Science, Evolution, and Creationism

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Science, Evolution, and Creationism [1] is a publication by the United States National Academy of Sciences. The book's authors intended to provide a current and comprehensive explanation of evolution and "its importance in the science classroom". [2] It was "intended for use by scientists, teachers, parents, and school board members who wanted to engage in more constructive conversations with others who remain uncertain about evolution and its place in the public school curriculum." [3] The book, published on January 3, 2008, is available as a free PDF file on the National Academies Press website. [4]

Contents

Science, Evolution, and Creationism differs from prior National Academy of Sciences publications regarding creation and evolution in public education and the creation–evolution controversy; it is intended "specifically for the lay public", devoting much of its space to "explaining the differences between science and religion, and asserting that acceptance of evolution does not require abandoning belief in God." [5] [6] The book provides statements from notable biologists and clergy members to support the claim that "attempts to pit science and religion against each other create controversy where none needs to exist." [6]

The authors of Science, Evolution, and Creationism, who include Francisco J. Ayala and Bruce Alberts, highlight developments in evolutionary biology and its relevance to the study of emerging infectious diseases, the 2006 discovery of the transitional fossil Tiktaalik , and the application of evolutionary theory in many areas of science and engineering beyond biology. [7]

The book was released as several states, particularly Texas and Florida, considered revisions in state science standards. [8]

A study at Arizona State University used the book as part of a two-week module, within an introductory biology course, focusing on science, evolution, and religion. The percentage of students who held the view that there was a conflict between religion and evolution was reduced by about half. [3]

Critical response

The pro-intelligent design organization, the Discovery Institute, states that Science, Evolution, and Creationism "completely misrepresent[s] intelligent design" and "exaggerates the success of evolution". [9] Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, argues that Science, Evolution, and Creationism "ignores" criticism of "Darwinism". [10]

In an interview on NBC, Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, called the publication "a definitive statement from a leading scientific authority about the scientific bankruptcy of intelligent design creationism." [11]

Praise for the publication was received from Lawrence Krauss [12] and editorials in Nature , [13] New Scientist , [14] and several newspapers. [11]

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Creation science Claim that the Genesis creation narrative has validity as science

Creation science or scientific creationism is a pseudoscience, presented without obvious Biblical language but with the claim that special creation and flood geology based on the Genesis creation narrative in the Book of Genesis have validity as science. Creationists also claim it disproves or reexplains a variety of scientific facts, theories and paradigms of geology, cosmology, biological evolution, archaeology, history, and linguistics. However, the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community is that creation science fails to qualify as scientific because it lacks empirical support, supplies no tentative hypotheses, and resolves to describe natural history in terms of scientifically untestable supernatural causes. Courts, most often in the United States where the question has been asked in the context of teaching the subject in public schools, have consistently ruled since the 1980s that creation science is a religious view rather than a scientific one. Historians, philosophers of science and skeptics describe creation science as a pseudoscientific attempt to map the Bible into scientific facts. Professional biologists have criticized creation science for being unscholarly, and even as a dishonest and misguided sham, with extremely harmful educational consequences.

Intelligent design A pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God

Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Proponents claim that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." ID is a form of creationism that lacks empirical support and offers no testable or tenable hypotheses, and is therefore not science. The leading proponents of ID are associated with the Discovery Institute, a Christian, politically conservative think tank based in the United States.

National Center for Science Education Nonprofit supporting the teaching of evolution and climate change.

The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of controversies surrounding the teaching of evolution and climate change, and to provide information and resources to schools, parents, and other citizens working to keep those topics in public school science education. Based in Oakland, California, it claims 4,500 members that include scientists, teachers, clergy, and citizens of varied religious and political affiliations. The Center opposes the teaching of religious views in science classes in America's public schools; it does this through initiatives such as Project Steve. The Center has been called the United States' "leading anti-creationist organization". The Center is affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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Rejection of evolution by religious groups The ongoing cultural, political, and theological dispute about the development and diversity of life on Earth

The rejection of evolution by religious groups involves an ongoing, recurring cultural, political, and theological dispute about the origins of the Earth, of humanity, and of other life. Species were once widely believed to be fixed products of divine creation in accordance with creationism, but since the mid-19th century evolution by natural selection has been established as an empirical scientific fact.

Creation and evolution in public education Status of creation and evolution in public education

The status of creation and evolution in public education has been the subject of substantial debate and conflict in legal, political, and religious circles. Globally, there is a wide variety of views on the topic. Most western countries have legislation that mandates only evolutionary biology is to be taught in the appropriate scientific syllabuses.

Intelligent design movement movementä

The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the pseudoscientific idea of intelligent design (ID), which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." Its chief activities are a campaign to promote public awareness of this concept, the lobbying of policymakers to include its teaching in high school science classes, and legal action, either to defend such teaching or to remove barriers otherwise preventing it. The movement arose out of the creation science movement in the United States, and is driven by a small group of proponents.

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Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins is a controversial 1989 school-level textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon, edited by Charles Thaxton and published by the Texas-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE). The textbook endorses the pseudoscientific concept of intelligent design – namely that life shows evidence of being designed by an intelligent agent which is not named specifically in the book, although proponents understand that it refers to the Christian God. The overview chapter was written by young Earth creationist Nancy Pearcey. They present various polemical arguments against the scientific theory of evolution. Before publication, early drafts used cognates of "creationist". After the Edwards v. Aguillard Supreme Court ruling that creationism is religion and not science, these were changed to refer to "intelligent design". The second edition published in 1993 included a contribution written by Michael Behe.

