Evolution versus Creationism in the American School System Essay

Evolution versus Creationism in the American School System â€Å"God! God! God!† My ears were ringing from my father’s latest lecture. He wasn’t very consistent with his church attendance, so I primarily learned about the ways of Christianity through his own instruction. This lesson pertained to our creation. He described how God, after his six-day creation binge, formed the first man, Adam, from dust, and the first woman, Eve, from Adam’s rib. Early on in my life, my father’s beliefs were my own. He raised me to be a good Catholic girl and due to a lack of any sort of alternative, a good Catholic girl I became. The idea was plausible for me at the time. How else did the Earth and everything it held come into being? Who taught the leaves to change color in the fall, exhibiting their true beauty only just before their ugly end? How did the mountains reach so high as to pierce the sky with their cloud-stained peaks? Who formed my brain and gave me the ability to reach my mind into the realm of the abstract? God seemed the obvious answer, but I would still pose the question of â€Å"Where did God come from?† to my father, and as I grew older, I became increasingly dissatisfied with his answer: â€Å"He was always there.† My sixth grade science class brought enlightenment. The teacher instructed us to open our books to chapter seven: evolution. I had heard of evolution before, but I had never really understood it or the threat it posed to my fledgling religious beliefs. To say that the theory of evolution single-handedly brought an end to my love of all things holy would be a great exaggeration. It merely gave me an idea around which the logical half of my mind could wrap itself. In this area, the teachings of my father ha... ...iple.† AIP.org. 2005. American Institute of Physics. 4 Dec. 2005. http://www.aip. org/history/heisenberg/p08.htm. Charlesworth, Brian, and Charlesworth, Deborah. Evolution: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. â€Å"Kansas Schoolboard Redefines Science.† CNN: Student News. 8 Nov. 2005. Cable News Network. 16 Nov. 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/11/08/evolution. debate.ap/index.htmal. Peacocke, Arthur R. â€Å"Welcoming the â€Å"Disguised Friend†: A Positive Theological Appraisal of Biological Evolution.† An Evolving Dialogue: Theological and Scientific Perspectives on Evolution. Ed. Miller, James B. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2001. 371–398. Stanford, Craig; Allen, John S., and Ant ¢n, Susan C. Biological Anthropology: The Natural History of Humankind. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.