Evolution: Taught or Not?
Written by Nicole Helms
Illustrated by Emily Nguyen
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul.
If familiar with Judaism or Christianity, then you’d easily recognize this quote from The Book of Genesis. Genesis is a religious account of the development of the world and describes how God created humanity, starting with Adam and Eve.
Up until the late 19th century, scientific education in American schools taught creationism from this standpoint. Biblical inerrancy was not out of the ordinary and in many places was the accepted norm. These teachings held without change until Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution in his 1859 book, On The Origin of Species. By studying species on the Gálapagos Islands, Darwin theorized the concept that populations change to adapt to their environments, and that the resulting variations, compounded over long periods of time, lead to the formation of new species. As Darwin’s theory became increasingly accepted throughout the scientific community, controversy grew over what should be taught in schools: evolution or religion?
The schism between the two teachings became more notable during the 1920s, when several states introduced legislation against teaching evolution. Fundamentalist Christians backed the word of The Bible, arguing that it has priority over any human-discovered knowledge. Over the years, multiple legal cases debating First Amendment rights, scientific instruction, and academic freedom were argued in the courts. Ultimately, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) that an Arkansas law prohibiting education on evolution violated the First Amendment. In Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s law mandating creation teaching was unconstitutional. Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005) saw a U.S. District Court ruling that mandating the teaching of intelligent design, which can be considered an extension of creationism, was an unconstitutional establishment of religion.
Despite U.S. law disallowing creationism in education, there still exists a push for its values to reenter American schools. This push has manifested itself into intelligent design (ID), the argument that the universe and living things are so complex that their origins are best explained by an “intelligent cause.” ID is based around two main concepts: irreducible complexity, the idea that evolution by successive organisms is impossible because no less complex system would be able to function, and specified complexity, the idea that complexity in organisms is a result of guided formation. One of the main groups supporting ID is the Discovery Institute, a Christian and conservative policy institute. Looking through their recent articles, it seems that one of their biggest arguments against Darwin’s evolution theory is its racist application in the form of Social Darwinism. To discredit the entire principle based on its purposeful misinterpretation in favor of an agenda is obtuse.
After learning about the history of this issue, two main themes stick out: change and ignorance. As technology rapidly advances, new discoveries are unavoidable – changes, whether expected or not, are bound to happen. Scientists have improved their capabilities in nearly every field, from being able to determine the species of a fossilized creature from millions of years ago to predicting astronomical events millions of years in the future. A key part of the human condition is our ability to look at new information and revise our past beliefs. To outright reject a new theory concerning the origin of mankind because it conflicts with prior thought runs counter to this. Refusing to teach evolution in schools deprives students of the cornerstone that unites much of the life sciences together.
Deciding whether or not to teach evolution is not a mere intellectual exercise: it has real-world effects. In the short time since the publication of Darwin’s theory, evolution has already led to significant advancement in our understanding of the sciences. Cellular evolution has led to better understanding genetics (heredity, genes, mutations, etc.) and has helped scientists determine the functions and origins of cellular structures. Anthropologists and archaeologists have looked at evolution in humans to more accurately date historical remains and derive data on our similarities to other species. Ecologists can study how evolution has shaped networks between organisms and their surroundings. Even in computer science, evolutionary strategies have been applied to optimize algorithms. More relevantly, the principles of evolution are used in the research of diseases such as cancer and COVID-19, as well as in the development of pharmaceutical therapies. Teaching creationism as an unquestionable truth would have prevented these advances from taking place.
The point of this article is not to say that religion is wrong. The ability to hold a religious belief on the origin of mankind is a right that every human should have. The ability to have an opinion on the current state of science is also a right that every human should have. The point of teaching evolution is not to challenge students’ core beliefs. Rather, it allows students to keep an open mind on the changes in the scientific world and promotes an environment open to change and accepting of new ideas.