The Other Side of the COin: Truths About Creationism | Teen Ink

The Other Side of the COin: Truths About Creationism

January 20, 2010
By clumsy_one123 SILVER, Brentwood, Tennessee
clumsy_one123 SILVER, Brentwood, Tennessee
8 articles 1 photo 170 comments

Favorite Quote:
"All daring starts from within." -Eudora Welty


Try to imagine that, millions of years ago, small particles hit together and collided, spinning out of control, till BANG- they created multiple solar systems, stars, and planets. Does that sound reasonable? I think not. What kind of person would believe that? There are many scientists who devote their lives to trying to prove this so-called “fact”, but, of course, have not been able to. Even though there is no real proof, the Big Bang Theory has been taught in schools for quite along with evolution, which also has no solid proof. However, they are only telling one side of the story. In many schools today, evolution and the Big Bang Theory are taught to students, while Creationism is left for "church only". That is not fair. Creationism should be taught in public schools as well.

To begin with, if evolution and the Big Bang Theory can be taught, why not creationism? First, consider evolution. Scientifically speaking, simple life-forms cannot evolve into “more complex life-forms” (Problems), therefore, man could not have possibly come from apes. Also, if man came from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys? Some evolutionists answer this question by saying “Survival of the fittest”. However, that does not account for the weaker apes that are still living on earth. If they were to follow this “survival of the fittest” theory, then they should have died long ago, when man first appeared. In Mark 10:6, the Bible says, “But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female,” thus proving without a doubt that God created man.

Then, of course, there is the Big Bang Theory. There is not a single scientific law or demonstration that can be preformed that supports the “something from nothing” theory. How could two small particles hit together to create the universe and all the life in it, when, technically speaking, those two particles had not even been created yet? “Design demands a designer” (Wood), and it is as simple as that. Take for example the position of the earth. If it was just a little closer to the sun, everything on it would burn up. If it was just a little farther away, we would all freeze (Wood). Also, Earth is the only planet with free oxygen and water in its liquid form (Wood). In other words, our planet is the only one in our solar system capable of sustaining life. How could that have happened by chance? In Genesis 1:1, the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” so, only God could have done so.

Also, creationism should be taught in public schools because, according to the Bible, God created the earth (Gen. 1:1). So, why would anyone teach anything else? Of course, there are those out there who question the fact that the Bible is God’s written word. They say that it is nothing but a book written by a bunch of different men. The Bible is made up of sixty six books- thirty nine in the Old Testament and twenty seven in the New- written over a time span of 2,000 years, on three different continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa), in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic), however, there are no contradictions. This could only be the work of an all-powerful being. And so it was. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…”. So, basically, God told the writers what to say. He inspired them.

What proof is there that the Bible was inspired by God? To begin with, in Leviticus 17:11a, Moses said that, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”, yet this fact was unknown even in George Washington’s day (Thompson). People would use leeches to bleed out supposed ‘bad blood’ to help the sick get well. So, how did Moses know? Secondly, in Ecclesiastes 11:3a and Amos 9:6b, the writers both refer to rain falling from the clouds, but the water cycle was not completely accepted or understood until the 16th century. Pierre Perrault, Edme Marriot, and Edmund Halley all made discoveries on and added data to the idea of a complete water cycle. However, the Bible indicated a water cycle 2,000 years before their discoveries (Thompson). Next, in Job26:7, Job says that the Lord “hangs the earth on nothing.” Back in Job’s day, people had different beliefs on what kept the earth suspended in space, such as four elephants on a giant turtle, or the shoulders of an abnormally strong man. Job was way ahead of his time by suggesting that the earth “hung on nothing” (Thompson) (Job 26:7). How could he have known when everyone else was wrong? And finally, in I Corinthians 15:39, the apostle Paul says, “All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.” Paul is right! All four of these fleshes have a different biochemical makeup (Thompson). But how did he know? All of these situations point to one solution: God told the men what to write. Therefore, there is no possible way that the Bible could be made up by men because of the advanced sciences used in it. Given the sufficient evidence, Creationism should be presented alongside other theories of creation.

There are those in this world who say that allowing creationism to be taught in schools is a breech on their First Amendment rights. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”, however, this does not mean that it is against the law to say “One nation, under God,” in the Pledge of Allegiance, print, “In God we trust,” on money, or teach creationism to students in school. It merely is saying that the Government will not make an established religion. One can believe in and worship anything or anyone they want. But, men can preach and teach about their religion to others. It is only fair.

