The Draw of Evolution article

[Mikki S]

I think the primary reason evolution is taught in the schools rather than creationism is because of the aspect of religion. There's not a school district in the nation, to my knowledge, that wants to get embroiled in the controversy that would ensue: if you are going to teach creationism, which is the theory that the world was created by a deity of some kind, which religious deity are you going to teach? Is it going to be God? Jehovah? Allah, whom the Muslims believe created a perfect, orderly universe? Each of these religions believe their God created the world but in different ways and for different reasons, so which to teach?

The creationists themselves have contradictory beliefs about how the earth came about: some still think the earth is flat, or that it is billions of years old or that it is "only" millions of years young, and that's just to start enumerating the differences in their beliefs.

I'm a Christian, so my personal belief is that God created the world...however, I also believe in evolution. I think creationism and evolution are NOT mutually exclusive, and I believe both are important theories that should be taught and learned in relationship with one another.

Fortunately, I'm not the one who decides things like that ! And my students were juniors and seniors in college, so I never had to answer questions about creation and evolution that i knew I couldn't answer 

[Beth Consugar]

In addition to what Kate said, I would like to add that if you are going to use quotes from people, wouldn't it be a more well-supported article if you interviewed people who study this issue as part of their profession or who are responsible for making such decisions? I'm sure it's fine to get opinions, but I would think you would want some expert input, too.

I, too, am curious about how you plan to use responses you get here.

[ColoradoKate]

There's a great deal of confusion concerning the meaning of the word "theory." Here's a great article:
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_fact-and-theory.html

With a lower-case "e," evolution itself is a fact--plants and animals do evolve (change) over time, and over generations. In fact, all throughout civilization, farmers and herders have capitalized on that fact, to breed stronger and more productive animals and plants deliberately over the years.

So that process is taught in schools--Mendel's experiments with the peas and all that.

Then there's Darwin's theory of evolution. Note the word "theory" in there, and it is taught as such. A theory is "a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something."

The problem with basing an article on what you have noticed from people you work with is two-fold, I think: one, the people you work with are a small group and really can't be used to represent the beliefs and knowledge of people in general. (Asking us here for opinions creates the same problem, by the way--we are not a large enough or diverse enough group to truly represent public opinion.)

And two, you're going to get an unwieldy mix of opinion and fact when you ask folks about these things. If you truly want to know what is taught in public school, for instance, you'll need to look at curriculum, and not just in one area but across the country. IMHO, we really can't base articles on the opinions and memories of small samples of the public.

It sounds as if it could be a great article, and certainly you could write it as an opinion piece (your opinions) but if you intend to include facts (such as how evolution is taught in public schools, or how Darwin's theory of evolution is taught in public schools) then you need to research the facts rather than asking other people their opinions about them... IMHO!