Teaching of evolution

In a recent New York Times article entitled ‘A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash’, Amy Harmon captures perfectly the current debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools. The article highlights the problems Florida high school science teacher David Campbell is experiencing trying to teach his students the empirically proven truth of evolution in the face of religious objection.

In February 2008 the Florida Department of Education passed legislation that, for the first time, explicitly required its public schools to teach the theory of evolution, and yet this legal step is seemingly just the first hurdle in the long race to educate a great number of American children about the real age of the universe and the history of the homo sapien species. Mr Campbell explains how fundamentalist churches are sending his students to his classroom armed with ‘Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution’, a document that highlighted the apparent flaws in Charles Darwin’s theory. Several students even refused to answer a test question that asked for two forms of evidence supporting natural selection. What worries me greatly about this issue is that, with regards to the article specifically, it seems deeply unfair for churches to be putting pressure on children to reject evolution because they see it as conflicting with a literal reading of Genesis. It is expected - and healthy – for students to question and seek clarification on scientific theories that are taught to them at school, but it seems dangerous to essentially force children, through fear of damaging their faith or upsetting their church, to come to a conclusion that rejects a theory that is heavily supported by empirical evidence and is accepted throughout the scientific community.

Recent independent studies claim that 40-50% of Americans flatly reject evolution, and the correlation between the rejection of evolution and scriptural literalism is undeniable. While public schools, such as the high school in Florida about which the article is written, are now legally required to teach evolution over creationism, it is still terrifying that court cases are being held all across America over whether creationism should be taught as an alternative ‘scientific theory’, with prominent politicians such as Gov. Sarah Palin stating that we should ‘teach both’.

I understand the argument that creationism should be talked about within the context of a religious education class, but on what grounds should we “teach both” in a science class? And in public schools where evolution is taught, why should such pressure be placed on students by churches to reject it? The difficulty teachers like Mr Campbell are experiencing teaching this theory seems completely unnecessary.

I hope, and with good reason, that there would be outrage if children were being taught falsities in math or history classes purely because of their religion. Why should the teaching of evolution be any different? Surely one of the principle objectives of any political system is to provide good quality education to its young citizens and yet on the issue of evolution, religious pressure is causing millions of Americans to hold a completely distorted view of our natural world.