In addition, the First Amendment was added by the founding fathers to keep the church from controlling the government, and they had good reason to be fearful of this. “Early settlers” in America wanted religious liberty; however, they refused to grant it to others (Gay). They set up the Anglican Church as the main religion (Gay). Others set up their own churches, but, they still had to pay taxes for the maintenance of the Anglican Church, even though they did not attend there (Gay). Laws demanded people to attend church (Gay), and if they did not, they could be fined, and even imprisoned. Other rules covered clothing, business conduct, education, and recreation (Gay). “Only members of the… established religion were allowed to vote (Gay)”. It is no wonder James Madison was careful about how much control the church would receive. All in all, separation of church and state was established to keep government control in the proper hands, not to forbid the teaching of creationism.

In conclusion, creationism should be taught in public schools because, even though some say it cannot be proven, it is the most reasonable solution to the creation of the world, and, if evolution and the Big Bang Theory can be taught, why not creationism? It has not been proved either. If schools are going to teach unproven theories, then why not add creationism to the list? One might as well tell both sides of the story if they are going to tell it at all. Besides, if Evolutionists are so sure that man came from monkeys, then what are they afraid of?



















Bibliography
“Evolution.” The American Colledge Dictionary. 1964.
Gay, Kathlyn. CHurch and State. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, 1992.
The History of Man. Sanford: Riebers.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982.
Isaak, Mark. “Five major misconceptions about Evolution.” Talkorigins.org. 1 Oct. 2003. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html>.
McIntosh, Kenneth, and Marsha McIntosh. Issues of Church, State, and Religious Liberties. Broomal: Mason Crest Publishers, Inc., 2006.
“Problems for atheistic evolutionists.” Creationtips.com. 10 Nov. 2008. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.creationtips.com/evoluwrong.html>.
The Reality of God. Sanford: Riebers.
Roberts, Hill. The Second Law of Thermodynamics. 1986.
Suggs, Bill. “When did the U.S. Government pass a law dictating the separation of church and state? Where can this law be found?” Christiananswers.net. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g004.html>.
Thompson, Bert. Scientific Evidences of the Bible’s Inspiration. Montgomery: Apologetics Press, Inc., 1981.
Wood, James. We Believe. 2005.





Works Cited
Gay, Kathlyn. CHurch and State. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, 1992.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982.
“Problems for atheistic evolutionists.” Creationtips.com. 10 Nov. 2008. 18 Jan. 2009 <http://www.creationtips.com/evoluwrong.html>.
Thompson, Bert. Scientific Evidences of the Bible’s Inspiration. Montgomery: Apologetics Press, Inc., 1981.
Wood, James. We Believe. 2005.



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This article has 347 comments.


on May. 28 2012 at 4:10 pm
Musicfeedsthesoul07 PLATINUM, Naperville, Illinois
25 articles 0 photos 95 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. " - Bill Gates

There's physical evidence of evolution with research and science backing it up. The "proof" for creationism is the bible and religious research, I deem it religious because I don't believe in Jesus and therefore ALL evidence is invalid. The only thing that discredits evolution is people refusing to believe what's being shown to them, if you want to ignore science that's fine but creationism is NOT science. 

on May. 28 2012 at 10:25 am
Contemplator SILVER, Lake Park, Minnesota
5 articles 0 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is a rainbow in your mouth! Open it up and show the world.
This is just like ice cream without the cream.
I'm as stiff as a dried out twig in the middle of winter.
Who lit the forest fire; the match, or the man holding the match?

Your are relying on subjective truth. ex: Your wrong because I say so. However science is based on objective truth. Your argument is "I don't beleive it, so they shouldn't teach it to me". But because I don't beleive evolution, they shouldn't teach it. 

