Should evolution be taught in public school?

Marc wrote:Yes....since, unlike creationism, evolution has actually been proven.

Chris wrote:We had a thread about whether or not creationism should be taught in public school.

http://www.conversationchamber.com/t3549-should-creationism-be-taught-in-public-schools

What about evolution? Are you for or against it being taught in public schools?

Bluesmama wrote:They can teach it. But I don't believe science knows even a speck about evolution.

Marc wrote:Yes....since, unlike creationism, evolution has actually been proven.

Chris wrote:We had a thread about whether or not creationism should be taught in public school.

http://www.conversationchamber.com/t3549-should-creationism-be-taught-in-public-schools

What about evolution? Are you for or against it being taught in public schools?

wants2laugh wrote:honestly why not teach both? I went to a public school that taught us both. They explained it that "religion says..." and then told us "most scientists believe". This way kids have a clue as to what others believe. Why mask things from kids?

Forgiveness Man wrote:They can teach it as a theory, but they should teach intelligent design as well. And if atheists don't like it, they can sit on the soapbox with all the Christians who don't like evolution. Science can't prove the supernatural all that much, and evolution is a lot more fiction than science teachers will ever let on. (If it was really as true as they claim, they wouldn't need to always insert "this is really true" like statements in every discussion about it. Sounds like they are trying to convince themselves. lol)

So I say teach both.

A theory can be a hypothesis proposed as an explanation hence only speculation, conjecture or set of ideas about something. Like the theory of Creation. Or what anthropologists would generally call a "creation myth".

The other use of the word on the other hand, is a theory is a system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is accepted as accounting for known facts; a statement of what are held to be general laws, principals or causes of something known or observed.

The Nobel Prize winning scientist Linus Pauling aptly described science as the search for truth. Science does this by continuously comparing its theories objectively with evidence in the natural world. When theories no longer conform to the evidence, they are modified or rejected in favor of new theories that do conform. In other words, science constantly tries to prove its assumptions to be false and rejects implausible explanations. In this way, scientific knowledge and understanding grow over time. Religious explanations for the order of things are not science because they are based primarily on faith and do not subject themselves to be objectively falsified. Because of this fundamental difference in the approach to understanding our natural world, the U.S. Supreme Court in effect decided in 1987 that the Biblically based "creation science" is not a science and cannot be taught as such in public schools as an alternative or in addition to the mainstream evolutionary theory of the biological sciences. However, religious creation stories and the idea of "intelligent design" can be taught in philosophy, religion, or history courses. Religion and Science provide different approaches to knowledge. It is important to understand both.

CeCe wrote: I don't know that it's so much masking or hiding as much as it's just not the place for it. There are so many different religions with as many different beliefs & if one is taught it would be necessary to teach all. Religious things belong in the home & the church, not the public school system. Parents who want creation taught can teach it themselves or do it through their church or use the option of a private religious school. But the public school system is not the appropriate setting for it.

wants2laugh wrote:honestly why not teach both? I went to a public school that taught us both. They explained it that "religion says..." and then told us "most scientists believe". This way kids have a clue as to what others believe. Why mask things from kids?