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The Creationism Act

April 29, 2009
By Anonymous

The teaching of creation science in public schools is a breach of the First Amendment- more specifically in the Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” By teaching the creation story of God creating Adam and Eve, the public school is imposing its Christian views on children who may not be Christian. If a Muslim child goes to a public school, he would not have the same belief; he may believe in a god but not the God that is being taught about. By teaching the idea of God creating the world in seven days, the Establishment Clause would not be upheld.

In the case of Edwards v. Aguillard, Don Aguillard, a high school biology teacher, was faced with confrontation when he tried to teach the story of creation in a public school. The governor of Louisiana, Edwin Edwards, said that teaching the Creation Story was unconstitutional. The Creationism Act stated that if the evolution theory was taught in public schools, then the theory of creationism was also to be taught. Many people, however, challenged this act. Both the Federal District Court and the Court of Appeals declared that the Creationism Act was unconstitutional.

The court rulings came about because of the Lemon Test. The Lemon Test consists of three parts: the government’s action must have a secular purpose, it must avoid excessive entanglement between religion and government, and it must not enhance nor inhibit religion. This test is still used today. The Lemon Test is a way of protecting the Establishment Clause and academic freedom. With both the Establishment Clause and the Lemon Test in place, the government has very strict regulations about what can and cannot be done or said in the schools. This lasting precedent reaffirms that the advancing of any religious doctrine in the public school system is in direct violation of the First Amendment.

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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 42 comments.

EscapeRope said...
on Jul. 29 2015 at 5:15 am
EscapeRope, Cavite, Other
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Can you provide any "empirical" evidence for the creation or prove that evolution is illogical? Please enlighten me.
DicipleofChrist BRONZE said...
on Jul. 28 2015 at 2:42 pm
DicipleofChrist BRONZE, Eaton, Colorado
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Just because something is labeled with a name, does not mean it should have been labeled in such a way.
DicipleofChrist BRONZE said...
on Jul. 28 2015 at 2:39 pm
DicipleofChrist BRONZE, Eaton, Colorado
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The funny thing here is, facts challenge the theory of evolution. evolution.
DicipleofChrist BRONZE said...
on Jul. 28 2015 at 2:38 pm
DicipleofChrist BRONZE, Eaton, Colorado
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You both are completely incorrect. I have studied evolution and have looked at differences between the two. Creation and the bible are both heavily supported by evidence, whereas evolution is at least partially illogical.
EscapeRope said...
on May. 23 2015 at 4:00 am
EscapeRope, Cavite, Other
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It's because evolution is proven while creationism has never been but unfortunately for Christians, has been debunked many times. It's as simple as that.
Allen. PLATINUM said...
on Apr. 3 2015 at 12:00 pm
Allen. PLATINUM, Palo Alto, California
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There's a difference. Creationism is based entirely on religion and you must accept the Bible to believe it. Obviously, not everyone does.
help3434 said...
on Nov. 10 2014 at 9:40 pm
This article got it wrong. Aguillard was against creationism, not for.
help3434 said...
on Nov. 10 2014 at 9:38 pm
Yes, the reason is because it was added in the 1950s.
dat_great_engineer said...
on Feb. 26 2013 at 3:33 pm
dat_great_engineer, Oswego, Illinois
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If you cant teach Creationism because someone doesnt beleive in it, then why teach evolution in schools if some people dont agree with it?
LikeMikeHancock said...
on Sep. 25 2012 at 10:44 pm
hmm.. generally, ad hominem is a horrible way to begin an argument. but she is correct in that evolution has not been proven because it is unrepeatable and no transitional species have been found. And if it is said that the Bible supports evolution, i dont think there is a real grasp on genesis. Rather, the person is affirming that scientific research has more authority than the Bible which is a slippery slope that proves that the person never believed in God in the first place. but, s/o to "A_fate_unknown" dont insult a person before making an argument, it makes you lose credibility.
mindless_dreaming BRONZE said...
on May. 16 2012 at 7:54 am
mindless_dreaming BRONZE, Wyckoff, New Jersey
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I go to a Catholic School, and we somehow learn about evolution and the story about Adam and Eve. I think your article is very good but I disagree. I think what our country lacks is the learning of religion. Whether it be Catholicism, Hunduism, Judaism, whatever. Because most people now believe in no greater being, I personally think that this country is going downhill, fast. There's a reason we say "One nation, Under God," in our Pledge of Allegiance.
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 7:29 pm
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM, Waukesha, Wisconsin
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Good point. Oh, and for those of you that don't know why it's called Westphalianism, the Peace of Westphalia, signed in 1648, was a series of treaties that established the European balance of power, to make sure that one nation didn't get too big and powerful and thus destroy all the other nations. So it's like that, but this balance of power is between the various parts of the ecosystem.
BlueRain BRONZE said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 6:45 pm
BlueRain BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
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Plus, the perk of most of those couples is that since they can't naturally have children, they adopt ones that would otherwise have to wait longer for parents or face starvation. They can provide a good home for already existing kids without needing to bring new ones into the world.
BlueRain BRONZE said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 6:42 pm
BlueRain BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
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Well it doesn't really challenge Creationism per say, but it challenges what people's established idea of Creationism is. They don't usually accept that life came from less complex organisms to what we are now. But I see what you mean, creationism could exist with evolution.
BlueRain BRONZE said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 6:39 pm
BlueRain BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
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That is exactly what I have been thinking! It seems like a logical explanation. I think one day we will find out that a lot of the problems we have today have been put in place to keep us under control during this point in time. But either way it doesn't make it a negative thing in my viewpoint. It's not hurting anyone as far as I'm concerned, and if they can be happy that way, it's fine with me. Everyone feels a bit uneasy, but if it ends up reducing the population a bit.. we'll see.
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 11:34 am
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM, Waukesha, Wisconsin
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I wouldn't call you stupid, WiseGirl, but Evolution doesn't actually favor any religion. All it is is an attempt to figure out why we have different species in different areas of the world. It's not supposed to tell us how the world was created, it never was.
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 11:31 am
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM, Waukesha, Wisconsin
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I don't understand. Are you for evolution or against?
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 11:30 am
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM, Waukesha, Wisconsin
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This is one of the things that I hate. Okay, Eman_Neercs, I know that you probably do think that evolution states that the universe was created by two particles colliding, but that's not the case. I know, that sounds crazy, but please hear me out. All evolution is is the theory that as eons pass, traits in organisms that further reproduction and survival will flourish, while traits that don't will be dropped or rendered obsolete. Evolution isn't supposed to explain the origin of life, it never was. It's just supposed to explain the origin of species, and that's why it's taught in schools, while the creationist origin of life isn't.
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 11:26 am
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM, Waukesha, Wisconsin
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I always thought that homosexuality was just simple Westphalianism, which is an addition to the theory of Natural Selection. Essentially, as you know, Natural Selection states that traits that increase survival and reproduction will flourish, while other traits will be dropped or rendered obsolete. But Westphalianism states that when a species gets too big for its environment to support its number, the species begins to favor traits that decrease reproduction. Really, I think that homosexuality is more of a blessing than a curse in this day and age, becaus since the world's population is numbering 7 billion and increasing rapidly, homosexuality will be helpful for humanity for the exact same reason that it was feared and scorned at in ancient times: it doesn't make babies.
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 27 2012 at 11:20 am
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM, Waukesha, Wisconsin
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Actually, evolution doesn't challenge any religion that I've ever heard of. Fun Fact, Darwin never once believed that evolution and creationism were mutually exclusive. Really, there isn't anything in Genesis that goes against Darwin's Origin of Species.