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Scopes Trial Case Study

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Throughout American history, the teaching of creationism and evolution has caused great distress in classrooms nationwide. The “Scopes Trial” also known as “the most sinister movement in the United States” was an act by those in a small town located in Tennessee called Dayton. Filled with despair, politicians, school board members, and most importantly George Rappleyea, a businessman who had troubles in his mining company decided to create a trial for those that opposed the belief of evolution and creationism. Although this case was staged it would not have been possible by the passing of “The Butler Act”, an act that prohibited the teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools. Because of the clear differences in the idea of the Scopes …show more content…

Arkansas passed an act “The Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Art”. However in this case the court’s view was “the evidence is overwhelming that both the purpose and effect of Act 590 is the advancement of religion in the public schools.”(Olson) As a result, this evidently shows the division between the teaching of evolution and creationism. No matter where a law is passed a disagreement will be brought up saying this teaching is “unconstitutional”. Even though many view this teaching “unconstitutional” the concept of understanding biology is very critical. “ Evolution is the only scientific explanation for the diversity of life. It explains the striking similarities among vastly different forms of life, the changes that occur within populations, and the development of new life forms.”(Bull) Neglecting this idea can cause the opportunity of immense value. It extends your idea of understanding how our world became to be. However, the division between creationism and evolution will impact this as other trails besides the Scopes trial have had on the teaching of Biology. Due to this issue of disagreement, in the beginning, schools across the nation subsided the teaching of evolution; therefore, causing the creation of Darwin's ideas not be …show more content…

During the 1950s, the Soviet Union defeated the United States in the “race to the moon.”(johnson) In effect, the National Science Foundation became concerned that Students across the nation would fall behind other nationalities as the curriculum was drastically changed.. Therefore, several programs were designed to bring up the teaching of science bringing back the ideas of Darwin's theories as evolution was added to biology books. This escalated the legal and political tension between creationists and evolutionists. Causing an anti-evolution movement to sweep across the nation as many religious groups to speak out against the teaching of evolution being re added. In the 1960’s they came up with a theory and introduced it nationally as “creation science”. “The theory of creation science claimed that the universe and life in it came about suddenly and from nothing”(Childs). Those that tended to agree with this theory consisted of religious citizens who believed the theory of darwin contained insufficient information. They argued that earth and life were recent creations, humans and apes come from different ancestors, and that earth's geology was initiated by sudden, violent events .(Hanson)The result of having different mindsets evidently show the barrier that these teachings have on the United States. This not only intensified the existing fight, but revealed the true

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Religion or science? For years people have been debating which of the two contrasting views should be taught and accepted in schools. But why not both? In the play Inherit the Wind, written by Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence, Bertram Cates is arrested and put on trial for teaching his students the theory of evolution. Cate 's lawyer, Drummond fails to prove him innocent during the course of the trial, but does manage to educate people in the court about how evolution and creationism can go hand in hand.

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They argued that introduction of the intelligent design into the biology curriculum was not scientific at all, and they were against it been taught in primary schools. The filing of the case fetched both national and international media attention as it was to determine whether the course would be introduced into the biology curriculum and further whether it would be taught in primary schools. The Dover original scheme evolved

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If evolution is to be taught, so should creation. If teachers refuse to teach creation than you simply get teachers who are willing to teach both. Although if the school system isn’t willing to hire teachers with the desire to teach creation, then they shouldn’t be hiring teachers who want to teach evolution. It is simply an issue of equality and freedom of religion, students are being forced to learn things that contradict their own beliefs. Students will turn their backs on their beliefs because they start to question them.

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The Theory of Evolution as formed by Charles Darwin, says that all species of organisms develop through natural selection and descend from a common ancestor. This theory is sometimes referred to as “survival of the fittest.” Many people (especially scientists and paleontologists in particular) are skeptical of Darwin’s findings due to the lack of evidence supporting the theory accompanied by the evidence that prove other Theories true. The theory conflicts with religious views which adds onto the amount of people who are skeptical of his theory outside of the science community. This being said, it is not even always taught in schools due to the controversy behind it.

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As a member of the School Board, it has been brought to my attention that the subject of creationism and evolution are being taught in the classroom and “Concerned Parents” have an issue with these particular topics and would like for them to be eliminated from the curriculum. In regards to the School Board, we come to an agreement on keeping the subject of creationism because of the following reasons: diversity and freedom of speech. Keeping the subject of creationism in classrooms brings diversity because it is important for students to know all ways of thinking. Creationism inspires, deliberations, and reassures students to articulate thoughts that help them develop skills that solely cannot be gained through a stringently academic education. The last reason as to why creationism should be allowed to be taught in classrooms is freedom of speech.

