It’s a debate that has been raging across the nation since the Scopes “Monkey” Trial in 1925: Should intelligent design be taught in public schools? Should evolution? I believe that both should be equally represented in public schools. Now I’m not going to try and convince you that God created the earth, even though that’s what I believe. I’m also not going to persuade you that people came from apes. All I want is for everyone to be able to make their own choice about what they believe.

The theory of evolution is the most widely accepted explanation for our existence. Why is that so when there is absolutely no conclusive evidence to support it? It is nothing more than a logical theory. You see, many scientists believe that evolution is correct. So when they perform any experiment with results that contradict that theory, they believe the experiment was incorrect. It’s all based on their faith in Darwin and evolution itself. Evolution of animals into other animals can not be repeated in the lab. No one was there when evolution supposedly happened. So is it really science?

The same thing has been said many times about the theory of intelligent design: “It’s not really science because it can’t be tested or repeated.” But I think it is science. There is no evidence that will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt how the world came to be, and we cannot test or repeat the creation of life on a whole earth. Therefore, all theories should be considered science. Also, people who are critical of intelligent design say that it is religion. I say that although it has roots in religion, intelligent design is the theory of anyone who looks at our big, beautiful earth, at our amazing brains that are better than any computer we can invent and the harmony in nature and says, “This could not have happened by mere chance.” It is a sound, scientific theory.

If children and teenagers like myself learn about both theories in school, we will be more well-rounded, cultured children who can make our own decisions. In fact, decisions are what this debate is all about! For how can a person who has been taught all his life that evolution is truth, even begin to consider or accept other theories? And how can someone be sure in their beliefs, whether they believe in evolution or intelligent design, if they have never seen an opposing viewpoint? I have seen this happen in myself: All through my life I have been taught by my parents that God created the world and everything in it. Yet it was not until I started attending public school and learning about evolution in depth that I fully embraced my own beliefs! And what a valuable experience for children to learn about beliefs and cultures that differ from their own.

In short, I believe that evolution cannot be proven. I believe that intelligent design cannot be brushed aside as religion that has no place in the scientific world. But most of all, I believe that students should be given the choice and the right to believe whatever they choose! As evolution and intelligent design are both theories that carry equal weight and are equally believable, they should both be represented equally in schools.