The Dangers Of Creationism In Education

The theory of evolution is being attacked by religious fundamentalists who call for creationist theories to be taught in European schools alongside or even in place of it. From a scientific view point there is absolutely no doubt that evolution is a central theory for our understanding of the Universe and of life on Earth.

Creationism in any of its forms, such as “intelligent design”, is not based on facts, does not use any scientific reasoning and its contents are pathetically inadequate for science classes.

The Assembly of the Council of Europe calls on education authorities in member States to promote scientific knowledge and the teaching of evolution and to oppose firmly any attempts at teaching creationism as a scientific discipline.

The Parliamentary Assembly is worried about the possible ill-effects of the spread of creationist theories within our education systems and about the consequences for our democracies. Creationism could become a threat to human rights, which are a key concern of the Council of Europe.

The prime target of present-day creationists, most of whom are Christian or Muslim, is education. Creationists are bent on ensuring that their theories are included in the school science syllabus. Creationism cannot, however, lay claim to being a scientific discipline.

Creationists question the scientific character of certain items of knowledge and argue that the theory of evolution is only one interpretation among others. They accuse scientists of not providing enough evidence to establish the theory of evolution as scientifically valid. On the contrary, they defend their own statements as scientific. None of this stands up to objective analysis.

The Council of Europe has highlighted the importance of teaching about culture and religion. In the name of freedom of expression and individual belief, creationist theories, as any other theological position, could possibly be presented as an addition to cultural and religious education, but they cannot claim scientific respectability.

Council of Europe

Originally posted by Storm
The theory of evolution is being attacked by religious fundamentalists who call for creationist theories to be taught in European schools alongside or even in place of it. From a scientific view point there is absolutely no doubt that evolution is a central theory for our understanding of the Universe and of life on Earth.

Creationism in any of its forms, such as “intelligent design”, is not based on facts, does not use any scientific reasoning and its contents are pathetically inadequate for science classes.

The Assembly of the Council of Europe calls on education authorities in member States to promote scientific knowledge and the teaching of evolution and to oppose firmly any attempts at teaching creationism as a scientific discipline.

The Parliamentary Assembly is worried about the possible ill-effects of the spread of creationist theories within our education systems and about the consequences for our democracies. Creationism could become a threat to human rights, which are a key concern of the Council of Europe.

The prime target of present-day creationists, most of whom are Christian or Muslim, is education. Creationists are bent on ensuring that their theories are included in the school science syllabus. Creationism cannot, however, lay claim to being a scientific discipline.

Creationists question the scientific character of certain items of knowledge and argue that the theory of evolution is only one interpretation among others. They accuse scientists of not providing enough evidence to establish the theory of evolution as scientifically valid. On the contrary, they defend their own statements as scientific. None of this stands up to objective analysis.

The Council of Europe has highlighted the importance of teaching about culture and religion. In the name of freedom of expression and individual belief, creationist theories, as any other theological position, could possibly be presented as an addition to cultural and religious education, but they cannot claim scientific respectability.

Council of Europe

We have a creationism thread, don't we?

Yeah it's already been discussed how inappropriate it would be to include religion in a scientific curriculum. What's the point of this post?

the THEORY of Evolution is a bigger threat, after all its just a theory.

The facts actually show that certain life forms actually suddenly appeared. They didn´t just decide to change from a fish to a dog because they liked chasing cats. Ok survival of the fittest is a valid point, but the creature stays the same, take dogs for example. A black butterfly will survive longer in a dark forest, so more black butterfly's are born there.

If humans evolved from apes then why are there apes still running around, did they "forget" to change?

In scientific usage, a theory does not mean an unsubstantiated guess or hunch, as it can in everyday speech. A theory is a logically self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of a related set of natural or social phenomena. It originates from or is supported by experimental evidence.

Bicnarok it's apparent you have a poor understanding of evolution considering that was the same arguement that JIA had. Concerning humans, we did not evolve from apes, we evolved from a common ancestor. lol noob.

This thread is intended to address if and how creationism can be a threat to human rights.

It can be a threat to a human's right to learn without bias imo. Creationism is not a scientific concept, it only pretends to be. I'm not saying that creationism shouldn't be taught in schools, I'm just saying it should be kept in the Theology classes.

I completely agree,it should not be taught in any classroom

I cant believe creationism would even be considered being tought in science classrooms, its just insane. Science deals with FACTS obtained from DATA. Not wishy washy ideas thought up thousands of years ago. If they want to teach it in school, then put it in a religious education lesson.

Also, not everyone in schools are christians, so why should this crap be shoved down their throughts?

^ The title of this thread is ridiculous.

Originally posted by Bicnarok
the THEORY of Evolution is a bigger threat, after all its just a theory.

The facts actually show that certain life forms actually suddenly appeared. They didn´t just decide to change from a fish to a dog because they liked chasing cats. Ok survival of the fittest is a valid point, but the creature stays the same, take dogs for example. A black butterfly will survive longer in a dark forest, so more black butterfly's are born there.

If humans evolved from apes then why are there apes still running around, did they "forget" to change?

wow u r pretty dumb, arent u ?

Originally posted by Quiero Mota
^ The title of this thread is ridiculous.

How is the titel ridiculous ? Storm has a valid point.

This thread repesents the constant oversimplification of these issues.

Creationism is not a threat to human rights.

Teaching creationism in public schools as a scientific theory violates freedom of religion clauses and the speration of church and state.

Oddly enough, humanism permeates the atmosphere of public education.

Hmm.

Oh, and saying that creationism is a threat to human rights is like saying that evolution is a threat to national security.

Originally posted by FeceMan
Oddly enough, humanism permeates the atmosphere of public education.

Part of that false-perception comes from that public education must respect all faiths by supporting none.

Not to mention "humanism" is the "absence of faith" is a pretty narrow view of the philosophy.

I was watching a program on this. Is it true that Creationists believe that the world was created in 7 days?

Originally posted by Alfheim
I was watching a program on this. Is it true that Creationists believe that the world was created in 7 days?

Comparative Religions taught in schools isn't a bad thing as long as it's taught from a neutral objective.

Originally posted by S_W_LeGenD
The entire universe was created by the God in 6 days.

Well this is the problem. As another Christian was saying you have people who interpret the Bible the wrong way. If you wanted to you could say that the Universe was created in 6 stages not days. As the other Christian put it, you could blantantly see that the whole point of the creation story is that it was supposed to be metaphorical.

All you have is a bunch of "facist" Christians trying to force their messed up intpretation of the Bible down peoples throats.

Originally posted by Alfheim
I was watching a program on this. Is it true that Creationists believe that the world was created in 7 days?

Some views of CREATION are the 7 day versions. Some are not. Creationism is much more than believing in creation.