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Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2007
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Claim CA040:

In fairness, creation and evolution deserve equal time in science classes.

Source:

Morris, Henry M. 1985. Scientific Creationism. Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 197-198.

Response:

  1. The teaching of creationism does not belong in science classes because creationism has no science to teach. It is based on personal religious belief, not on evidence. For the most part, creationism can fit with anything we find, making it unscientific. Where creation models do make specific predictions that can be tested against evidence, they fail the tests. Asking for equal time is asking for nonscience to be taught in science classes.

    A 1999 United States poll found that most people favor teaching evolution -- and teaching it as science -- and that when creationism is taught, most prefer that it be taught either in nonscience classes or as a religious belief (DYG 2000).

  2. Equal time would open creationism, and by extension Christianity in general, to ridicule and attack. Saint Augustine recognized this in the fifth century:
    Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, . . . and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking non-sense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. (Augustine 1982, 42-43)
  3. Equal time would mean teaching


    Creationists do not want all of these taught in science class any more than science educators do. Clearly, creationism in school is an attempt to get greater time than all the opposing views, not equal time. That is not fair.

  4. Creationists do not advocate equal time for evolutionary theory in church services. Why?

Links:

Isaak, Mark, 2000. What is creationism? http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/wic.html

References:

  1. Augustine, St. 1982. The Literal Meaning of Genesis vol. 1, Ancient Christian Writers., vol. 41. Transl. J. H. Taylor. New York: Newman Press. http://noanswersingenesis.org.au/saintaugustine.htm or http://www.holycross.edu/departments/religiousstudies/alaffey/Augustine-Genesis.htm
  2. Chatters, James C. 2001. Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the first Americans. New York: Simon & Schuster.
  3. DYG, Inc. 2000. Evolution and creationism in public education: An in-depth reading of public opinion. http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_36.pdf
  4. Hoppe, Richard B. 2004. Introduction to Multiple Designers Theory. http://www.pandasthumb.org/pt-archives/000509.html
  5. Leipzig, M. R. 1998. The evolution fact FAQ. http://www.holysmoke.org/skeptic-tank/factfaq.htm (Page no longer active but accessible thru http://www.archive.org/ )
  6. Morris, Henry M. 1985. Scientific Creationism. Green Forest, AR: Master Books.
  7. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 1985. Life--How Did It Get Here? Brooklyn, NY.

Further Reading:

Edwords, Frederick. 1981. Why creationism should not be taught as science; part 2: the educational issues. Creation/Evolution 3: 6-36. http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/3955_issue_03_volume_2_number_1__2_21_2003.asp#Why%20Creationism%20Should%20Not%20Be%20Taught%20As%20Science

Leeming, David and Margaret Leeming. 1994. A Dictionary of Creation Myths. New York: Oxford.

Sproul, Barbara. 1991. Primal Myths. New York: HarperCollins.
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created 2001-2-18, modified 2004-9-25