. But the movement's strategies and methods have evolved over time in an effort to adapt to new conditions.
These strategies have changed for two reasons. First, the Supreme Court has made clear that it is unconstitutional for public schools to teach religious belief as science. Second, and just as important, Americans have come to understand the important role science education plays in our country's security and international competitiveness.
Creationists have adapted to these developments by changing not their agenda, but the language they use to talk about it. The original argument, that schools should teach nothing that contradicted a literal reading of the Bible, has given way to the argument that creationism - now called "Intelligent Design" - is science, a claim that the vast majority of scientists dismiss as preposterous. Some have even tried to claim that evolution is itself a religion. [id]
technorati tags: timeline, creationism, evolving, public, schools, religious, beliefs, science, adapt, supreme+court, unconstitutional, teach, education, security, international, creationists, agenda, language, original, argument, literal, bible, intelligent+design, id, religion
Add to: CiteUlike | Connotea | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Newsvine | Reddit | Yahoo