 

Honestly, they should teach the most popular theories for the orgin of the earth. And creationism isn't classified by the logicians as 'religion', its classified as science.


on May. 27 2012 at 3:55 pm
Musicfeedsthesoul07 PLATINUM, Naperville, Illinois
25 articles 0 photos 95 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. " - Bill Gates

Yes, but I AM NOT CHRISTIAN therefore creationism is not now nor will it ever be part of my life. If you want to learn about creationism feel free to learn it in church or at home...or even individually at school but it is a violation my religious freedom to teach creationism in my school. Also there are more than two sides to this argument, almost every religion has some sort of theory as to why man was placed on this earth, if you teach one you teach them all...but as of now the only teaching with any evidence or proof (bones, carbon dating, TONS of research) is evolution, when you can give me cold hard fact backed by science that creationism is true feel free to put up an argument and try to get it in school.

on May. 24 2012 at 9:32 pm
Contemplator SILVER, Lake Park, Minnesota
5 articles 0 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is a rainbow in your mouth! Open it up and show the world.
This is just like ice cream without the cream.
I'm as stiff as a dried out twig in the middle of winter.
Who lit the forest fire; the match, or the man holding the match?

I really like your article. Good Job with the refrences and sources.

on May. 24 2012 at 9:29 pm
Contemplator SILVER, Lake Park, Minnesota
5 articles 0 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is a rainbow in your mouth! Open it up and show the world.
This is just like ice cream without the cream.
I'm as stiff as a dried out twig in the middle of winter.
Who lit the forest fire; the match, or the man holding the match?

Shcools are meant to prepare us for life. Inorder to do so, the school must teach the truth. So, what happens if creation is true? Without creationism being taught, you may be missing a very vital course. Also, its not very educational, or fair, to study one side of an argument.

on May. 6 2012 at 7:59 pm
Imaginedangerous PLATINUM, Riverton, Utah
31 articles 0 photos 402 comments

'What are they afraid of?'

Of losing thier religious freedom. If Congress cannot establish a religion, they cannot endorse one religious belief above another. If a school run by the government teaches Christian creationism rather than, say, Islamic creationism (which is slightly different) or Hindu creationism (which is extremely different), that is endorsing Christitanity over other religions. Therefore, it's a violation of the Constitution. Once you begin revoking religious freedoms, you start losing the ability to call where you live a free country. If you want to learn Christian creationism instead of the Big Bang Theory, go to a school without government funding. There are plenty of private religious schools for those unwilling to learn about evolution.


sara said...
on Apr. 29 2012 at 5:49 pm
untrue. we still have original manuscripts, and when today's evrsion of the bible is compared to the manuscripts, the only mistakes are simple gramatical ones. 

on Apr. 25 2012 at 1:57 pm
TerraAnimusPatronus BRONZE, Eden, North Carolina
1 article 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
«You are either the best kept secret or just surrounded by blind people.»

the bible has been changed many times things have been cut and added so no one really ever knows

on Apr. 15 2012 at 12:49 am
Musicfeedsthesoul07 PLATINUM, Naperville, Illinois
25 articles 0 photos 95 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. " - Bill Gates

I went through some of your sources in order to getter a better idea of where your side is coming from, since I'm not very familiar with creation ideals. 

When it boils down to it, more than you not believing in evolution. My problem is that your paper states that it's necessary for schools to teach creationism. This is where my major issue lies, you can believe what you want but I don't not want religion of ANY KIND being put in my education. I choose to go to a public school and I think that if you want learn religious ideals you need to go to a religious school. 

To say that both should be equally taught isn't likely because most of your information is from religious sources of some sort. 

Although I do believe that being religiously intolerable and believing blatant scientific proof are two completely different things. And that in the modern world you need to  open minded about science in order to survive and evolution, much like heliocentric ideas and gravity will eventually be accepted. 


on Apr. 14 2012 at 6:18 pm
clumsy_one123 SILVER, Brentwood, Tennessee
8 articles 1 photo 170 comments

Favorite Quote:
"All daring starts from within." -Eudora Welty

Actuall, most of my references weren't the Bible, I mean, there's a whole Works Cited page full of noj-biblical sources...

And it's your choice, you can pick and choose the facts you want to stand by. At this point in science it is really a matter of opinion because both sides have "evidence". Now, how true the evidence is is where your own opinion begins and science really stops.

So technically, if it makes you cringe, then you are really just being scientifically intolerable, while I am being more religiously intolerable. And I feel that being not very open-minded about religion is less of a flaw than being unopen-minded about science, since science is fact and religion is faith... 

So take it how you want. I respect your religion, but have a problem with your "science".


on Apr. 13 2012 at 1:17 am
Musicfeedsthesoul07 PLATINUM, Naperville, Illinois
25 articles 0 photos 95 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. " - Bill Gates

This entire article made me cringe..based on the fact that you are severely misinformed. 