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This is wrong on many accounts because creationism science is a pseudoscience. This is because there is no way to test or prove creationism science. Also, creationism denies all other sciences such as biology, chemistry, geology, etc. Although it is obvious that creationism should not be taught in school, there is a much bigger argument at hand. For ages, people have been trying to figure out which side is more viable.

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It is denominational, thus making it unconstitutional and inappropriate to be taught in schools. The most crucial task biology teachers have today is to raise a scientifically literate population. Schools must teach on the basis of logic and rationality (the exceptions

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Richard Shaw 11/21/17 Religion 201:001 Evolution versus Creationism in Schools When it comes to deciding what should be taught in public schools concerning the creation of man and the universe, creationism has no place nor does it further the knowledge of the topic. This is not a disclaimer stating that the Bible is false but that it is a mistake to look at the bible as an accurate source of history or science. In an essay by Daniel K. Falk, a biblical scholar, titled, “Teaching Evolution Versus Creationism” shows that he would also agree with the statement. Falk focuses on Genesis 1-2 and examines its teaching about creation and the origin of life through a literary perspective, historical and cultural context, and how the Bible

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Arguments in Favor of both Creationism and Intelligent Design being taught in public schools The Scopes trial resulted from John Thomas Scopes’ violation of a mandate in Tennessee law that had passed the same year which outlawed the teaching in public schools that humans evolved from another species (Scopes v. Tennessee, 1925). In this case, teaching about evolution in public schools was treated as a crime. An extreme example of argument of creationist against the motives of evolutionists teaching evolution over creationism in school is “The fact that so many major evolutionary writers emphasize the lack of purpose, dependence upon chance, and reliance upon evolution in providential ways, proves the unsuitability of the theory for public

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Those who are against the teaching of evolution

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This paper will explore these questions on this hot topic. Should we continue to only teach evolution, or should we teach creationism alongside? Evolution is the base of modern biology. Darwin has laid the blueprints for what many believe to be the truth about why humans are the way the are today. There is ground breaking evidence that backs up Darwin’s theory of evolution.

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The argument is that evolution goes against intelligent design making the theory of evolution very hard to teach in a public setting. In the famous book “Inherit the Wind” Bertram Cates teaches evolution in his high school biology class and the whole town treats him like a criminal for going again the Bible, Christianity, and creationism, they even go as far as asking God to send him to Hell. In some aspects, Evolution is thought of as a religion as well, again, making it illegal to prohibit it from being taught. So representing both sides would benefit the public greatly because it would be unconstitutional to do

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Charles Darwin’s ‘Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection’ sparked a revolutionary scientific discussion, though social and political factors influenced the development of this theory. The ideas of species altering overtime challenged the ‘Single creation’ event of Genesis, as at the time of this revelation it was believed that the Earth was 6000 years old and each species had been individually created in its present form by God. As well as this the theory questioned the fundamental creationism in that organisms were created by God in six days. Darwin’s concept implied that humans were a continuum of the Animal Kingdom and not specially created by God. As a result of this it clashed with the doctrine of the Christian church, jeopardizing

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It is a well established fact that higher levels of education are proportional to higher incomes. Although one can still be successful without pursuing college degrees, it is a popular consensus among all Americans that education is essential in today’s highly specialized, unforgiving job market. To not allow the teaching of evolution in schools is to severely handicap the futures of students interested in any area of life science. For CEO of the Planetary Society and overall science educator Bill Nye, teaching evolution to kids is necessary for the innovative progress of the United States. In a video posted on the website of Big Think©, the Science Guy reasons ”when you have a portion of the population that doesn’t believe in that [evolution], it holds everybody back, really.”

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Fundamentalist Creationists do not stop at just asking for Creationism to be taught in public schools, as mentioned before, sometimes they turn to extremes. First, it is beneficial to understand the basis on which Creationists attempt to discredit science. One of the most common misconceptions from Creationism is that it’s a suitable scientific alternative to the evolutionary theory. This is simply not true, as evident from the aforementioned infographic. Using this as the foundation for their argument, Creationists attempt to persuade not only school boards, but also the parents of children in school.

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