You write:
>Both Evolution and Creationism are theories.
>Neither have the scientific backing to be proven.
>Why should evolution be taught as fact when it is
>theory? Why should creationism be taught as fact
>when it is theory? Why not teach "science" in the
>school system, give students the tools to test,
>evaluate, discuss, and come to scientific
>conclusion based on facts of the creation/evolution
>debate?
A scientific theory is a hypothesis based on empirical data. Someone
observes something, draws some conclusions about it, then tests it to
see if she's right. So long as the conclusions stand up to testing, it
remains a viable theory. Sometimes a theory is attacked by another
observer who disagrees. He applies tests of his own devising that are
suitable for testing the hypothesis (you wouldn't use a pH strip to test
the density of iron, e.g.), and that testing can re-affirm the theory,
blow it down the tubes, or modify it. But a theory is more than an idea
or a phiilosophy. It's a conclusion that can be arrived at by others
using independent means or the same tests over and over with always the
same results.
Creationism, on the other hand, is dogma. It is a belief system based
on the words in one holy book among many thousands of other holy books.
Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe the Bible is the holiest of holy
books, but the Hindus, Zoroastrians, and Buddists -- and the many other
non Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions of the world -- don't.
There is no way to prove that creationism is a scientific theory, in
fact just the opposite -- it flies in the face of science as we know it.
You can't test creationism against evolution, cell biology, or
astronomy, because there is nothing to test in an idea. You can test
the validity of an idea, but you can't test the idea itself. Who is to
say that creationism is any more valid than any other creation myth in
this world? It's more reasonable? Less magical? To you, maybe, but
not to people who believe otherwise.
Students who learn about evolution in a science class do get the tools
to draw conclusions of their own -- evolutionary sciences in school, and
creationism at home and in church. To deprive them of one or the other
is denying them their right to make their own choices and hobbles their
intellect.
=Kendra