First, "If man evolved from monkeys why are there still monkeys?" The modern ape differs from the humanoid which we have evolved from. Technically speaking modern apes are our cousins, we share the same ancestors but somewhere along the line we break off and evolve separately.

Secondly, "Complex organisms cannot evolve from simple organisms" how do you think diseases morph to become resistant to vaccines? 

I would suggest your cross check your references before making claims such as the ones above. 

Your point on why creationism should be taught in schools in negated solely on the fact that 90% of your references to the bible...as a buddhist I have to say that I would not only be furious but it would BE A VIOLATION OF MY INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS if creationism was taught in school. 

There is plenty of physical evidence for evolution...and before anyone goes off on me "Lucy is a fake...blah blah blah." there's Australopithecus afarensis, proconsol africanus, H. antecessor, H. Neanderthalensis, H. Heidelbergenesis. 


cam_parks said...
on Mar. 2 2012 at 8:51 am
evolution and the big bang sound more reasonable than a guy multiplying fish or walking across water? ha your essay makes no sense

lizzielou said...
on Feb. 27 2012 at 7:42 pm
Then quick question, food for thought: if God made the big bang and evolution happen, is the bible a lie?

on Feb. 27 2012 at 9:08 am
Um... I don't know where clumsy_one gets his/her definitions of theories and laws, but it obviously wasn't a science textbook. A law is a generalization of the way nature behaves in a given situation, while a theory attempts to explain why nature behaves that way. Although it's virtually impossible to prove theories, they are accepted by the scientific community after enough experiments or observations have supported them. So, because evolution is supported by evidence much more than any other theory put forward, it is the one used by scientists. Capisci?

on Feb. 26 2012 at 8:55 pm
bookthief PLATINUM, Concord, Massachusetts
20 articles 0 photos 58 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." -- John W. Gardener

Also, clumsy, the theory of gravity and the law of gravity are different things.

on Feb. 26 2012 at 8:53 pm
bookthief PLATINUM, Concord, Massachusetts
20 articles 0 photos 58 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." -- John W. Gardener

creationist, I support your rational thinking, but most scientist believe that when genetic changes within the same species (AA, aa, Aa) become varied and different enough, especially when two changing halves of a species are physically separated and then continue to mix traits, a new species is created. This is, essentially, evolution.

on Feb. 26 2012 at 8:49 pm
bookthief PLATINUM, Concord, Massachusetts
20 articles 0 photos 58 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." -- John W. Gardener

Is that a justification for parental abuse? That's pretty much saying that anyone in a position of power has a right to commit violence over their creation. Do you believe this is justified?

on Feb. 26 2012 at 8:45 pm
bookthief PLATINUM, Concord, Massachusetts
20 articles 0 photos 58 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." -- John W. Gardener

I agree that perhaps other theories ought to be taught, but, since creationism is religious, teachers would have to teach every creation myth ever in order to extinguish bias.

on Jan. 13 2012 at 1:42 pm
TerraAnimusPatronus BRONZE, Eden, North Carolina
1 article 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
«You are either the best kept secret or just surrounded by blind people.»

in the theory of evolution man did not evole from apes apes and monkeys evolved seperately from a common ancestor not hta one day a monkey gave birth to a modern human and the big bang theory is just that a theory, along with that the law of gravity was once a theory and it was proved their are all kinds of theories out there that are proven and discredited. but what matters is that you dont go around and complain about your religous affliation and how its under attack and how it is worng to use our brian to be courius and wonder where we came from, better yet how about ignore everything throw away your computer and phone and what ever gadget you have becuase that all came from sceince not all sciences are bad, and how about just dont care does the theory of evolution and the big bang hurt you in anyway no just become more into your scripture and practice what you preach go out to your fellow students and friends and talk about god with them you dont need school to teach your religion jesus didnt need a school, p.s. im a christian too

on Jan. 6 2012 at 7:33 pm
LILMISSCANARY BRONZE, Frisco, Texas
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
I am the author of my own life, but unfortunately I am writing in pen and cannot erase my mistakes; however, I do get to choose which color to write in.

If the Big Bang Theory is true, God made it happen. If the accepted theories of evolution are true, God allows them.