Teach the Controversy Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design

"Teach the Controversy" is a campaign, conducted by the Discovery Institute, to promote the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit the teaching of evolution in United States public high school science courses. The campaign claims that fairness and equal time require educating students with a 'critical analysis of evolution' where "the full range of scientific views", evolution's "unresolved issues", and the "scientific weaknesses of evolutionary theory" will be presented and evaluated alongside intelligent design concepts like irreducible complexity presented as a scientific argument against evolution through oblique references to books by design proponents listed in the bibliography of the Institute-proposed "Critical Analysis of Evolution" lesson plans.

History of the creation–evolution controversy

The creation–evolution controversy has a long history. In response to theories developed by scientists, some religious individuals and organizations questioned the legitimacy of scientific ideas that contradicted the literal interpretation of the creation account in Genesis. Interpretation of the Judeo-Christian Bible had long been the prerogative of an orthodox priesthood able to understand Latin who traditionally held that Genesis was not meant to be read literally and taught it as an allegory. With the advent of the printing press, the translation of the Bible into other languages, and wider literacy, sundry and more literal understandings of scripture flourished. This allowed some religious persons and groups to challenge scientists who supported evolution, such as biologists Thomas Henry Huxley and Ernst Haeckel.

Truth in Science is a United Kingdom-based creationist organisation which promotes the Discovery Institute's "Teach the Controversy" campaign, which it uses to try to get pseudoscientific intelligent design creationism taught alongside evolution in school science lessons. The organisation claims that there is scientific controversy about the validity of Darwinian evolution, a view rejected by the United Kingdom's Royal Society and over 50 Academies of Science around the world. The group is affiliated with the Discovery Institute, the hub of the intelligent design movement, following its strategy and circulating the Institute's promotional materials.

Level of support for evolution Discussion of variation in support for the theory of evolution by geopolitical distribution

The level of support for evolution among scientists, the public, and other groups is a topic that frequently arises in the creation–evolution controversy, and touches on educational, religious, philosophical, scientific, and political issues. The subject is especially contentious in countries where significant levels of non-acceptance of evolution by the general population exists, but evolution is taught at public schools and universities.

Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns Campaigns which seek to promote intelligent design creationism

The Discovery Institute has conducted a series of related public relations campaigns which seek to promote intelligent design while attempting to discredit evolutionary biology, which the Institute terms "Darwinism." The Discovery Institute promotes the pseudoscientific intelligent design movement and is represented by Creative Response Concepts, a public relations firm.

Timeline of intelligent design timeline

This timeline of intelligent design outlines the major events in the development of intelligent design as presented and promoted by the intelligent design movement.

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Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 American documentary-style propaganda film directed by Nathan Frankowski and starring Ben Stein. The film contends that there is a conspiracy in academia to oppress and exclude people who believe in intelligent design. It portrays the scientific theory of evolution as a contributor to communism, fascism, atheism, eugenics and, in particular, Nazi atrocities in the Holocaust. Although intelligent design is a pseudoscientific religious idea, the film presents it as science-based, without giving a detailed definition of the concept or attempting to explain it on a scientific level. Other than briefly addressing issues of irreducible complexity, Expelled examines intelligent design as a political issue.

Intelligent design and science

The relationship between intelligent design and science has been a contentious one. Intelligent design (ID) is presented by its proponents as science and claims to offer an alternative to evolution. The Discovery Institute, a politically conservative think tank and the leading proponent of intelligent design, launched a campaign entitled "Teach the Controversy" which claims that a controversy exists within the scientific community over evolution. The scientific community, however, rejects intelligent design as a form of creationism. The basic facts of evolution are not a matter of controversy in science.

In American schools, the Genesis creation narrative was generally taught as the origin of the universe and of life until Darwin's scientific theories became widely accepted. While there was some immediate backlash, organized opposition did not get underway until the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy broke out following World War I; several states passed laws banning the teaching of evolution while others debated them but did not pass them. The Scopes Trial was the result of a challenge to the law in Tennessee. Scopes lost his case, and further states passed laws banning the teaching of evolution.

References

  1. National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. (2008). Science, Evolution, and Creationism . Washington, D.C: National Academies Press. ISBN   978-0-309-10586-6.
  2. National Academies press release "Scientific Evidence Supporting Evolution Continues To Grow; Nonscientific Approaches Do Not Belong In Science Classrooms" . Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  3. 1 2 Nisbet, Matthew (2017). "Evolution in the College Classroom: Facilitating Conversations about Science and Religion". Skeptical Inquirer . 41 (5): 22–24. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  4. National Academies Press: "Science, Evolution, and Creationism" . Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  5. Jay B. Labov and Barbara Kline Pope (2008). "Understanding Our Audiences: The Design and Evolution of Science, Evolution, and Creationism". CBE: Life Sciences Education. 7 (1): 20–24. doi:10.1187/cbe.07-12-0103. PMC   2262128 . PMID   18316803.
  6. 1 2 New York Times Dean, Cornelia (2008-01-04). "Evolution Book Sees No Science-Religion Gap - New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  7. Reuters "U.S. science academy stresses evolution's importance". Reuters. 2008-01-03. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  8. "Science advisers give fresh boost to evolution - NBC News" . Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  9. "CSC - National Academy of Sciences Report on Evolution" . Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  10. Christian Post "Pro-Evolution Book Says Science and God Compatible". Christianpost. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  11. 1 2 "NCSE Resource -- Kudos for Science, Evolution, and Creationism" . Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  12. "ScienceNOW -- Evolution: Read All About It!" . Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  13. "Spread the word". Nature. 451 (108): 108. 2008. doi: 10.1038/451108b . PMID   18185543.
  14. "Editorial: It's evolution, stupid 12 January 2008 - New Scientist".