THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603240033
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: Long : 167 lines
Seventy years after John Scopes was convicted of teaching evolution in Dayton, Tenn., the Tennessee legislature is considering permitting school boards to dismiss teachers who present evolution as fact rather than a theory of human origin.
And around the country, the issues that Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan fought out in that Tennessee courtroom are being replayed in classrooms, school board meetings and state legislatures as religious fundamentalists become increasingly assertive.
The most concerted activity has been in the South. In addition to Tennessee, a district in Georgia recently endorsed the teaching of creationism, which holds that all life forms, including humans, were fully formed by a Creator and did not evolve, and Alabama has approved a disclaimer, to be inserted in biology textbooks, calling evolution only ``a controversial theory.''
Among creationism's believers is the man in charge of Virginia's public schools.
``In my own opinion and that of my family, creationism is not a theory,'' William C. Bosher Jr., state superintendent of public instruction, said last week. ``It is the explanation of the origin of the universe which we accept and profess.''
Teaching creationism, rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court a decade ago, has re-emerged as a contentious issue recently in places as far flung as Friendly, Nev.; Paradise, Calif.; Moon, Pa.; and Merrimack, N.H.
And teaching evolution has become so politicized that many high school teachers around the country report they skip the subject rather than risk confrontations with conservative parents or fundamentalist religious groups, educators say.
``It's frightening how widespread this is,'' said Wayne Carley, head of the National Association of Biology Teachers. ``Even here in Fairfax County, Va., one of the richest counties in the country, over half the candidates for the school board were creationist fundamentalists. This is not just limited to the South. It's everywhere.''
In Virginia, the development of curricula for the public schools is a local responsibility. However, statewide ``standards of learning'' slated to take effect this fall require that students learn about evolution. They make no mention of creationism.
That seems to place the state standards at odds with the personal beliefs of Bosher, the man charged with implementing the standards.
Bosher and other creationism believers say educators do their students a disservice by teaching only one theory about the origin of life.
These proponents of what is usually called either ``creation science'' or ``intelligent design'' say there are so many anomalies and mysteries about the origin of the universe and the development of life that theories other than evolution must be considered.
They acknowledge that belief in creationism requires a leap of faith. ``But there are also many who would acknowledge that there are fundamental principles of evolution that are driven as much by faith as is creation,'' Bosher said. ``There certainly are some missing pieces.''
``If evolution is true, then it has nothing to fear from some other theory being taught; the truth will prevail,'' state Sen. David Fowler, a Republican from Chattanooga, argued on the Tennessee Senate floor recently. ``But if intelligent design is the truth, then God forbid we should not teach it to our children.''
Opponents of that viewpoint say it is wrong to equate the two - that evolution is a scientifically supportable theory and creationism is religious dogma.
Presenting them as equivalent belief systems would be educationally unsound, said Roxanne Grossman, a mother of two public schoolchildren in Henrico County who monitored the development of Virginia's learning standards.
``I think it's pretty appalling that the state superintendent of public instruction thinks creationism ought to be taught in a science class,'' she said.
The vast majority of the nation's scientists, including many devoutly religious ones, believe life on Earth is the result of billions of years of evolution - an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable process of natural development.
Creationists, however, believe that life on Earth is not the result of the evolution of species over time but the result of a transcendent personal Creator. Most also believe the Earth is not billions of years old, but thousands, as inferred from the Bible.
A series of court decisions in recent years have held that ``creation science'' is religion in the guise of science.
In 1968, in Epperson vs. Arkansas, the Supreme Court struck down an Arkansas statute that banned the teaching of evolution but did not explicitly mention the biblical account of the origins of life.
In a 1987 case, Edwards vs. Aguillard, the court in a 7-2 ruling held unconstitutional a 1981 Louisiana law that required any public school teaching the theory of evolution to also teach creationism as science. That law also made no mention of God or the Bible, but the court ruled that its intent was clearly to teach religion as science.
The 1987 ruling was viewed at the time as a definitive defeat for the teaching of creationism in the schools. But spurred by the rise of the Christian right, the issue is percolating with renewed intensity.
The Christian Coalition, the Chesapeake-based evangelicals' lobby founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, has taken no specific position on the evolution-vs.-creationism debate, spokeswoman Monica Hildebrand said. The ``Contract with the American Family'' issued by the group last year says ``schools should reinforce rather than undermine the values taught in homes, churches and synagogues.''
The so-called Tennessee ``Monkey Bill,'' harkening back to the 1925 Scopes trial, was approved by a state Senate committee Wednesday. It is scheduled to come up for a vote in the full Senate this week.
State Attorney General Charles W. Burson has called the bill unconstitutional.
Despite a similar opinion by Burson, the Senate last month passed by a 27-1 vote a resolution urging homes, businesses, places of worship and schools to post and observe the Ten Commandments.
In Georgia, one school district, Hall County, north of Atlanta, this year adopted a policy calling for the teaching of creationism along with evolution. A bill in the state legislature to give state approval for teaching creationism has stalled in committee, but State School Superintendent Linda Schrenko, who is sympathetic to teaching creationism, has asked for a state attorney general's opinion on whether creationism can be taught without the new law.
Alabama has approved a disclaimer to be inserted in biology textbooks calling evolution ``a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things.'' It goes on: ``No one was present when life first appeared on Earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact.''
And in districts around the country, teachers often know that teaching evolution is likely to result in complaints from fundamentalist parents.
``Many teachers won't teach evolution at all because of the stigma and the controversy,'' said Wesley Roberts, a high school biology teacher in Nashville. ``I do polls of kids in my class. In my last class of 30 kids, three had studied evolution. I taught a course at a local college, and maybe one or two had any instruction in evolution. Teachers are uncomfortable with it, so they don't teach it at all.''
And while some teachers do not teach evolution because of their own religious beliefs, a more common reaction to Tennessee's proposed law is alarm that it would compromise the academic process and bring religion back into the classroom.
``I think it is impossible to teach biology without incorporating evolutionary theory; we did evolve,'' said Pamela Messick, a high school biology teacher in Nashville. ``And I can still believe in God, because no one can explain that first spark.''
She added: ``I see this as a political power play to insert Bible Belt beliefs into our educational system. The other day I went into my classroom and I said, `Evolution, evolution, evolution, evolution,' and then told my students that I was saying it now because I might not be able to say it anymore.'' MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by staff writer Bill Sizemore and
The New York Times.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
SCOPES TRIAL: JULY 15, 1925
The courtroom was packed when John Scopes went on trial for teaching
evolution to high school students in Dayton, Tenn.
ASSOCIATED PRESS color photos
Spectators listen as the Tennessee Senate Education Committee
debates the bill that may change how evolution is taught.
William C. Bosher Jr.
State superintendent of public instruction.
KEYWORDS: EVOLUTION by CNB